How Duke can beat Virginia in the ACC championship football game
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Duke must boost rushing and line push to create time for Mensah passes.
- Defense must force third-down stops and contain Chandler Morris' scramble.
- Use special-teams fakes and return threats to flip field and spark scores.
Now that all the implications of a Duke win over Virginia in the ACC championship game have been discussed ad nauseam, here’s something else to consider: how Duke can win the football game.
Much time the past few days has been spent discussing the College Football Playoff scenarios and possible seedings and how the ACC could be shut out if Duke, a 5-loss team, was to win Saturday in Charlotte. The truth is, the Blue Devils (7- 5, 6-2 ACC) will go into the game as the underdogs and will have to play immeasurably better than they did against the Cavaliers a few weeks ago in Durham. The Wahoos (10-2, 7-1) took a 34-17 victory in a game where they led 31-3 after three quarters, the issue settled.
Duke’s offense, for the first time all season, was stuck in neutral almost the entire game. Quarterback Darian Mensah, the ACC’s passing leader, struggled. Receivers couldn’t get open. There was no running game.
Defense, too. The Blue Devils chased after quarterback Chandler Morris but couldn’t catch him as he repeatedly kept plays alive and found receivers, often Trell Harris, for nice gains. Running back J’Mari Taylor, who had played at N.C. Central, had a big day.
“Very disappointing,” Duke coach Manny Diaz said after the Nov. 15 game. “We were thoroughly outclassed in every category by Virginia.”
Outclassed. When a coach says that, he’s usually getting a message across to his team.
But there was another message: “Stay in the fight.” That’s what Diaz told his team and it responded by beating North Carolina and Wake Forest. Now, the Blue Devils get another shot at the Cavaliers in an unexpected twist and rematch. They’re still in the fight.
And all the national talk about Duke and the CFP conversation?
“I think it’s pretty funny,” wide receiver Cooper Barkate said Tuesday. “I enjoy being the villain a little bit.”
Rather than dwell on Duke’s five losses, here are five things Duke needs to do to beat Virginia:
Balance the offense
Duke’s first offensive play against Virginia in the game in Durham was a sack. The first possession was a three-and-out. Duke did not have a first down in the opening quarter.
At halftime, Duke had gotten 24 yards rushing and Mensah had 26 yards passing.
“They caught us by surprise,” Barkate said Tuesday. “We had a stalemate. They’re really talented up front and also brought a lot of looks on the back end that I don’t think we were really prepared for.”
Of Duke 255 yards in total offense, a season low, 106 came in the fourth quarter. Duke had 42 yards rushing for the game. The Cavaliers’ defense was just that dominant.
Duke, which has averaged 132 rushing yards a game, must get a stronger push up front from its experienced offensive line and production from running backs Nate Sheppard and Anderson Castle to win the ACC title game. That could buy Mensah more time to throw in the RPO game, an extra half-step for the receivers to separate. At least, that’s the plan.
“We’re lucky to get another stab at them,” Barkate said.
Get off the field on defense
In the first matchup, Virginia took the ball and played keepaway with it. As Diaz noted, the Devils did not get enough “at-bats.”
Virginia had two 75-yard drives in the first half and an 87-yard possession in the third quarter.
Duke’s defense put the Cavaliers’ offense in some tough situations, but Virginia responded by converting 12 of 19 third-down plays in the game. That will usually win most games.
“We’ve got to get off the field on third down,” Duke defensive tackle Aaron Hall said Tuesday. “We understand that’s where that team excels and that’s where they beat us. We played first and second downs good in terms of explosive plays, but in getting off the field we struggled on third down.”
Another must is containing Morris, a veteran QB who makes good decisions on the move when forced out of the pocket and looks calm in doing it. He passed for 316 yards and two scores in Durham.
“We need to cage him,” Hall said. “A way to limit their offense is to make sure there are no flush opportunities for him.”
Some more trickery?
The Virginia coaches, in watching Duke’s games against UNC and Wake Forest, have seen the Blue Devils successfully pull off a fake field goal and a fake punt. They also tried a pass by wide receiver Que’Sean Brown, although that one was well-covered and a no-go.
Placekicker Todd Pelino was a Duke hero in the UNC game, running 26 yards on the field-goal fake and nearly scoring. He did set up what would be the winning touchdown late in the rivalry game.
Kade Reynoldson, the holder on place kicks, made the perfect pitch to Pelino. The Aussie also is the Duke punter, and had his own fun moment against Wake Forest, seeing an opening on the right side and going 26 yards on the fake punt. It wasn’t a designed play, Diaz said, but he had the green light and an open field and took off.
“Maybe he was tired of watching Todd Pelino highlights all week,” Diaz quipped.
What else do the Blue Devils have planned? That’s what the Virginia coaches must ponder.
Make game-changing plays
Duke is second in the ACC in scoring (34.6 points) and in total offense(421.4 yards). The Blue Devils can move the ball and are capable of big, flashy plays.
Not against Virginia the first time, though. The Blue Devils had just 11 first downs in the game. Their longest run, by Sheppard, was 12 yards.
But there are other ways to bust open a game. Sahmir Hagans had an 80-yard kickoff return against Wake Forest to set up a touchdown. Earlier in the season, he went 100 against Clemson for a TD.
Linebacker Tre Freeman had a pick-six in the Virginia game, taking advantage of one of Morris’ rare mistakes that day. Cornerback Chandler Rivers forced a key fumble after a Wake Forest pass completion that the Devils recovered.
For Duke, big plays don’t have to be a bomb from Mensah to, say, Barkate or Hagans. There are many ways to decide – and win – a big game.
Finish the fight
When all is said and done, it might have been the 15 minutes of football that got the Blue Devils to Charlotte.
Starting the fourth quarter against Virginia, the Cavs had a 31-3 lead and only Virginia fans were left in Wallace Wade Stadium. But as Diaz has said, the Devils showed some “backbone.”
Barkate scored on an 11-yard pass from Mensah, finishing off a 72-yard drive. Freeman had the 18-yard interception return.
“It’s now about a fight for these last couple of weeks,” Diaz said after the game. “From what I saw in the fourth quarter, I think our guys will be up for the challenge.”
The Blue Devils handled the challenge, won their way to Charlotte and now can win an ACC championship.
