In its final road contest of the season, No. 22 Duke travels to Syracuse to take on the Orange at 12:30 p.m. at the Carrier Dome seeking its eighth win of the season. Here are the three keys to this afternoon's contest:
Pressure the quarterback
Syracuse will start sophomore Austin Wilson under center on Saturday after first and second string quarterbacks redshirt junior Terrel Hunt and freshman A.J. Long sustained injuries. Saturday’s game against the Blue Devils will be the first start for Wilson, who went 5-of-9 for 89 yards, with one interception, when he replaced Long last week against Florida State.
If Duke can successfully apply pressure to the Orange offense on third down and clear passing situations with blitzes, much like it did at Pittsburgh last week on important passing downs, the Blue Devils should be able to rattle Syracuse’s inexperienced play-caller. Syracuse’s offensive line is also missing three starters for Saturday’s game, which should make it easy for Duke’s under-sized defensive line to pressure the quarterback.
Don’t turn the ball over
The Blue Devils have been great at protecting the football, with just five turnovers all year, and not one in their last 205 plays; however, Syracuse’s defense has excelled at getting takeaways, especially against ranked teams. Two weeks ago, the Orange forced four turnovers against then-No. 21 Clemson and in September, they recorded five against then-No. 8 Notre Dame. In the Blue Devils’ only loss this season at Miami, turnovers proved to be the deciding factor, and they are one of the only things that could cause Duke to falter at the Carrier Dome.
Air it out
Saturday, Duke will be playing in the Carrier Dome, with complete temperature controls and zero wind. This will be the first time this season that the Blue Devil will be playing in a dome and after redshirt senior quarterback Anthony Boone’s stellar performance throwing the ball at Pittsburgh, they should consider taking advantage of the situation.
Syracuse’s injury-riddled secondary and linebacking core make it even more enticing for offensive coordinator Scottie Montgomery to let Boone throw it downfield to any one of his viable options at receiver, or even check it down to freshman running back Shaun Wilson, who leads Duke running backs with 170 receiving yards. Being able to take advantage of the favorable passing conditions and Syracuse’s decimated defense could allow the Blue Devils to put the game away early.
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Jacob Weiss is a Trinity senior. His column, "not jumping to any conclusions," runs on alternate Fridays.