‘Doing everything extra.’ Can Duke’s loud, proud defense become a dominant force?

Practicing by themselves this summer until the work with coaches begins Aug. 2, Duke’s football players have turned up the noise.

One thing the defensive players are emphasizing is turning up the intensity in an effort to build on last season’s strong play.

“Just being loud,” Duke linebacker Joe Giles-Harris said Wednesday. “Doing everything extra. Being loud puts an impression in your mind. In a game, it’s going to be loud. We want the younger players too see it and know that’s how it’s supposed to be done. It’s going to come natural when we get into games.”

Even though the practice field may be quiet, communication between defenders isn’t. They are yelled full throat.

It’s a mentality the defense wants to carry into the regular season.

“We don’t want to be last year’s defense,” Giles-Harris said. “We want to be better than last year’s defense. There are a lot of things we want to improve on that last year’s defense didn’t do. We have a lot of guys back and it’s going to be fun.”

Last season, Duke’s defense allowed 20.2 points per game, No. 3 in the ACC. Opponents gained 332.6 yards per game against Duke, No. 4 in the ACC.

Duke coach David Cutcliffe said the pieces are in place for the defense to be just as good, if not better.

“I think we have a real chance at being the best defensive team we’ve had at Duke,” said Cutcliffe, who’s entering his 11th season with the Blue Devils.

The Blue Devils return eight starters, including Giles-Harris and cornerback Mark Gilbert. Both were first-team all-ACC selections last season.

“We were good last year,” Giles-Harris said. “We got some accolades. We were good. But we weren’t great. At the end of the day, that’s what you strive to be.”

A redshirt junior, Giles-Harris lines up next to his friend and roommate, senior Ben Humphreys, at linebacker in Duke’s 4-2-5 set. This will be their third season starting together and their familiarity is a big plus for Duke.

“When you are playing run defense, the first backer, his fit is going to tell the backside backer where to fit, whether he’s fitting over the top or underneath that fit,” Cutcliffe said. “You have to be on the same page or you are going to give up big runs. Those two are uncanny at how quickly that happens. You’ll see one make a play and in giving him all the credit, you don’t realize what his teammate has done to make all that happen.”

Returning starters up front include defensive ends Tre Hornbuckle and Victor Dimukeje, along with redshirt senior defensive tackle Edgar Cerenord.

Joining Gilbert as returning starters in the defensive backfield are safeties Jeremy McDuffie and Dylan Singleton.

Even new players, like sophomore safety Marquis Waters, have Cutcliffe excited about his defense.

“Marquis Waters is going to be one of the premier players in the league this year,” Cutcliffe said. “If he does what he did out there this spring, wait until you see what he puts together.”

He would add to an already solid group.

Last season, Duke’s defense finished among the ACC’s top five in sacks (29, fifth), third-down conversion percentage (32.2, fifth), interceptions (15, third) and passing yards allowed per game (179.4, third).

The area where Duke struggled is in giving up big plays. Duke’s foes broke loose go gain 40 or more yards from scrimmage on 21 plays. Only Wake Forest, which allowed 23, gave up more of those plays among ACC teams.

That loud communication the defense is using on the practice field this summer is also aimed at fixing that problem.

“I can tell you everything that went wrong on all the big plays we gave up last year,” Giles-Harris said. “That’s just who I am. That stuff doesn’t sit well with me. You have to play. We were good last year on many occasions. But there were also those plays where we weren’t consistent and we weren’t focused and we weren’t ready to go. They cost us wins. It adds up.”

This story was originally published July 18, 2018 at 5:53 PM.