After nearly pulling off a second-half comeback on the road at Georgia Tech last week, a scuffling Duke team returns home still searching for its first ACC win of the year. The Blue Devils will welcome No. 23 Virginia Tech to Wallace Wade Stadium Saturday afternoon a year after they won a 45-43 four-overtime thriller in Blacksburg, Va. Every week throughout the football season, the Blue Zone will break down a player on each team who could be the difference-maker in the upcoming contest:
Virginia Tech: wide receiver Isaiah Ford
By now, it's certainly no secret that the Blue Devil defense is susceptible to big plays—and Ford is the perfect offensive weapon to exploit that for the Hokies. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound junior topped 1,000 yards and hauled in 11 touchdowns as a first-team All-ACC selection a year ago, and is right on pace to put up similar numbers again this season with Jerod Evans enjoying a breakout year at quarterback.
Ford is coming off his best performance of the year, a 10-catch, 143-yard outburst as Virginia Tech took down Pittsburgh on the road on the road last week. The Jacksonville, Fla., native caught a crucial touchdown pass from Evans in the fourth quarter that put the Hokies up by 10, and he is the go-to target for the Hokies on big plays no matter where he lines up.
Breon Borders—Duke's top cornerback—will likely draw the assignment to stop Ford, and if he can avoid letting the wideout get past him over the top, that will free up the Blue Devil safeties to help out over the middle against the likes of 6-foot-7 tight end Bucky Hodges.
Duke: running back Shaun Wilson
Bad news came out of the Duke camp following the team's loss to the Yellow Jackets when it was announced that running back Jela Duncan's career was over due to a ruptured left Achilles' tendon. Duncan was the Blue Devils' top threat in the backfield this year, piling up a team-high 450 yards and six touchdowns thus far.
Wilson is no stranger to a heavy workload, but much of the offensive burden will now fall on him without Duncan against the Hokies' stingy defense. Virginia Tech ranks 23rd in the country in scoring defense and allows just 113.1 rushing yards per game, presenting a stiff challenge for Wilson.
If Duke is to have a serious chance of pulling off the upset Saturday, it needs to control time of possession and keep Virginia Tech's up-tempo offense off the field—similar to how the Blue Devils attacked then-No. 7 Louisville. Wilson is central to that sort of gameplan, and a big day from him on the ground could be just what head coach David Cutcliffe needs to squeeze out a victory.
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