The Duke defense welcomes Virginia Tech to Wallace Wade Stadium on Saturday, and the Hokies bring one of the ACC’s best ground games with them to Durham.
Through Week 12, the Hokies are one of five ACC teams averaging more than five yards per carry, and they’re second among those five teams in total attempts. The end result is an offense picking up more than 185 rushing yards per week.
“I think they do a great job in the run game trying to attack you with some outside zone, some stretch, and a lot of motion on every play,” Duke defensive coordinator Jonathan Patke said on Monday. “About 75 percent of their normal downs have some type of motion on it to get your eyes going in the wrong direction.”
Running back Bhayshul Tuten and quarterback Kyron Drones form the heartbeat of that attack. Tuten picked up 951 yards and scored 12 touchdowns through the Hokies’ first eight games, surpassing the 100-yard mark five different times. He’s battled injury over the last two weeks, but he rumbled around for 266 yards and three scores against Boston College just a month ago.
Drones, who has also battled some injuries for the last three weeks, has added 336 yards and six scores with his legs. While the Blue Devils have faced SMU’s Kevin Jennings, Miami’s Cam Ward, and NC State’s CJ Bailey in the past three games, Patke says Drones presents a different challenge.
“He’s a little bit different than the guys we’ve seen in the past few weeks,” Patke said on Monday. “He’s going to try to run through you and he’s a big guy, so they designed some runs for him and sometimes he just makes it happen on his own.”
The duo has combined for more than 69% of the Hokies’ rushing yards. Despite their talent, however, Patke didn’t make it sound like his defense carried any nerves.
“It’s a great challenge for us,” he concluded. “It will be a physical football game and we’re excited.”