The old adage goes “defense wins games.”
That’s something the Blue Devils could learn. Saturday’s game against No. 1 Alabama was a complete mismatch for the Duke defense, allowing 62 points, 45 in the first half alone. It took the Crimson Tide all of 1:19 to cap its first touchdown drive. It took Alabama 2:12 to score its second touchdown, 3:06 to score its third, and 55 seconds to score its fourth—all on consecutive possessions, and all during the first quarter.
“They’re the No. 1 team in the nation for a reason,” junior safety Matt Daniels, who led the Blue Devils with six tackles, said. “They came out and executed and pretty much dominated us in all three aspects of the game.”
The Crimson Tide offense was absolutely unrelenting throughout the entire game. Their performance against Duke turned into a showcase of their five-star recruits’ talent, including 151 rushing yards from junior running back Mark Ingram.
Ingram, who missed the first two games of the season while recovering from knee surgery, saw his first action of the season Saturday and did not disappoint the thousands of Alabama fans present at Wallace Wade Stadium. On the first play of the afternoon, quarterback Greg McElroy handed Ingram the ball, who turned to the right, found an opening and ran right by the Duke secondary for 48 yards. Not bad for his opening carry of the season.
It was evident that Ingram simply had a lethal combination of speed and strength that Duke wouldn’t be able to overcome. With the assistance of the offensive line, he was able to find openings in the middle, shake off any defender and break into the open field. He was simply too fast for any member of the Duke secondary to catch. If anybody watching had doubts as to whether he had fully recovered from his knee injury, he surely put them to rest Saturday afternoon.
“My knee felt better than ever. It felt brand new,” said Ingram. “I was really focused, really hungry and really eager to get back on the field. I just wanted to make an impact right off the jump.”
Other Alabama stars had their chances to shine, too. Backup running back Trent Richardson rushed for 61 yards, wide receiver Julio Jones caught five passes for 106 yards, and quarterback Greg McElroy was 14-for-20 for 258 yards. Even third string running back Eddie Lacy had a touchdown of his own.
This explosive offensive arsenal was just too much for Duke to handle. Alabama’s size and strength advantage sometimes required three of four Duke defenders to make a single tackle.
“We just have to go back and really work on our fundamentals. We missed a lot of tackles out there today against some great backs,” said Daniels. “But we really just have to… understand who we are as a defense and who we are as an offense and who we are as a team. We just have to bounce back strong from this.”
The juxtaposition between Duke’s defensive and offensive performance is perhaps the biggest insight provided by Saturday’s game. While Cutcliffe has done a good job in legitimizing Duke’s offensive threat, the defense’s development has been slower. The Blue Devils’ defense allowed the Alabama offense 626 yards. The unit’s statistics against Elon and Wake Forest were similarly disappointing. Obviously, something needs to change, or else Duke will have a difficult time against any opponent this year, regardless of their national championship pedigree.
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