By james art Duke’s football defense has made a name for itself as one of the best in the entire country. Leads the ACC in points allowed per game (17.3), passing yards allowed per game (153.6), sacks (24), fumble recoveries (7) and opponent third-down conversion percentage (27.4 ). Also leads the nation in tackles for loss (69).
Ahead of Duke’s matchup with the #22 SMU Mustangs tomorrow night, it’s no secret that the Blue Devil defense will lead the way as it has all season. When it comes to pressuring the quarterback and preventing the opponent’s rhythm on the offensive side of the ball, Duke does it as well as anyone.
This contest tomorrow night has the potential to propel Duke to new levels of opportunity as the season progresses along with a win against a ranked opponent. Duke received its first votes in the Associated Press poll after its home win against Florida State last weekend, and it looks like a win here will propel Duke into the polls and make the College Football Playoff possible.
The game really couldn’t have gone much better for the Blue Devils, making tomorrow’s game that much more exciting. It features the best defense in the ACC against arguably the best offense in the ACC in SMU.
The Mustangs are 6-1 on the season and 3-0 in the ACC, winning all of their road games this season as well. The team has scored fewer than thirty points in just two games this season.
SMU has also been suffocating its ACC opponents thus far, winning by a combined score of 116-53. But all of its conference opponents have a conference-lowest nine defenses. Enter the Blue Devils, who provide better passing and more pressure than anyone else in the conference.
In his press conference earlier this week, Duke offensive coordinator Jonathan Brewer talked about how Duke’s defense matches up against SMU’s offense.
“Well, we have a top-5 defense in the country. I can’t wait to see SMU’s offense against our defense. I know what our defense brings to the table. We will score as much as we need to win the game, even if it is two points.”
SMU thrives off of its play. Brashard Smith is fifth in the ACC in rushing yards per game at about ninety-fourth in the conference in total rushing yards at 628. He’s done all of this on less than a hundred carries on the season and is averaging a stellar 6.9 yards per game .
SMU struggled in the passing game at times, but still managed to average over forty points per contest all season. It will be a big test for Duke’s defense to keep the Mustangs out of the end zone, especially with Duke’s erratic offense going through slow periods in most games.
Although SMU has one of the best scoring defenses in the ACC, it has put up quite a few points against better opponents. Dropped 24 to Nevada, 42 to TCU and 27 to Louisville. Against his other four opponents (Houston Christian, Florida State, BYU, and Stanford), he dropped seven, fifteen, sixteen, and ten points, respectively. BYU is the only team to beat SMU this season by a score of 18-15, and BYU is also the only team SMU has faced in the top 50 nationally in scoring defense. Duke is seventeenth nationally in this category.
This game offers a perfect opportunity for the Blue Devils to completely overpower their opponent who relies on scoring a lot of points to win most of the time. Although the Mustangs themselves are strong on defense, Louisville is the only ACC team SMU has played that is in the top 15 in the ACC in scoring offense, to which the Mustangs have given up 27 points.
Duke is a much different team than the Mustangs have faced this season, and this contest works in Duke’s favor considerably well if the defense can hold strong and the offense can find schemes that work consistently.