What Duke Needs to Do on Defense to Beat Georgia Tech

There are several keys to this ACC tilt on both sides of the ball, but let's focus on what Duke's defense must orchestrate if the Blue Devils want to end up with a much-needed victory over the Yellow Jackets.

Successfully get off the field on third downs

Duke's defense has found success in multiple facets this season, including creating turnovers and generating pressure on opposing quarterbacks every week. However, one area that could be the downfall of this unit is the defense's lack of ability to force opposing offenses off the field in third-down situations.

The Blue Devils' defense is allowing their opponents to convert 42.8% on third downs, which ranks 87th in the country. Meanwhile, Georgia Tech is successfully moving the chains on third down 47.1% of the time in those instances. That combination could prove to be disastrous for Duke if that trend continues to be the case on Saturday.

Force Georgia Tech's quarterback Haynes King to throw

Haynes King has been a serviceable quarterback this season, but he is not the traditional quarterback who can carry the team with his arm.

In five games played, King has completed 94-of-132 pass attempts (71.2%) for 971 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.

Steady numbers, but nothing worth writing home about. The senior quarterback is a typical game manager, averaging 194.2 passing yards per game, while averaging 7.4 yards per attempt.

One way that Duke can improve its third-down defense and force King to play out of his comfort zone is to consistently win on first and second downs. Finding success on the early downs could force Georgia Tech to convert on longer third downs.

The Yellow Jackets are converting a ton of these third downs solely because the yardage and distance have been more than manageable.

For any quarterback who struggles to complete passes when everyone on the field and stadium knows it's a must-pass situation, the most effective way of exploiting that weakness is to force that signal caller into those scenarios consistently.

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