UNC Football: Scouting the Duke Blue Devils

The Duke Blue Devils invade Chapel Hill on Saturday as the battle for the Victory Bell adds another chapter

Ah, rivalry week.

Wait, hold on. Why is it so early? Well, the Atlantic Coast Conference believes that Duke and UNC need to play for the Victory Bell a little earlier than normal.

This year’s game is the earliest the two teams have ever met, taking away from that fun November rivalry game.

But enough with that, let’s talk about the matchup.

Duke enters the game at 3-0 on the year beating Northwestern and Baylor the last two weeks.

They are off to a hot start this season and are receiving votes in the AP Top 25 poll. A win over North Carolina likely gets them ranked next week.

The last time these two teams met was in Durham and the Blue Devils pulled off the upset on a Thursday night. Early on it appeared as if UNC would take control with their high-powered offense led by Mitchell Trubisky, Ryan Switzer, Bug Howard, Elijah Hood and T.J. Logan.

It didn’t last long.

After jumping out to a 14-0 lead over Duke, it looked as if UNC would cruise to a victory. But the Blue Devils outscored the Tar Heels 28-13 the rest of the way and eventually won 28-27.

The loss was a tough one for UNC who would go on to lose to NC State just two weeks later.

Now they are back for some revenge and this time out their home turf. Here’s what you need to know about the Blue Devils.

On offense….

It all starts with Daniel Jones.

The Blue Devils offense is run by the sophomore quarterback who has thrown for 704 yards, 4 touchdowns and 2 interceptions on the year. He had played very well against UNC last season, giving the Tar Heels defense fits with the read option.

Expect more of the same this year.

Jones has improved and has the Blue Devils off to a hot start. He’s completed nearly 65 percent of his attempts and has posted a passer rating of 129.7 through two games.

Against Northwestern, Jones rushed 16 times and racked up 108 yards as he found the end zone twice on the ground.

His ability to make plays with both his feet and arm is something that can burn this UNC defense which is vulnerable to giving up the big play.

The Blue Devils backfield features Shaun Wilson and Brittain Brown, who are sharing the reps so far this season. Both have put together solid starts to the 2017 campaign.

Wilson rushed for 176 yards and two touchdowns against Baylor a week ago while Brown had four receptions for 71 yards out of the backfield.

Keep an eye on these two in this game.

As far as the receivers go, T.J. Rahming is the go-to guy for Jones. He has 18 receptions for 175 yards but hasn’t found the end zone yet this season.

Sophomore Aaron Young has been a bright spot, catching 8 passes for 132 yards and a touchdown. His lone touchdown on the year came on a 54-yard play.

The Blue Devils have had some big plays early this season and that’s something UNC has to eliminate on Saturday. The Tar Heels defense has given up SIX plays of 50-plus yards on the year through three games.

On defense….

The Blue Devils have been solid all-around defensively this season but they have a big strength.

Duke currently has the nation’s No. 1 run defense through three games, allowing 47.7 yards per game so far.

It all starts up front with the Blue Devils.

Their defensive line is playing at a high level, led by tackle Mike Ramsay who won the ACC defensive lineman of the week award. Ramsay finished with five tackles including 2 for a loss in the win over the Bears.

Duke’s defensive line will likely try to do a lot of things to confuse the Tar Heels on offense, including shifting around and giving them different looks. It’s going to be key for offensive lineman to remember their assignments and keep the pressure off of Surratt.

As for their secondary, the Blue Devils are 36th in the nation allowing 175.3 yards per game through the air.

Sophomore Mark Gilbert is playing at a high-level, recording two interceptions in the win over Northwestern.

Then there are safeties Alonzo Saxton and Jeremy McDuffie.

The duo has a lot of experience in the Duke secondary and will be a big test for UNC’s passing game come Saturday. If Surratt isn’t careful, he could end up with a few interceptions as both Saxton and McDuffie are very aggressive back there.

Player to watch…

Linebacker Ben Humphreys could play a big part in this game. The junior is coming off a nice 2016 season and was named preseason All-ACC first team by two different publications including Phil Steele’s College Football Preview.

Against Baylor, the middle linebacker had an interception return for a touchdown. He’s got 13 tackles on the season, second on the team. He finished with three hurries in the Baylor game and has shown he can get to the quarterback.

The middle linebacker will be used in both coverage and on blitzes. He’s fast enough to get into the backfield and make a key stop on a running back and can force Surratt into quick decisions.

In coverage, Humphrey’s is pretty damn good. Watch for him to be matched up at times on a tight end or a running back out of the backfield.

The difference maker…

For this matchup, we are going to take a look at the Tar Heels run game against Duke’s standout rush defense.

This could be the biggest key in the matchup on Saturday.

UNC would love to establish the run game early and often, setting up the play action and opening up the game more for Surratt. Sophomore running back Jordon Brown is coming off his first 100-plus yard game in his career and is looking to keep things moving.

The Tar Heels will play both Brown and freshman Michael Carter in hopes of keeping one fresh.

Running on Duke won’t be easy and if UNC can’t get it going early in the game, they could be forced to throw the ball more than they want to.

For the first few series, look how Fedora plays it with the run game. Hopefully, it works early for the Tar Heels and they have a big day on the ground.