Duke’s Defensive Strengths Heading Into Bye Week

Here are the impressive features of the Blue Devils defense, which could be sustainable to help Duke ascend into the College Football Playoff discussion.

Creating Pressure

A consistent formula to winning consistently at any level of football is dominating in the trenches along the offensive and defensive lines.

While the Blue Devils' offensive line leaves a lot to be desired at times, the defensive line is a completely different story.

In the first six weeks of the season, Duke's pass rush has been dominant and has made opposing quarterbacks' jobs increasingly more difficult.

According to PFF, Duke has accumulated 117 pressures and 22 sacks. Edge rusher Vincent Anthony Jr. leads the team with 17 pressures and seven sacks, while winning off the line 11.3% of the time.

Regardless of if the secondary struggles in defending the pass at certain points of the game, a nagging pass rush can minimize those deficiencies. This is especially true when Duke can repeatedly get to the quarterback with its front four.

Winning the turnover battle

To win this pivotal aspect on a weekly basis, the defense has to be the forefront of successfully flipping the tides.

The combination of the offense only coughing up the ball seven times and the defense forcing 12 turnovers has proven to be a successful formula to winning football games.

The pass rush plays a major role in this department, as the pressure has forced quarterbacks out of their comfort zones, leading to dangerous throws into tight windows.

The secondary has done a stellar job of taking advantage of those opportunities, securing eight interceptions through six games.

This includes three interceptions against California last Saturday. Freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele was under duress throughout the game, and he forced multiple ill-advised throws to blanketed receivers.

Forcing two turnovers per game is most likely not sustainable throughout the season, but sometimes there is an outlier season where defenses find more luck in creating these opportunities. Aggressive and advantageous defenses have more success than defenses that are focused on executing a methodical and strict style.