Hokies vs. Blue Devils Football Preview from the Duke Point of View

Editor's Note: Lauren Brownlow writes for FOXSportsCarolinas.com and WRALSportsFan.com. She has covered the ACC for 10 years, and was generous enough with her time to write a game preview from the Duke perspective. --Joe

Bud Foster is universally respected as one of the best — if not the best — defensive coordinators in college football. Duke's players mentioned Foster's name on their own when being asked about that defense, and it's clear head coach David Cutcliffe thinks highly of him as well.

"This time of year when we're playing them, I always just kind of get amazed at how their kids cover for each other and understand the scheme, and then his adjustments," Cutcliffe said. "What I call Bud Foster, he is extremely systematic. He knows the answers. He can plug things in better than anybody that I've seen in football defensively. I can't even put a measure to it as to how good I think he is at putting together a defensive system."

When Foster versus Cutcliffe slash offensive coordinator Scottie Montgomery is discussed — or Foster versus any brilliant offensive mind on the opposing sideline, for that matter — words like "chess match" are often used, implying that there is some sort of mental game being played that surpasses the physical one.

That's not as much how Duke quarterback Anthony Boone sees it.

"Sometimes, it comes down to he knows his players typically might be more athletic or might schematically be at a better place than your players and (Foster) says 'Hey, here you go. I'm going to bring eight and you've got a chance to throw whatever route you want, but my guy's going to cover it.' That's really what it comes down to," Boone said.

Virginia Tech's defense might not look like a vintage Foster unit to some, particularly with some of the injuries they have up front. And it's been prone to giving up big plays, and those 6-7 lapses a game (sometimes fewer) are costing the Hokies.

Boone, though, doesn't see anything different from Virginia Tech's standpoint defensively on those plays.

"They're right there making the same plays, it's just now guys are making contested plays. You watch Miami, you watch ECU — those guys on ECU did a heck of a job of just making tough catches against a good DB. That's really what it comes down to," Boone said. "It was just literally ball's up in the air and it's a tough catch and one guy's coming down with it. ECU did a good job of that.

"Bud Foster's defense challenges you to make the tough throws and make the tough catches, and a lot of teams have been accomplishing that."

To Boone, that's what a game against Virginia Tech always comes down to — executing what you want to do with little to no margin for error.

Kendall Fuller and Brandon Facyson were a formidable duo at cornerback last year but with Facyson out, Fuller is the guy most teams try to avoid if they can. He's still an All-America caliber back, and he just continues to get better. (He is a Fuller, after all.)

"He's just one of those guys where when you throw a football in his direction, you're going to have to be accurate and on time. He's got good ball skills. He fits extremely well in their scheme. He's a great corner," Boone said.

"Matched up on Jamison (Crowder), you've still got to give him a chance. Jamison's a great player. But he's one of those guys that Jamison knows he can play bump-and-run, he can play off-coverage. You've just got to kind of trust your reads and I've got to deliver the ball on time and make sure that I'm not a step behind or a rotation behind on certain routes."

The Duke offense has been far from perfect this year, in spite of being relatively mistake-free. Boone would be the first to admit that his own play has been a bit erratic, or at the very least the play of the passing game in general. Boone hadn't always been accurate, but his receivers hadn't necessarily been helping him either. Duke's running game and its fantastic offensive line had been carrying the load.

Crowder, a preseason All-ACC wide receiver, hadn't really broken out until the last few weeks, catching 26 passes for 322 yards in the last three games (with two touchdowns). The Hokies held him to a season-low four catches for 38 yards last year, though he had eight for 127 the year before. Since 2012, he's had at least two catches in every game he's played in and has averaged fewer than eight yards a catch just six times (three this year, though).

Without tight end Braxton Deaver, who was lost in the preseason to a torn ACL, that left Boone with arguably just one wide receiver that he knew well and trusted (Crowder). Issac Blakeney is a senior, but was not used very much until this year — at 6-6, 225, he's almost like a tight end more than a wideout, except with ridiculous speed and jumping ability. He's Duke's second-leading receiver.

Max McCaffrey is reliable as a possession receiver who rarely runs the wrong route, and the backs can turn a little dump-off pass into something. Speedy back Shaun Wilson is averaging 10.47 yards per catch on 17 receptions this year (Duke's fourth-leading receiver).

Trust, then, will be huge in this game. Boone has to trust that every piece on Duke's offense is going to do what it is supposed to do, which is often easier said than done against the Hokies.

"They have the mentality of who they're coached by — Bud Foster as a play caller is very aggressive and they're a very aggressive front," senior left tackle Takoby Cofield said. "They try and attack you. They try and play across the line of scrimmage, always playing on your side, trying to drive you back a lot. They're very aggressive as a line."

Cofield said that the loss of defensive tackle Luther Maddy hurts because of how great he is at that spot, but that he's noticed the replacements stepping in nicely when he's looked at tape. And like Boone, he knows that this is the type of game where it's all about winning individual battles.

"That's huge. The scheme is one thing, but you can go out there and have the greatest of schemes but if you're flattening people down, it's hard to work it," Cofield said. "I guess that's really the biggest part of it, just big-boying up and just taking care of business."

That's the mentality Boone will have to have when it's third-and-somewhat-manageable and he looks across the line of scrimmage only to see eight Hokies in the box, foaming at the mouth and waiting to plant him into the grass.

"It's mano y mano, really, man on man on the outside. Trust what I have up front — that's a great offensive line and a great back. That's really what it's going to come down to is just trust in my guys up front and trust in my backs to get the job done," Boone said.

Cutcliffe knows they'll see that, too.

"I think there's no question they're comfortable playing man coverage. That's what they've done with us in the past and many, many others. They did it to Ohio State and they've done it to people all year long," Cutcliffe said. "I think they evaluate our personnel just like we evaluate their personnel and you're trying to look for matchups. We don't know exactly what we're going to get, but what we know we will get will be aggressive. That's the way I would term it."

There's a perception that Duke has been able to have success based on the brilliant mind of Cutcliffe and the schemes they play. That is not quite as true now, although Cutcliffe is a great coach. Every year, they have more and more talent on both sides of the ball — legit, ACC-level talent — and they scheme to hide their weaknesses and highlight their strengths.

They'll likely run the ball against the Hokies until they can't do it anymore, because their backs are as good a collection as Duke has had in decades and their offensive line is superb. It's an upperclassman-laden group that's rich in experience, toughness and talent. It's the Blue Devils' best unit by far, and one of the better units in the country. They've given up four sacks all season. FOUR.

On defense, they give up yards but don't allow a lot of scores, bending but not breaking and avoiding giving up big plays. That's out of necessity. Their DB's are quick, athletic and not quite as cerebral as a Ross Cockrell, but learning. Ohio State transfer Jeremy Cash at safety is a next-level talent, though, and is as smart as he is quick and hard-hitting.

Their linebackers are not as athletic without Kelby Brown (who also tore his ACL in the preseason), but they don't make a lot of mistakes. As for the line, as Cutcliffe put it, they make "timely pressures" with a four-man rush but overall, they're fairly average. But they scheme around it enough.

There's an added dimension to this game, of course, in that Duke — perennially the ACC's cellar-dweller — is now looking for its second straight Coastal Division title, facing off against a team that used to be the seemingly-annual Division winner.

Duke couldn't get over the hump against the Hokies for awhile, which is why it was big for them and the program to get a win in Blacksburg last year. It was sort of the program's transition from good story — oh hey, Duke got to its first bowl game since 1994 last year, cute! — to legit program.

"We've had a lot of battles with them and never been able to complete the battle in our favor until last year. I don't know if it means anything this year or not. I don't know that it doesn't. I do know that it's been a physical war anytime we play them," Cutcliffe said. "We've had to step up to try to match their physicality. I think this will be the same. It comes down to these fourth-quarter games, to making plays when you've got to make plays. I think our guys know we can, but we've got to do it. So we'll see what happens."

That fourth-quarter aspect of things is a big part of what Duke does, too. The Blue Devils are at their best in the final quarter. As recently as two years ago, Duke just couldn't get out of its own way when trying to finish games, either giving up leads or collapsing entirely after getting one. (See: Virginia Tech game in Blacksburg when they gave up a 20-0 lead.)

Cutcliffe has slowly but steadily built a fourth-quarter mindset into his team, and it's paid off. "I think all of those emotions kind of turn in for us and I don't know if it's confidence but turn into a determination," Cutcliffe said of when the third-quarter clock hits zero.

So yes, now, Duke is essentially a "favorite" in the rest of its games, and has expectations placed on it that weren't even there last year. The Blue Devils spent last week at Syracuse playing a bit tight and uncharacteristically sloppily, and Cutcliffe admitted as much. Pitt and Syracuse seemed to make him more nervous than this game, and not because he thinks this will be easier — on the contrary, in fact.

"I had a tough week of sweat last week. Two games in a row on the road that were unfamiliar territory, an unfamiliar team. That just doesn't settle well with you," Cutcliffe said. "We've got a tougher test now, even though we're home, but I'm at peace with our kids.

"We know our opponents and we know it's going to be tough, and that's good that it's going to be tough. It's just another opportunity for us to grow. Honestly, I'm in a really good place right now in that regard, much better than I was a year ago. Maybe it was a little newer for us a year ago. But I really am, I don't know what the outcome is going to be, but I know we will give it everything we've got."