A week after snapping a ten-year losing streak to Georgia Tech in Atlanta, the Blue Devils return to Durham to take on Virginia in hopes of keeping the goal of a second consecutive trip to the ACC championship game alive. Kickoff is at 12:30 p.m. in Wallace Wade Stadium. Here are the keys to this afternoon’s game:
More production from the passing game
So far this season, Virginia ranks second in the conference in rushing yards allowed per game at 91.5. Two weeks ago, the defense, headlined by linemen Andrew Brown, David Dean, and Eli Harold, held Pittsburgh’s star running back, sophomore James Conner, to just 83 yards on 21 carries. But despite star safeties Anthony Harris and Quin Blanding patrolling in the secondary, Virginia’s pass defense has been underwhelming, ranking 12th in the conference and allowing 239.3 yards per game through the air.
Thus, it should not come as a surprise that redshirt senior quarterback Anthony Boone will need to make more plays through the air than he has so far this season. The Weddington, N.C., native has not thrown for more than 200 yards since Sept. 6 in the team's second game against Troy. Saturday against an aggressive defense that has forced 19 turnovers, he will need to exploit mismatches downfield, especially with All-ACC wideout Jamison Crowder, 6-foot-6 speedster Isaac Blakeney and trusty slot receiver Max McCaffrey.
True freshman running back Shaun Wilson has also emerged as a weapon on the perimeter and has led the Blue Devils in receiving yards in each of their last two game. Duke's weapons will need to help Boone find success and move the chains Saturday in its pursuit of bowl eligibility for the third consecutive season.
Stop the run
Run defense has been Duke’s only consistent weakness this year. Already this season against the Blue Devils, Tulane ran for 215 yards and two scores on the ground, Duke Johnson ran for 155 yards and a score in the loss to Miami, and Georgia Tech accumulated 282 yards with its spread-option offense. Injuries have obviously played a role with linebacker Kelby Brown out for the season and defensive end Dezmond Johnson missing the last two games, but Duke’s 4-2-5 defensive scheme has nonetheless been exposed.
This week, Duke takes on senior running back Kevin Parks, who has run for 427 yards and three touchdowns already this season, with a chance at turning around its struggles against the run. All-American Jeremy Cash has been extraordinary in his hybrid strong safety-linebacker position, but in order to stop Parks and the Virginia rushing attack, the Blue Devils must stack more players near the line of scrimmage and involve the rest of the secondary in run defense. With Johnson expected to return, Duke's defensive line will look to prevent the Cavaliers from producing touchdowns on the ground, much like it did a week ago. Although the Yellow Jackets racked up plenty of yards, they were extremely inefficient in the red zone, a trend that the Blue Devils hope can continue.
Can’t lose the clock battle
Virginia ranks second in the ACC in total offensive plays this season. Between a great rush defense and consistent production from Parks, the Cavaliers have won the time of possession battle in four of their six games this season. Virginia's offense wears defenses down with the run game, so Duke needs to make sure it holds the Cavaliers to short drives and three-and-outs early in the game by stuffing the run on early downs. Virginia is a much improved team from a year ago, and Duke needs to make sure that it doesn’t lose the discipline that earned a gritty road win a week ago.
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