Duke’s offense and Nate Sheppard have grabbed plenty of the spotlight, but the Blue Devils’ defense has done serious work of its own to help get them to 4-2 at the midpoint of the season.
That side of the ball enters Friday night’s game at Virginia ranked 19th nationally and second in the ACC, giving up just 16 points per game. That’s a major jump from last season, when Duke won the league championship while allowing 29.4 points a night, a figure that ranked 14th in the conference.
Three defensive players in particular should be on Virginia’s radar.
The first is Watson, a 6-foot-1, 300-pound junior who just turned in the best outing of his three years in Durham. In last week’s 24-20 loss to Duke, he posted a career-high eight tackles, including a sack and 2.5 total tackles for loss.
For the season, Watson has 3.5 tackles for loss in six games. That already tops the 4.0 he had over his first two years combined.
He could make life difficult for Virginia between the tackles, especially if the Cavaliers have to adjust their offensive line because of nagging injuries to center Drake Metcalf. He also could help close off the running lanes Beau Pribula uses on quarterback draws.
Morris brings a different kind of intrigue. His path has looked a lot like Virginia linebacker Kam Robinson’s, with potential repeatedly interrupted by injuries.
Morris opened Duke’s 2024 season as a starter before a season-ending injury shut him down. Last year, he got through four games before going down again.
This season, though, the sixth-year player has stayed on the field through the first half and has tied for the team lead with 33 tackles. He’s also added two tackles for loss and a fumble recovery.
In the secondary, Loud stands out as the newest piece with the most upside. Duke and Virginia both attacked the transfer portal in the offseason to remake secondaries with four new starters, and Loud looks like the most promising of Duke’s additions. The redshirt sophomore spent the previous two seasons at Montana.
He has the size teams want at cornerback at 6-2 and 190 pounds, and through six games he has three pass breakups and a forced fumble. Duke has also used him as a blitzer at times, and he has a quarterback hurry as well.
One thing he has not yet done at the college level is pick off a pass. Even so, if Virginia opens things up through the air, Pribula will have to be sharp and careful.
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