Duke's Rushing Defense

[iskaboo]

I read on some other site (I now cannot find it) that Duke allegedly had a superior rushing defense. This worried me because it appears that we are currently much stronger rushing offensively than passing (although we obviously must give Thorson time to develop).

When I looked at last year's stats, I found that Duke ranked only No.92 in rushing defense (193 ypg; 4.45 ypp). By contrast, we were ranked No. 70 with 170 ypg and 4.24 ypp. It appears that we have improved massively in our rushing defense (based on the Stanford game), while it is unclear to me how effective the Duke rushing defense actually is based on the lackluster caliber of opponent Duke has faced to date.

Can anyone shed some light? Can the Cats effectively run on Duke?

 

[Evanstonian]

All I know is that Tulane rushed for only 25 yards and NCC for only 54. Both teams were probably passing a lot in order to catch up. I guess we'll find out how good Duke's defense is on Saturday.

 

[shakes3858]

I read on some other site (I now cannot find it) that Duke allegedly had a superior rushing defense. This worried me because it appears that we are currently much stronger rushing offensively than passing (although we obviously must give Thorson time to develop).

When I looked at last year's stats, I found that Duke ranked only No.92 in rushing defense (193 ypg; 4.45 ypp). By contrast, we were ranked No. 70 with 170 ypg and 4.24 ypp. It appears that we have improved massively in our rushing defense (based on the Stanford game), while it is unclear to me how effective the Duke rushing defense actually is based on the lackluster caliber of opponent Duke has faced to date.

Can anyone shed some light? Can the Cats effectively run on Duke?

Duke runs a 4-2-5 defense which takes away a linebacker and replaces him with another safety. It's used to get more speed on the field and is probably a tweak to stop the spread offense. If you have a guy like Henry or Phillips that can be a linebacker when needed and safety when needed, it can very effective. On the other hand, it can make you weak against the run when you take an LB off the field for a DB. If you'd like to see what a good running game can do to a 4-2-5 base defense watch the 2012 Big Ten championship game of Nebraska vs Wisconsin.

The other thing is that Dukes defensive line is little.
DE Britton Grier 245
DT Carlos Way 290
DT AJ Wolf 270
DE Kyler Brown 235

Back Ups
DE Deion Williams 230
DT Quaven Ferguson 305
DT Mike Ramsay 295
DE Marquies Price 240

While 3 of the 4 DTs have pretty adequate size, but the DTs are tiny. This will give Mogus and Olson hell in trying to stop a pass rush, but they should be able to over power the ends in the running game. We heard about Odenigbo needing to bulk up vs the run last year... he'd be their biggest DE. I haven't seen Duke play this year, so I don't know if their line are just tough SOBs that can get the job done even if they're smaller, but I like our chances.

I also don't think you can look at their first two games' box score and determine anything. NCCU most likely is really bad (although they could be good seeing as they stopped duke three times leading to 2 punts and a lowly field goal in the 1st half (sarcasm alert)). Tulane is pretty bad too. Interesting the Tulane's leading rusher against GTech only had 6 carries vs 13 against GTech. Wonder if he's a pitch man on the option or something and got taken away vs Duke.

 

[Hungry Jack]

Well, if Duke defends with a smaller, speedier defensive team, then you attack it by running directly at it. Also run some counters and traps. I think this suits both Long and JJ well, and I would imagine our oline would enjoy it. This puts some onus on CT to make plays using play action, but it all starts with the run game. I hope we can pound the rock on these guys.

 

[TraBuch]

Our run defense was unbelievably bad last year. Even against Tulane, we gave up over 200 yards rushing. And Elon had about 130. This year against Tulane and NCCU (Basically equivalent to Elon), we had significantly more success. I'm not saying our run defense is amazing or anything, but it's really encouraging. Still think we'll have a lot of trouble with power guys going inside, though. This defense was basically built to stop Ga Tech's triple option.

 

[CommodoresAndCats]

Duke was playing two very bad teams so the stats will be skewed, but they should be alright relative to the rest of power 5 teams. Keep in mind that the cats ran the ball very effectively against a stanford 3-4 defense that is designed to stop the option run attack first and the pass second. If we can run all over stanford then I don't think the stable of NU RBs will have too much trouble against Duke

 

[bringbacktherantboard]

Maybe Duke will stack the box and dare Thorson to throw. Also, maybe Duke will run some blitzes to test Thorson's decision-making under pressure. How well can Thorson pick up the blitz? (How aggressive is Duke's defense?)

 

[hdhntr1]

Duke was playing two very bad teams so the stats will be skewed, but they should be alright relative to the rest of power 5 teams. Keep in mind that the cats ran the ball very effectively against a stanford 3-4 defense that is designed to stop the option run attack first and the pass second. If we can run all over stanford then I don't think the stable of NU RBs will have too much trouble against Duke

Now if we can just put it into the endzone rather than having to go for 3.

 

[willycat]

Now if we can just put it into the endzone rather than having to go for 3.

Agree Nu needs to start putting 6 points in the red zone but still it's good to know that Mitchell is getting to be almost a sure thing if they don't. Speaking of Mitchell, another site is saying that the reason he isn't kicking off is because of a nagging injury. Does anyone know what it might be?

 

[NJCat83588]

Agree Nu needs to start putting 6 points in the red zone but still it's good to know that Mitchell is getting to be almost a sure thing if they don't. Speaking of Mitchell, another site is saying that the reason he isn't kicking off is because of a nagging injury. Does anyone know what it might be?

Fitzgerald said after the Stanford game it was "a lower body injury". That's as much as the Kremlin will say about injuries.

 

[Gocatsgo2003]

Agree Nu needs to start putting 6 points in the red zone but still it's good to know that Mitchell is getting to be almost a sure thing if they don't. Speaking of Mitchell, another site is saying that the reason he isn't kicking off is because of a nagging injury. Does anyone know what it might be?

It is not atypical for kickers to strain their leg during camp -- it's a lot of kicking in a condensed period after a long while off. That's why NFL teams pay for "camp legs." Would guess that it's a calf or quad that's enough to be sore, but not enough to knock him out entirely.

 

[shakes3858]

It is not atypical for kickers to strain their leg during camp -- it's a lot of kicking in a condensed period after a long while off. That's why NFL teams pay for "camp legs." Would guess that it's a calf or quad that's enough to be sore, but not enough to knock him out entirely.

I figured a hammy.

 

[Gocatsgo2003]

I figured a hammy.

Possible, but hamstrings aren't really that involved in kicking. Pretty much all hip and quad.

 

[phatcat_rivals223240]

Our run defense was unbelievably bad last year. Even against Tulane, we gave up over 200 yards rushing. And Elon had about 130. This year against Tulane and NCCU (Basically equivalent to Elon), we had significantly more success. I'm not saying our run defense is amazing or anything, but it's really encouraging. Still think we'll have a lot of trouble with power guys going inside, though. This defense was basically built to stop Ga Tech's triple option.

Good thing the Elon game didn't go to overtime, otherwise it would be Elon-gated

 

[phatcat_rivals223240]

Maybe Duke will stack the box and dare Thorson to throw. Also, maybe Duke will run some blitzes to test Thorson's decision-making under pressure. How well can Thorson pick up the blitz? (How aggressive is Duke's defense?)

Feral Cat

I keep getting you mixed up with Felis Silvestris. I am sorry for this. Suggestion: we used to have an annoying poster called El Gato Montes, and El Gato Loco put a disclaimer sig "not affiliated with El Gato Montes". Funny stuff. Thought you might try it.

 

[Hungry Jack]

Maybe Duke will stack the box and dare Thorson to throw. Also, maybe Duke will run some blitzes to test Thorson's decision-making under pressure. How well can Thorson pick up the blitz? (How aggressive is Duke's defense?)

There is a great piece on InsideNU on a play in the EIU game where CT avoids quick pressure and makes a cross-body throw to pick up a big first down. It's not a play where he reads a blitz and finds the hot route, but he uses his athleticism to turn a threat into a big play. It bodes well for him.