Aerial show expected as Duke faces UNC

CHAPEL HILL -- Duke football coach David Cutcliffe dubbed North Carolina, "by far the best defense in our league."

About eight miles down the road, UNC coach Butch Davis compared Duke's passing game with that of the Indianapolis Colts.

The quotes from each side put the rivals in a mutual admiration society, but they also underscore the heart of today's matchup in Chapel Hill between two bowl-hungry, 5-3 teams.

It's the strength of Duke's passing game against the strength of UNC's defense, and the winner of the 96th meeting between these Triangle neighbors will likely be determined by which strength is stronger.

Ranking 10th nationally in pass defense by limiting opponents to 163.4 passing yards a game, UNC also leads the ACC in scoring defense (16.5 points per game) and total defense (265.0 yards per game). The Tar Heels are coming off a dominant effort in a 20-17 win at Virginia Tech last week, holding the Hokies offense to 256 yards.

"They're big, they're fast," Cutcliffe said. "Sometimes you can't run it and you can't throw it, but you still got to score points. That's about what it is when you play that kind of defensive team."

Duke leads the ACC and ranks fifth nationally in passing (325.1 yards per game). The Blue Devils' senior quarterback Thaddeus Lewis has thrown for at least 300 yards in four straight games, the last three of them wins for a streaking Duke team that is two wins shy of its first bowl game since 1994.

The Blue Devils, with Cutcliffe's connection to Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning, use some of the same formations and route combinations as the unbeaten Colts. They also look like the NFL team with nearly identical uniforms, but Duke would settle for being Florida State today.

In completing 33 of 40 passes, FSU quarterback Christian Ponder threw for 395 yards and three touchdowns in a 30-27 win in Chapel Hill on Oct. 22. UNC safety Deunta Williams, who recovered Ryan Williams' fumble in Virginia Tech territory with 2:02 left in last Thursday's upset win, welcomes the second chance against a prolific quarterback.

"It's a shot to your pride when you give up that many yards," Williams said. "But as a defense, we know we're good, and great at times."

The Tar Heels were overly aggressive against FSU, Williams said, perhaps too fired up for the Thursday night ESPN stage, and they didn't play fundamentally sound in pass coverage. Williams pointed to FSU receiver Rod Owens' 98-yard touchdown catch-and-run, a double-move to the outside which faked corner Charlie Brown, as an example of UNC's overaggressiveness.

Lewis noticed Owens' big play but said FSU's success was a product of patience.

"[FSU] didn't do anything spectacular," the Duke quarterback said. "They just found holes in the zone and hit the open guy."

After allowing a season-high passing total to FSU, UNC's defense responded by holding Virginia Tech to 161 yards through the air. But Duke's passing game is much more comparable to FSU's than Virginia Tech's, which relies heavily on play-action passes, Davis said.

Like FSU, Duke will spend the majority of the game in a shotgun formation, using four- and five-receiver sets to spread the field and throw short timing routes.

Smart route-running by Duke's receivers keeps the pressure off the offensive line to block for an extended period of time. The Devils have allowed only 20 sacks, despite 340 pass attempts. By comparison, UNC has given up 19 sacks on 118 fewer pass attempts.

What makes the Devils' passing numbers even more impressive is their inability to run the football. Duke ranks last in the ACC, 116th nationally, with an average of 75.2 rushing yards per game. Yet even though everyone in the stadium knows the Devils are going to pass, they're still able to move the ball.

To be sure, the Blue Devils will air it out again today, eager to test a UNC defense that believes it's up to the task.

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