Duke football player of the week: Week 6

Deondre Singleton

Statline: One interception, one fumble recovery, five total tackles, three solo tackles, one tackle for loss, one pass breakup

The good: The Blue Devils’ defense shined throughout a 13-6 win against Army to get back to .500 on the season. Singleton was involved with two of the Black Knights’ three turnovers with a fumble recovery and an interception and helped hold Army’s triple-option attack—which entered the game leading the nation with more than 370 rushing yards per game—to just 165 yards on the ground. The senior safety’s fumble recovery came early in the first quarter deep in the Black Knights’ territory to set Duke up for its first touchdown.

Singleton also led a Blue Devil secondary that held Army to just a 3-of-11 mark through the air with 49 passing yards in rainy conditions. With the Black Knights needing to pass in the closing minutes to drive down the field quickly with a chance to tie the game, the Dacula, Ga., native picked off a deep pass from quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw to seal the win.

The bad: Duke’s triple-option defense made its only big mistake late in the second quarter, when Army running back Andy Davidson burst through a hole untouched up the middle for a 45-yard touchdown. The Blue Devils missed an assignment on that play to give the Black Knights some momentum at the end of the first half, but held them scoreless in the second half to preserve the win.

The bottom line: Singleton helped Duke force three turnovers against a disciplined team that entered the game with just three giveaways, and the Blue Devil secondary rebounded well from a dismal performance in a Week 5 loss to Virginia. Army does not pass the ball very much—especially not on a day as rainy and windy as Saturday was—but Singleton will face his biggest test yet in pass coverage against No. 5 Louisville Friday night.

Honorable mention: Sophomore linebacker Ben Humphreys led Duke with 10 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss, making big plays near the line of scrimmage and in the backfield to put the Black Knights in several 3rd-and-long situations. All 10 of Humphreys’ tackles came in the first half, keeping Army at bay to help the Blue Devils storm out to a 13-0 lead. The Black Knights did not pick up a first down until late in the second quarter, and they finished the game just 2-of-17 combined on third and fourth down. Humphreys is now Duke’s leader in tackles in his first year as a starter, with 48 through six games.