The Blue Devils lost, again.
For the first two weeks of the season that was basically all there was to say. But something unexpected happened at the start of Saturday's matchup with Virginia-Duke's defense came out playing well.
Really well, actually.
So the question is, why did the Blue Devils do so well early, and what caused the meltdown that led to Duke's third consecutive defeat?
The Blue Devils came in with one overriding defensive principle-Dan Ellis, the Virginia quarterback, is not very good. So Duke packed eight or nine men in the box the entire game with the idea that it could stop the run and force Ellis into bad throws under pressure.
The Blue Devils dominated the line of scrimmage early. Ellis was sacked four times in the first half and Duke batted down another ball.
"They beat us up front physically," Virginia coach George Welsh said. "We weren't in rhythm in the passing game."
Jason Davis and Todd DeLamielleure, Duke's starting inside linebackers, prevented the Cavalier running attack from gaining any yardage in the middle of the field, forcing Virginia to the outside.
And at the line of scrimmage, Troy Austin looked like he could be playing for Florida State. He seemed to be everywhere on the field, recording a sack and seven tackles.
"We didn't think they were as good up front as they were last year," Welsh said. "But they might be. They're big and strong. They have some quickness and some good linebacker play."
Virginia also had trouble blocking starting safety Josh Kreider, who totaled four tackles in the backfield, including one sack, for a combined 17-yard loss.
Early on, the defensive pressure proved too much for the Cavaliers. They had difficulty moving the ball in the first quarter, and Ellis made a couple of bad throws.
But as the game wore on, Virginia started to pick up the blocking, and gave Ellis more time to throw.
For this defensive scheme to work, Duke's corners had to play Virginia's receivers one-on-one. However, the Blue Devils weren't up to the task, especially when Ellis had extra time.
"We didn't challenge their receivers very well," said head coach Carl Franks. "Not only did we let them catch the ball in front of us. We let them run right past us."
Ellis finished 20-of-30 as he threw for 333 yards and three touchdowns.
"What's his name, number 31 [Derrick Lee] is probably like 5-foot-10," Ellis said. "I knew we could take advantage of that. The other corner isn't very tall either."
The biggest beneficiary of the secondary's ineptitude in man coverage was Virginia receiver Billy McMullen. McMullen destroyed the Blue Devils, catching eight ball for 189 yards and two touchdowns.
"There was a lot of one-on-one against McMullen," Welsh said. "I don't know if I would have done that. They had trouble with him, whether it was short or long."
The problems on short-yardage situations were a product of the large cushion the Blue Devils gave McMullen at the line. This, however, proved to be the more successful of the secondary's options, as their one attempt to move up on McMullen proved disastrous.
"We knew we could put it up deep because they were so soft," McMullen said. "They were all in man coverage, one time they pressed, and that's when I scored that 55-yard touchdown."
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