No team in the FBS creates more havoc on defense than the Duke Blue Devils.
First-year head coach [autotag]Manny Diaz[/autotag] said in the offseason that he thought the Blue Devils had the defensive line to wreck offenses, and he preached the importance of negative plays for slowing down opposing teams.
Through Week 2, the Duke defense has generated 27 tackles for loss, more than any other college football team in the country. In fact, the only other Power Four program with more than 22 tackles for loss is Mississippi, and the Rebels haven’t played a fellow Power Four opponent yet.
The Blue Devils put a nation-leading eight sacks on the board against Elon in Week 1, and while the defensive line didn’t add to that tally in Week 2 against Northwestern, they still wrangled the Wildcats in the backfield 11 times.
Linebacker Alex Howard, the Youngstown State transfer who led the defense with 14 total tackles against Northwestern, has finished with at least two TFLs in both games. His 4.5 tackles for loss are tied for the fifth-most in the country, and seven other Blue Devils have at least 2.0 for the season already.
Defensive back [autotag]Chandler Rivers[/autotag] came away with the biggest negative play of the season during overtime against Northwestern. The Wildcats faced third-and-1 from within the 5-yard line in 2OT, needing a touchdown to tie and the ensuing 2-point conversion to win the game. Quarterback Mike Wright scrambled to the right on a keeper, and Rivers wrapped him up in the open field for an 8-yard loss to force a game-deciding fourth down.
Duke looks to keep its defensive momentum rolling against Connecticut on Saturday.