Blue Devils focused on ‘now’ but aware of past
Duke wins ACC opener with traces of how much has changed from past failures to current strengths
DURHAM – It’s not that Duke is oblivious to its past.
It’s that the Blue Devils’ understanding of past pitfalls is shaping how bright their current and future outlooks are.
“We have to remember the past, but we can’t live in it,” Duke quarterback Riley Leonard said.
It’s hard to talk about Duke’s 38-17 win over Virginia without at least acknowledging the past – and the work that it does to distance the Blue Devils from it.
Thirteen ACC losses in a row and Saturday night’s game means it doesn’t go to 14; seven losses in a row to Virginia and there isn’t an eighth.
Beyond the results is how much this Duke team that was dismantled last season by Virginia, to the tune of 48-0, thoroughly controlled this game.
Duke (4-1, 1-0 ACC) jumped out to a 21-0 lead – again – and deployed a rushing attack that piled up a season-high 248 rushing yards and four of Duke’s five touchdowns.
“We talk about game control and we keep talking about it, that’s the big thing too, to not lose sight of,” coach Mike Elko said. “When you have game control, it’s a lot easier to not turn the ball over. When you’re down 14, you feel like you have to press and make plays, and that’s when sometimes you put the ball at risk.
“When you’re able to start fast, get on top, play with a lead, control the game the way we’ve been able to do it in some of our wins, it allows you to manage the football the right way.”
Ah yes, the turnover numbers.
Duke’s reversal in that department is astounding. A team that couldn’t get out of its way for most of the last two years – both when it came to protecting the football and taking it away – is suddenly plus-8 in turnover margin. The Blue Devils were a combined minus-26 in turnover margin for the last two seasons.
The win over Virginia was the third time this season Duke hasn’t committed a turnover, and another two takeaways – a recovered fumble on a kickoff and a Darius Joiner interception – give Duke 10 takeaways and mean the Blue Devils have forced multiple turnovers in each win this season.
“So, you’ve gotta remember all of those years of struggle and turning the ball over,” Leonard said. “But you can’t let it affect you in the now.”
It’s not just past seasons guiding the Blue Devils.
It was only three weeks ago that Duke jumped out to a 21-0 lead against Northwestern and had to hold on for a 31-23 lead. There’s human nature to fight in racing out to big leads, along with the whole “the other team has scholarship players, too” part, but Duke also made some mistakes along the way in its second win of the season getting dramatic.
Duke had the same 21-0 lead over Virginia before giving up a late touchdown in the first half, and then a special teams error prevented Duke from being aggressive with a two-minute drill.
That brought a challenge from Elko, who received the game ball, to the Blue Devils at halftime.
“We challenged them … in the locker room at halftime basically saying, ‘These guys are going to come, they did it last week,’” Elko said. “‘We have to play our best quarter of the year coming out of this locker room in the third quarter.’
“And I thought we did that.”
Duke isn’t that far removed from ineptitude. Leonard was quick to bring up one particular memory of last season’s loss at Virginia.
“It’s incredible, with the new staff, new offense, new defense, new special teams, to come out and get our first ACC win is huge,” Leonard said. “Especially for me, last year, played Virginia, fumbled on the 1-yard line.
“So it was good to get some redemption on that.”
It’s a fine line to walk, the “remember the past, but we can’t live in it” directive.
Fuel comes from anywhere and everywhere and if it helps the Blue Devils further exceed last season’s win total, well, that’s the winning recipe.