After three consecutive losses to ACC Coastal opponents, the Blue Devils travel to Charlottesville to take on Virginia. With redshirt junior quarterback Thomas Sirk likely back under center, the Blue Devils will try to record their first win since he carried the team to a quadruple overtime win against Virginia Tech. Here are the three keys to the game for Duke:
Protect Thomas Sirk
If the Blue Devils wish to get back on track Saturday with a win at Virginia, they will need to protect their quarterback in his return to the starting lineup. Sirk missed last week’s game against Pittsburgh with an upper body injury and is now probable to start against the Cavaliers.
Protecting Sirk is not just about making sure he stays in the game, but also improving his confidence. After a hot 6-1 start to the season, Duke has gone winless in its last three contests and a big reason why has been its inability to move the ball on offense. If Sirk is not comfortable in the pocket, it is likely that the Blue Devil offense will stagnate once again and the team will lose its fourth straight game.
Don’t give up big plays
In the past three weeks, big plays have demoralized Duke and contributed to all three of the Blue Devils’ losses. The infamous Miami kickoff return, Marquise Williams opening drive flea flicker to Ryan Switzer and Nate Peterman’s answered third-down prayer early in the game all changed the game’s momentum or directly affected the outcome.
Duke cannot afford to let Virginia flip the script in Charlottesvile, which means that the defensive backs cannot get beat and the Cavalier offense cannot be allowed to extend plays. The Blue Devils must play until the whistle and avoid costly mental errors throughout the game. If Duke wants to avoid the upset, it will have to get back to playing fundamentally sound football.
Pressure Matt Johns
Although the season has been disappointing for Virginia, Matt Johns has shined for the Cavaliers. The junior quarterback has completed more than 60-percent of his passes for 2,295 yards and 17 touchdowns. Johns' arm is the most concerning aspect of Virginia’s offense for the Blue Devils, and they must make sure to limit the Cavaliers' effectiveness through the air. In Johns’ last game against Duke, the signal-caller recorded 325 yards passing and one touchdown.
Duke must provide constant pressure to keep Virginia off the scoreboard. The Blue Devils will have to blitz Johns regularly and keep him from establishing a rhythm in this game, so that they take the Cavaliers out of it early and quiet the home crowd.
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Jacob Weiss is a Trinity senior. His column, "not jumping to any conclusions," runs on alternate Fridays.