It became very clear to me that we were the much more physical team -- and that really had an impact. By our second drive in the third quarter, the Duke defensive players were much less active than they had been earlier. They didn't substitute much in their front 7 and they were really dragging. All arm tackling and they weren't shedding blocks like they did in the first half. Their secondary was still covering well, but they weren't coming up to make many tackles in the run game. On the third TD drive that half, Duke was exhausted. I thought watching it live that they just mentally quit. They actually didn't. But they were physically beaten down.
On defense, it seemed as if we changed up the blitzing schemes and the coverage. Their QB looked very confident in the first half. In the second half he looked very confused. He kept throwing balls over the middle that weren't even close to a receiver. How he ran for 77 yards on one play in the first half mystifies me, but by their second possession of the third quarter he wanted no part of tucking the ball and running. He was getting rid of the ball too early, before the receivers had any chance to get separation.
It really was only our third physically dominating performance this year -- Akron and VT being the others -- but if you watch the replay on defense you will see a big difference in Duke's ability to shed blocks, make non-arm tackles, and, on offense, control the line of scrimmage in the second half.
On defense, it seemed as if we changed up the blitzing schemes and the coverage. Their QB looked very confident in the first half. In the second half he looked very confused. He kept throwing balls over the middle that weren't even close to a receiver. How he ran for 77 yards on one play in the first half mystifies me, but by their second possession of the third quarter he wanted no part of tucking the ball and running. He was getting rid of the ball too early, before the receivers had any chance to get separation.
It really was only our third physically dominating performance this year -- Akron and VT being the others -- but if you watch the replay on defense you will see a big difference in Duke's ability to shed blocks, make non-arm tackles, and, on offense, control the line of scrimmage in the second half.
