Virginia Football 2016 Opponent: Duke

Taquan Mizzell dives into the end zone against Duke.
Taquan Mizzell scored three touchdowns against Duke in last season’s win. ~ Mike Ingalls

A quick glance at David Cutcliffe’s record at Duke reveals a losing record overall as he enters his ninth season. That’s one of those looks can be deceiving things, though. With 48 wins in eight years, he’s got 38 more than the program had in the eight years before his arrival. It’s a lot more impressive in that context.

The challenge now is to keep that consistency going. The Blue Devils have been to four straight bowl games and they own three straight winning records after seasons of 10-4, 9-4, and 8-5. Last season ended with Cutcliffe’s first bowl win, a 44-41 victory against Indiana in the Pinstripe Bowl. For Duke to keep a good thing going, it has to keep winning close games. Four wins in 2015 came by a touchdown for less – it was three in 2014 and four in 2013 too.

Virginia, meanwhile, ended a three-game losing streak against the Devils last fall with a 42-34 win. The Cavaliers have not won at Duke since a 37-0 win in 2006 so that will be the challenge for Bronco Mendenhall when he makes his first trip to Durham on Oct. 1. Here’s a glance at what he can expect from that matchup.

Duke Peek

  • Head Coach (record at school): David Cutcliffe (48-53, 8 seasons)
  • 2015 Record: 8-5 (defeated Indiana in Pinstripe Bowl, 44-41)
  • Offense 2015 Total Yards/Game (National FBS Rank): 439.4 (36th)
  • Offense 2015 Points/Game: 31.5 (t-48th)
  • Defense 2015 Total Yards/Game: 394.7 (60th)
  • Defense 2015 Points/Game: 25.4 (47th)

What To Expect On Game Day

Offense: One of Cutcliffe’s biggest strengths is his ability to develop and coach quarterbacks. With all three of his top quarterbacks back from last season, he should be able to get good production from that spot again this season. The main question at the start of the season is the health of 2015 starter Thomas Sirk. He ruptured his left Achilles tendon in February and remains on the road to recovery. By the time the UVA game arrives, however, you likely can expect Sirk to be the man under center. After beginning his career as a goal-line running quarterback option, Sirk rushed for 803 yards and 8 touchdowns as the starter last season while also throwing for 2,625 yards and 16 touchdowns.

The new running quarterback sub option has been Parker Boehme, who returns off a season with 181 rushing yards and 5 touchdowns. Boehme saw extended action against UVA last season when Sirk missed time after getting the start. Boehme completed 8 of 19 passes for 178 yards and 1 touchdown in the game.

When quarterbacks aren’t running the ball, they’ll be throwing it to familiar faces for the most part. Junior Anthony Nash and sophomore TJ Rahming are both back after good seasons in 2015. Nash caught 32 passes for 475 yards and 1 touchdown, while Rahming snared 43 for 571 yards and 2 touchdowns. A pair of new targets could be tight end Daniel Helm, who transferred from Tennessee, and true freshman Scott Bracey. Bracey, a four-star recruit out of Benedictine in Richmond, has been battling a hamstring issue in preseason practice.

For the running game, two of the top three running backs from 2015 return. Senior Jela Duncan logged 67 carries for 460 yards and 4 touchdowns last season, while junior Shaun Wilson had 84 carries for 424 yards and 3 touchdowns. The third running back is a battle among a host of players, including potentially true freshmen.

Defense: One huge question right off the top – how do they Blue Devils fill in for 2015 ACC Defensive Player of the Year Jeremy Cash. The safety had 101 tackles (18 tackles for loss!), 8 QB hurries, 3 forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery a year ago. Plus, defensive coordinator Jim Knowles called him an eraser because he could make up for other’s mistakes.

Some of the players that will help fill that void include DeVon Edwards, Ben Humphreys, and Bryon Fields. Edwards played corner last season when Fields missed the season with a knee injury, but with Fields back in the fold that could give Edwards a shot to play safety. Humphreys, meanwhile, holds down the middle linebacker spot. Edwards also had 101 tackles last season, while Humphreys added 31.

Regardless of who takes playing time, however, the Duke defense wants to bounce back from a rough finish to the season. In the seven games starting with Virginia Tech on Oct. 24 last year, the D gave up 30 or more points six times. That included 40+ points from VT (43), North Carolina (66), Virginia (42), and Indiana (41). UNC singed the defense for 537 passing yards and 704 total yards, while Indy threw up 389 passing yards and 667 total yards. Yikes. One big culprit: the lack of a pass rush. Keep an eye on Duke’s early season games to see if its an issue that has been addressed.

Of note, defensive tackle Brandon Boyce and safety Phillip Carter have been suspended for the first three games so the meeting with Virginia will be only their second game of the season.

Special Teams: The headliner here is the aforementioned DeVon Edwards. He has six career kickoff returns for touchdowns. that’s one short of the ACC/NCAA record set by Clemson’s C.J. Spiller. Edwards returned three kickoffs last season for scores and tallied 700 return yards on the season. Shaun Wilson returned a kick 98 yards for a touchdown in the Pinstripe Bowl too. Of note, BYU was in the middle of the pack in coverage last season when it ranked 58th nationally at 20.93 yards per return allowed.

Those returns helped the Devils rank fourth nationally in Football Outsiders’ FEI ratings, but they have to replace the specialist roles. Kicker Ross Martin and punter Will Monday were both seniors. Martin kicked every field goal and extra point for the program in the last four years. A pair of freshmen appear to be in line for the kicking gigs now. True freshman AJ Reed is the projected kicker, while redshirt freshman Austin Parker is the projected punter.