Duke football began its season Friday night on a positive note, taking home a 26-3 victory against Elon. Looking ahead to another Friday night contest, the Blue Devils travel to Evanston, Ill., to battle Northwestern for the third year in a row; Duke took a 38-14 victory in Durham last year. So, let’s take a look at the opposing roster.
Perhaps the most important Wildcat is signal caller Mike Wright. The fifth-year transfer from Mississippi State, who started his career at Vanderbilt, opened up his first season at Northwestern with a relatively lackluster performance through the air. Wright finished up Saturday’s game against Miami (OH) with 178 yards passing and no touchdowns. His efficiency was not great either, as he averaged under six yards per attempt on a 60% completion rate.
Fortunately for Wright, his passing game is not necessarily his best attribute. Wright is an elite rushing quarterback who at one point held the Vanderbilt 200m record in track and field. On Saturday, Wright finished with 65 yards and a score on the ground, including one rush for 20 yards. Head coach Manny Diaz’s defenses are often known for strong pursuits and an emphasis on sacks and tackles for losses. Ensuring the defensive line keeps containment while rushing the pass will be crucial, otherwise Wright could cause lots of trouble for the Blue Devils Friday.
“He's a guy that on every play can create that explosive threat,” Diaz said Sept. 2 when asked about Wright’s dual-threat status. “When they drop back and throw the ball, you may have everybody covered, and that might be the worst thing you can do, because now he takes off. You have to be really disciplined in the pass rush.”
Watch here as Wright goes for a 73-yard touchdown run in the 2022 season for the Commodores.
On the other side of the ball, the Northwestern defensive line is a strong, classic Big 10 unit that can stop the run by themselves and allow the linebackers to focus on the passing game. The Wildcat defense allowed just 40 yards on 24 attempts on the ground Saturday, racking up six tackles for loss with 29 yards lost.
But while the depth of the Northwestern line was certainly a strength for it against the Redhawks, the fast paced style of offensive coordinator Jonathan Brewer’s playstyle — particularly running no-huddle — will test the endurance of this line while also limiting their ability to rotate in new defenders. Duke ran for 59 yards on just 2.2 yards per carry against Elon, so improving the run game will surely be a point of emphasis for Brewer going into this week.
“They will play with a light box, which will allow them to devote more numbers to coverage to try to keep your passing game at bay and sort of tempt you to run the ball into what appear to be good looks,” Diaz said about Northwestern’s defensive front. “They do such a good job up front of shedding blocks, and they're really, really good at tackling in the open field.”
Its run stopping may have been a point of strength, but the Wildcat passing defense was inconsistent. Miami (OH) went for 227 yards passing and recorded 10.3 yards per completion. The Redhawks struggled late in drives, missing one field goal as well as throwing two interceptions. Although finishing drives with touchdowns was an issue early on for quarterback Maalik Murphy and the rest of the Blue Devils offense against Elon, Duke finished the game with three touchdowns and 291 yards passing.
Moreover, play design and getting open were not the problems with scoring; it was a few dropped passes and overthrown balls, both fixable issues going into this game. Look for Brewer to draw up lots of deep shots for Murphy to find star receiver Jordan Moore early in drives. When the Blue Devils are deep into Wildcat territory, Murphy could hand the ball off to running back Jaquez Moore while mixing in some hard play-actions to free up tight ends Nicky Dalmolin and Jeremiah Hasley.
Watch here as Miami (OH) quarterback Brett Gabbert finds a wide open receiver down the sideline on third down.
Duke will have lots to worry about on both sides. Keeping containment and making Northwestern win through the air is crucial on the defensive end. On the offensive side, using the weakness of the Wildcat secondary to extend drives early and potentially open up the run game late will be key for Duke’s to return to Durham victorious.
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