Following a 28-14 victory last week against Georgia Tech, Duke will face Virginia at home, trying to earn another ACC win.
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. Here are our Shane Smith’s X-Factors for this week:
Duke: Quarterback Daniel Jones
You could make a case every game that Daniel Jones is the key to the game, but the redshirt junior will have his work cut out for him this week after two years of embarrassing performances versus the Cavaliers. In his freshman year, Jones threw five interceptions and lost a fumble in the endzone on the potential game-tying drive. Then last year, the Blue Devil signal caller threw a pick six on the first drive of the game and only completed 33 percent of his passes for an average of nine yards per completion. Duke hasn’t beaten Virginia since 2014 after winning six of the first seven in the Cutcliffe era.
The Cavaliers’ secondary has been the strength of their defense, as it has picked off twice as many passes as touchdowns allowed in its wins this season. Jones has showed a great maturity so far this year, but sometimes is too determined to avoid the sack and makes poor, off balance throws into coverage. The Charlotte Latin product may have to make things happen with his legs if his receivers can’t create space, because the Blue Devil offensive line has had many struggles this year against Power 5 competition.
With the Duke passing defense showing signs of weakness, Jones and the offense could be in for a shootout. The projected first round pick will have to look down the field more often and get the Cavalier defenders off the line if he wants to finally break through his Wahoo woes.
Virginia: Linebacker Zane Zandier
The Hoos have dealt with injury troubles all year in their linebacking core, so they’ll need another big game from Zandier after his efforts in the upset over Miami last week. The sophomore led the team in tackles with nine and kept the Hurricane rushing attack virtually inert despite one 70-yard run. Virginia is 4-0 this year when they hold their opponents’ lead back to less than five yards per carry.
It will be especially important to stop Duke running back Deon Jackson, who took every single carry out of the backfield for the Blue Devils last week against Georgia Tech. The sophomore had his best game of his young career as he racked up 98 yards and a touchdown in the Duke win. The Atlanta native did show a lack of ball security when he fumbled on a goal to go situation after his fifth consecutive carry. Zandier may try to strip the ball to get some momentum going for the Cavaliers when Jackson is tired, so it will be important to see if Duke’s lead back Brittain Brown comes back from injury.
He can’t solely focus on the Blue Devil backs however, as the run pass option that Duke runs can be hard to stop. If Zandier can trust his secondary to keep close coverage throughout the day, then he will have free reign to keep the Blue Devils grounded.
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