It has been nearly a month since the last time the Blue Devils took the field — an impressive 30-19 win against Pitt on senior day — and it is safe to say that a lot has changed since then. Former head coach Mike Elko left for Texas A&M, key players on both sides of the ball entered the transfer portal and Duke hired a new head coach in Manny Diaz. The 2023 season, with all of its ups and downs, will finally come to an end Saturday in the Birmingham Bowl, where Duke will face Troy.
It will not be Diaz but Trooper Taylor coaching the Blue Devils in the game. Taylor was named interim head coach after Elko’s late-night departure to College Station, Texas, and he has coached in Durham since former head coach David Cutcliffe’s tenure. Before Taylor and the Blue Devils take the field Saturday, here are five keys to ending the season on a high note:
Tune out the noise
There will be plenty of talk as to whether or not the loss of its head coach will limit Duke’s effectiveness or take away its motivation to play. Likewise, former Troy head coach Jon Sumrall took a job at Tulane after the Trojans finished their regular season. Both teams have reasons to give into those saying that they have lost too much. However, the winner of Saturday’s game will be the team that is able to put on blinders and focus on the singular goal of playing football for four quarters.
On the Blue Devils’ side of things, Taylor has done everything in his power — he even took the team bowling, literally — to keep the team motivated to finish the season strong. The 39 seniors who are graduating from the program, including captains Jacob Monk, DeWayne Carter and Ja’Mion Franklin, will be eager to end their Duke careers on a high note, and players looking to return next year have everything to prove with a new head coach coming in.
However, Troy will have motivation of its own, looking to win 12 games for the second-straight season and put the cherry on top of its own impressive season. Moreover, the Trojans will likely have the crowd on their side, as Troy, Ala., is located just two hours away from Birmingham.
Control the pace
With Troy essentially getting to play a home game, it will be key for the Blue Devils to keep the crowd out of it. The most effective way to do this is by dictating the flow of the game and keeping the Trojans from pulling away. This starts on the defensive end, where Duke has been able to exert its will in all of its most impressive wins this season. To open the year, the Blue Devils held then-No. 9 Clemson to just seven points, and they held N.C. State — who ended the year ranked inside the top 20 — to just three. And, against then-No. 4 Florida State, Duke’s defense kept a sellout crowd largely out of things until the fourth quarter, when the Seminoles took control and ran away with the game after quarterback Riley Leonard left injured.
The Blue Devils cannot allow the same to happen Saturday, and Troy is every bit a formidable foe as the aforementioned trio of conference opponents. The Trojans average 31.15 points per game, 267.9 yards through the air and 158.4 yards on the ground. They are led in part by junior running back Kimani Vidal, who averaged 121.7 rushing yards by himself and scored 14 rushing touchdowns this year.
Duke has some strong runners of its own, though, and that will be the other key to maintaining control of the flow of the game.
Establish the run
In the Blue Devils two seasons under Elko, and especially this year under offensive coordinator Kevin Johns, a strong rushing attack has been the foundation for every successful offensive attack. Graduate student Jordan Waters — who recently announced his plans to transfer to N.C. State — and junior Jaquez Moore lead the way for Duke, but the team employs a running-back-by-committee approach. At their most successful, the Blue Devils are able to impose their will on the offensive line and wear teams down on the ground.
This also opens up the passing game, which will likely be led by freshman quarterback Grayson Loftis. Loftis started the final four games of the season for Duke, and has shown steady improvements throughout the year, and even throughout games. Elko often said that gameplans revolved around letting him settle into the game in the first half before cutting him loose in the second.
In a win against Wake Forest and a double-overtime loss against North Carolina, Loftis was efficient and aggressive through the air in the second half, time and again connecting with junior wideout Jordan Moore. The problem that can come with being so aggressive, especially with Loftis’ youth, is turnovers, and the Blue Devils must be weary of giving the ball away.
Play clean
While Loftis did a good job of limiting his turnovers as a starter, throwing just three interceptions to go along with his eight touchdowns, Troy will surely be looking to pick off the young signal caller. The Trojans had nine interceptions on the season while giving up just 13 touchdowns through the air, and they sit just behind Duke at No. 31 in the nation in team passing efficiency on defense.
Should Loftis get into third-and-long situations, he will likely look to his favorite target in Moore, which he did often in the win against Pittsburgh to end the year. While Moore has thrived in this increased role, Troy has had weeks to watch film and find a way to limit the star wideout. Loftis will need to look to other weapons to avoid falling into any traps laid by the Trojans.
Finish strong
With all of the uncertainty surrounding players entering the portal and Diaz’s decisions regarding the coaching staff and playing time for next season, it is easy for players to get caught looking ahead. However, Taylor and the Duke coaching staff seem to have done a good job in placing the focus on the present, and the ending to the story that the Blue Devils have put together this year.
“The first order of business is that they’ve gotta go win a bowl game. They’ve got
to finish the season in the manner that it deserves, in the manner the guys that are going out — the graduating seniors — that they deserve. They deserve to go out as winners,” Diaz said at his introductory press conference.
And, in a more literal sense, this game looks to be a close one — close enough that it very well may be decided in the fourth quarter. Troy has won double-digit games in back-to-back years, and brings firepower on both sides of the ball. Duke will need to adjust throughout the game and play a strong second half. If Loftis can bring some of the late-game poise that he showed against the Demon Deacons and the Tar Heels, the Blue Devils will put themselves in a position to win a bowl game for the second-straight year.
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Dom Fenoglio is a Trinity sophomore and an assistant Blue Zone editor of The Chronicle's 119th volume.