Preview: No. 18 Duke at Connecticut

The temptation is present and obvious.

Duke plays a winless Connecticut team on Saturday and enters as a three-touchdown favorite. The 18th-ranked Blue Devils have cruised through Lafayette and Northwestern in the weeks following that Monday Night win over Clemson, and another national program comes to Wallace Wade Stadium next weekend in the form of Notre Dame.

This weekend appears to be another steppingstone on the way to another primetime matchup.

The important part is that Duke’s players don’t see it that way.

“I think everybody’s just focused on this week,” offensive lineman Jake Hornibrook said. “I don’t think anybody’s thinking about next week. We’ve got UConn this Saturday and that’s all anybody is thinking about.”

Duke is in uncharted territory — at least, for players who have been with the Blue Devils for their whole careers. It’s the first time since 2018 that Duke is ranked and there’s an outside chance at hosting ESPN’s College GameDay next weekend.

All of that comes later.

“We talk all the time in our building about any time you take the game of football for granted, it will find a way to humble you really, really quick,” coach Mike Elko said. “We have a mature group. I think to this point, they certainly have shown the ability to handle all of that.”

Duke heads onto the road for the first time in what looks like a take-care-of-business game — and in that regard, the Blue Devils are focused on playing their brand of football.

“I think the mindset stays the same,” cornerback Myles Jones said of Duke hitting the road for the first time. “At the end of the day, it’s about us. It’s not too much about the circumstance or who we play. We just try to keep the mindset of we’re in control of the situation.”

Keeping that mindset is what has allowed Duke to control its opponents in three games so far.

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Here’s a primer on what you need to know for Saturday’s game:

Time: 3:30 p.m.

Location: Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field.

TV: CBS Sports Network.

Announcers: Chris Lewis (play-by-play), Robert Turbin (analyst), Keiana Martin (sidelines).

Radio link: Listen to the crew that knows Duke better than anybody.

Forecast: Generally gross. Mid-50s, rain, wind around 12-14 mph.

Series; last meeting: UConn leads 2-0; UConn won 45-14 in 2007.

Records: Duke 3-0; UConn 0-3.

Stat to watch: 242.7.

That is Duke’s rushing yards per game, which ranks sixth in the country.

The Blue Devils haven’t been stopped on the ground this season. It’s early and the average is bound to regress at some point — but given the forecast and that UConn has already allowed 200-plus rushing yards twice this season (including the opener against N.C. State), that regression might not be this week.

And then there’s the part of this that it’s Duke’s strength. Through the first quarter of the season, the Blue Devils have shown themselves to be a physically dominant team that can bludgeon teams with a powerful rushing attack.

Part of this is a chicken-egg discussion. Has Duke run for a ton of yards because it’s won all three games by at least three touchdowns? Or has Duke won handily three times because of how well it’s run the ball?

The answer is: A little of this, a little of that.

Where this gets tricky is after UConn was gashed by N.C. State and Georgia State in its first two games, the Huskies held FIU to 80 yards on the ground last weekend.

Matchup to watch: Duke’s equipment staff vs. the weather.

Only kind of tongue-in-cheek here.

This lines up to be a miserable day with a tropical storm landing across most of the east coast. Temperatures falling, wind picking up and rain — so much rain.

It’s a good thing Duke runs the ball so well — and it’s also not like UConn can’t see that.

The weather could turn this game into a slopfest, making it important to keep balls as dry as possible, ensuring players have the right gear, etc.

Quote of the week: “You don’t have to do much but pay attention in college football to see how dangerous every opponent is. You don’t have to be in this game for very long to realize that the second you anticipate something happening is exactly what won’t happen.” – Elko

Opposing offensive player to watch: Wide receiver Brett Buckman (No. 10).

UConn’s leading receiver is on pace to have more catches this season than he had in four seasons at Delaware.

That’s where the 6-foot, 201-pound Buckman transferred from. The Park Ridge, N.J., native had 61 catches for 763 yards and a touchdown for the Blue Hens.

He’s already up to 16 catches for 174 yards and a touchdown this year. Buckman has spent the majority of his time lined up at wide receiver, but has taken around one-third of his snaps in the slot, per Pro Football Focus.

That tells you UConn will move him around a bit; and that he’ll wind up guarded by nickel Brandon Johnson sooner or later.

Opposing defensive player to watch: Defensive end Pryce Yates (No. 90).

Duke’s staff with the Texas A&M flavor has to be acutely aware of the players with Texas ties on this roster.

There are seven Texas natives on UConn’s roster and Yates stands out. The San Antonio native is tied for eighth in the country with six tackles for loss, and he leads UConn with nine QB pressures (per PFF).

The 6-4, 270-pounder redshirted in 2021 and cracked the starting lineup after three games last season. He was second on the team with 27 pressures last season, so this doesn’t seem like a fluke, and had a nine-pressure game against Boston College last season.

Young Blue Devil to watch: Offensive tackle Brian Parker II (No. 53).

Keep a close eye on this one.

It’s tough to pick up offensive line substitutions during games and it’s even harder to do it while watching on TV.

But they do happen. Duke wants to play more than its starting five offensive linemen and for the past two games, that’s meant rotating Parker into the game. The second-year tackle played 31 snaps against Lafayette and 18 against Northwestern, per PFF.

He’s played mostly right tackle and acquitted himself well, given it’s his first experience after redshirting last season. Parker has allowed one QB pressure (against Lafayette) and graded out above 75.0 in pass blocking in both games.

Don’t forget about: Cornerback Myles Jones (No. 1).

For a lot of the reasons laid out in this week’s feature.

But also because of the size and physicality Jones and fellow transfer cornerback Al Blades Jr. bring to the Blue Devils’ secondary.

The 6-4 Jones and 6-1 Blades are on the larger side for cornerbacks. Those are something of a rare commodity across football, in which the lengthy athletes gravitate toward offense.

(Simple concept, right? Everybody wants to score points in every sport.)

It was Jones’ high school coach, J.D. Berna of Magnolia West in Magnolia, Texas (a suburb of Houston), who suggested Jones move to defense.

“I was a wide receiver freshman and sophomore year, and he kinda just sat me down one day and was telling me he felt like I could really maximize my potential at corner,” Jones said. “I really liked defense, so it was an easy decision for me.”

Prediction: I understand the inclination to feel like this is a trap game for Duke.

The first road game can lead to some nervous energy and timidity out of younger players (not that Duke is reliant on many of those, though). There’s the danger of looking ahead to a second possible top-10 team coming to Wallace Wade Stadium next weekend (No. 9 Notre Dame). And Group of 5 teams get fired up to get shots at ranked teams, given they don’t occur often.

All valid concerns.

And all things you shouldn’t be concerned with based on what you’ve seen under this coaching staff.

In 16 games under Elko, Duke hasn’t sleep-walked through a game. It’s had uneven performances, sure, but the mental fortitude and focus has been constant. There’s little reason to believe that pattern gets broken here.

To add: The nasty weather can be the great equalizer.