Originally Posted by
Avvocato
At the midway point of the season, we sit at 4-2. After playing Alabama in the opener, can't argue with our standing. Yes, we would have liked to have beaten Pittsburgh, but I would have signed up for 4-2 in a heart beat. Looking at the team at the midpoint, a few things are interesting based on preseason question marks:
* Linebackers. Our linebackers have played very well overall. We really questioned them stepping in for Humphreys and Harris, especially how they played at the end of 2018. However, the unit has played well. The defense in general has played well, but a special shout out to the linebacking corp, which was the unknown defensive unit coming into the season.
* Wide Receivers. Another unit that was a big unknown and thought to be the weakness of the team. We have all seen that we have a lot of young talented receivers on this team. In fact, surprisingly, our passing attack has been more reliable than our running attack. Now, against better teams, we are not getting the ball to our receivers quite as much. That's just a combination of inexperience, better defenses and a still evolving Harris. However, even without Bobo making a mark, I am very excited about this group. Plus, three of our 12 recruits for the 2020 class are wide receivers (each over 6 feet tall). Now we just need to find our quarterback for future seasons, but we'll deal with that later.
* AJ Reed. Major props to AJ Reed. His freshman season was a disaster to put it mildly. I wasn't sure he would ever kick again at Duke. Even in the 2018 spring event he was missing kicks. It is so hard for a kicker that develops the yips, or just shanks every kick, to get their confidence back. Look at Aguayo after he left FSU. We also see it in baseball in particular. He not only won the job, but he has been very solid from all distances. The kicks have been pretty true. We haven't seen him have to make a big kick with the lead on the line at the end of the game yet, but who cares. He's going to miss some kicks eventually this year. However, regardless of that, amazing comeback for him and one of the great stories of the team this year. Good for him.
* Running game. Coming into the season, our running game was supposed to be our strength while QH and wide receivers found themselves. Not sure if it's because people are trying to take aware our running attack and dare us to beat them through the air, whether it's some inexperience in the line, or injuries, but other than a few brief periods of time, we have not been running well consistently. And if we are running, it's usually QH leading the way. Brown's injuries play a part. Durant has played well and good for him. Jackson has not really been as much of a consistent factor impacting the game as I expected, though again, defenses are probably keying on him. I think a lot of our success down the stretch this season may ride on our ability to start running more consistently. It will also help our passing attack against better teams.
* Harris. He's done the job. I was definitely one of the people not sure what we were going to get, and I was concerned. He's looked like a P5 starting quarterback. Not much for me to say, but he's done what we needed. He really looks like he is the leader of the offense and in control. I'm not going to overstate his performance, but I can't argue or complain. He's smallish and didn't have much experience before this season, and is throwing to mainly first and second year players. He's actually played better than I expected, and if we are going to make a run at the Coastal, he'll be the one to lead us there (as it is with most quarterbacks).
With that said, big game on Saturday (aren't they all at this point?). Like most of our games, definitely a winnable game. I don't want to make a prediction, because I won't like my prediction. The key, as others have said, is containing Perkins. Last year, he beat contain and kept drives alive with his legs. We couldn't get our defense off the field last year. I recall them having long drives making all of these third down plays to keep drives alive, and nickle and diming their way to scores. If we can keep him in the box and make him have to throw from the pocket for first downs, I think we have a chance. I think offensively, Harris's ability to run will be the key. I get concerned by our lack of consistent running to help our passing. I think Harris's ability has been opening things up. He'll need to be successful at running and converting broken plays to beat UVa's pass rush.
The big X factor is whether Virginia's loss to Miami is a motivator for them or a sign that they are vulnerable. I fear the former but am praying for the latter. In any case, I think this is a fourth quarter game. We may need to see Harris have to drive us down the field late fourth quarter on the road and possibly see Reed make a pressure late game kick. I would love to see both (for a win).
As always, let's go Duke!