Secondary Excellence [Archive]

martydoesntfoul

09-21-2016, 01:38 PM

Looks like some positive things came out of the Northwestern loss after all: DeVon Edwards and Breon Borders were recognized as national players of the week by Pro Football Focus. Congrats gentlemen!

"Edwards... got into the backfield for a sack and six hurries on only 15 rushes. Borders... allowed only two receptions on eight targets while intercepting a pass and deflecting four more..."

https://www.profootballfocus.com/college-football-pff-team-of-the-week-selections-following-week-3/

Olympic Fan

09-21-2016, 04:59 PM

Edwards and Borders are unique in a lot of ways.

Borders is currently tied (with a guy from San Diego State) for the most career interceptions of any active player (12) in the NCAA. He also leads the ACC in passes defended (interceptions plus break-ups) with seven in three games ... the No. 2 guy has five passes defended in three games.

Edwards is third in the ACC in tackles (9.3 tackles per game) and -- amazingly -- fifth in sacks. Of the 20 sack leaders listed by the ACC, 18 are linemen or linebackers -- Edwards (with 3.0 sacks in three games), and Josh Harvey-Clemons of Louisville (2.0 sacks in three games) are the only defensive backs on the list.

More than that, Edwards has 10.5 sacks in his career .. with two more, he'll crack the top 10 in Duke history.

Not bad for a guy listed at 5-9, 180 pounds.

And FWIW, Duke currently leads the ACC in sacks (14 in three games). A year ago, Duke had 17 sacks in 13 games. Duke is averaging 4.67 sacks a game -- last year Clemson finished fourth in the nation with 3.20 sacks per game.

Obviously, those sack numbers have come with a lot of risk -- a lot of one-on-one coverage that has led to a few breakdowns.

Still, it's interesting. Notre Dame will be a great test. So far this season, Notre Dame has thrown the ball 94 times and given up five sacks in three games. Oddly, Notre Dame has yet to record a sack of its own in those three games.