After a hard fought opening victory against NC State, the Hokies return to the Triangle area to face the Duke Blue Devils. For Tech, this game is about building on momentum while facing a second consecutive conference road test to open the season. It’s also about improvement, focus, and mental sharpness.

For Duke, this game is about rebounding from a tough opening loss to East Carolina. It’s also about taking advantage of a potential letdown by a team coming off an emotional victory and a short week of practice.

Let’s take a look at the keys for the Hokies in this game….

For the second straight week, the Tech defense will be facing off against a new offensive coordinator in Duke’s Bill O’Brien. O’Brien developed his offensive philosophies under Ralph Friedgen, originally at Georgia Tech and then at Maryland. At Duke, he is looking to employ a style and a scheme reminiscent of the Yellow Jacket teams that featured George Godsey, Joe Burns, and Kelly Campbell. While he has some talent to work with in Durham, O’Brien knows that he has a lot of building to do in order to reach the level he had at Georgia Tech.

O’Brien’s system is predicated on the QB having the flexibility, intelligence and authority to make a lot of decisions. Expect to see a lot of formations, motion and shifting by Duke in this game. As usual, look for the Hokies defense to take away the running game early and force Duke’s QB, Mike Schneider, to make a lot of plays. Under Frank Beamer and Bud Foster, it’s a strategy that has served them well over the years and this game sets up perfectly for that strategy to be employed once again.

Tech’s defense made some mistakes and missed a lot of tackles last week against NC State. In this game, it’s critical for the Tech defense to show improvement in those areas. Tackling has been a focus in practice this week, so look for players to be lower in their technique and wrapping up at first contact. Also look for a fast defense with all-out pursuit on the ball leading to a lot of gang tackling. However, the Hokies also need to stay under control and guard against misdirection and trick plays (something Duke used with success last year against the Hokies).

Effort, crisp tackling, penetration, and relentless pursuit on the ball will show that the defense came in well prepared and mentally sharp. It will also indicate that they stayed focused during a short week of practices and did not overlook the Blue Devils.

A major weakness for Duke is their offensive line. It’s makeshift, undersized, and lacks depth. Their challenge this week is to find a way to neutralize a physically superior Tech defensive line that will rotate nine players at four positions. For Tech, it’s key for the DL to set the tone early and dominate the line of scrimmage. The objective is to shut down the run and force Schneider into 2nd/3rd and long situations. He will make mistakes in those situations, so look for the Hokies to turn around field position with interceptions of Schneider.

With Darryl Tapp and Carlton Powell nursing injuries, look for the depth along the DL to get a lot more work in this game. If cleared medically, I am expecting both Tapp and Powell to start, but I anticipate Tim Sandidge, Orion Martin, Barry Booker and Kory Robertson to get a lot of snaps. Also look for DE William Wall to make his Tech debut.

Key #3: Matchup Against the Duke TE’s

By far, Duke’s biggest strength on offense is their TE duo of Ben Patrick and Andy Roland. Patrick is considered one of the ACC’s best TE’s, but both are talented players that can block, run and catch. Expect to the see both TE’s on the field together, with one aligned as a split receiver or an H-back, as well as traditional 2-TE formations.

For Tech, the key is to force those TE’s to get tied up in protection and to disrupt their release off the line of scrimmage. Look for the Blue Devils to work formations and motion in order to get Patrick or Roland matched up in coverage against Vince Hall. On the other side, look for Tech to mix it up with man and zone blitzes with Hall blitzing a lot from his middle LB position.

Key #4: Challenge Schneider 

Duke has some talent at WR, but not enough to consistently threaten the Tech secondary. They will try to get Roland Minor, DJ Parker and Aaron Rouse isolated in single coverage somewhere down the field and take their chances with those matchups. I don’t expect Schneider to look to the boundary very often against Jimmy Williams. For his part, look for Williams to be a big factor in shutting down the running game, particularly early when the Hokies are looking to force the Duke offense to become totally one-dimensional.

Look for Tech to mix its coverages to force Schneider into misreads and mistakes. Watch where Aaron Rouse is aligned pre-snap and whether he walks up or drops back as Schneider starts the snap count. Duke’s motion and multiple shifts will cause a lot of players to be moving around on both sides, but how and where Rouse aligns is the thing to watch.

Tech Offense vs. Duke Defense

While Duke works to add some playmakers and build consistency on offense, their defense has a chance to be better this year. DE Phillip Alexander and CB John Talley are superb talents that would play a lot for any team in the ACC. Alexander is a playmaking defensive end with abilities similar to Georgia Tech’s Eric Henderson. Talley is as good as anyone at corner and he teams with freshman All-American safety Chris Davis to give the Blue Devils strength on the backend of the defense.

Depth is an issue for the Blue Devils, particularly along the DL. Tech will challenge the Duke defense physically to establish control of the line of scrimmage early, looking to wear down the defense as the game develops.

Key #1: Establish a Successful Balance

Tech wants to continue to build an identity for the 2005 offense, providing evidence on film that they can run physical between the tackles, they can challenge the perimeter, and they can work the passing game left, right, short, middle, and deep. They have the talent and skills to work an effective blend that will keep defenses guessing and protecting more than attacking and dictating.

Against Duke, expect balance to be the key to the game plan. In the running game, we will see the traditional Tech power attack behind drive blocking, as well as challenging the edges behind pulling linemen and zone schemes. Look for Marcus Vick to pressure the perimeter much more in this game, challenging the speed of the Duke defense.

In the passing game, look for Tech to open it up a bit more this week. Talley is looking forward to the challenge of squaring off against Vick and the Tech WR’s, but don’t expect to see him getting challenged that often. Look for Vick and the Hokies to attack the other side manned by Deonta McCormick. Look for the Hokies to take a couple of shots deep down field in this game to get that aspect of the offense geared up for the rest of the season.

Key #2: Stay Sharp in Execution

Focus, sharpness, and concentration were big highlights for the offense against NC State. The Hokies need to show that they can bring the same level of mental intensity and concentration against a team that isn’t expected to challenge them on the same level as the Wolfpack. Against Duke last year, the Hokies were sloppy and lacked focus, racking up 13 penalties, fumbling three times, and turning the ball over twice on interceptions. The coaches will be looking for a significant improvement in those areas compared to last year.

Matching what they did against NC State will be very tough, especially given the short week, emotional letdown, and the fact that the game will be played in a near high-school-like environment. Expecting another error free game may be too much to ask, but getting crisp execution, superb effort, and good concentration that builds on last week’s performance are some things to look for.

After watching the NC State game film, it’s clear that the game plan was to ease Marcus back into the flow and not ask him to do too much in his first game back against an opponent like NC State. He now has that first big game behind him, he’s been hit several times and he’s shown that he is capable of leading the offense in the toughest of environments.

Look for the coaches to allow Marcus a little more latitude this week, both running and passing. Last week, he demonstrated excellent pocket presence and game management skills. He was very comfortable working from the pocket (even moreso than I expected) and he showed how dangerous he can be both running and passing when on the move (no surprises there). It is important that Vick’s development as a complete QB continues this week. Look for the coaches to give him more and more on-field responsibilities as the season develops – more checks and more run/pass options pre-snap. 

Key #4: Win the Tough Situations

This game may or may not be close on the scoreboard and many plays likely will be long forgotten by the time we exit Wallace Wade Stadium. However, there will be 10-15 plays that I will be watching closely as a game within the game. I want to keep an eye on how successful the Tech offense is on those tough down/distance situations – 2nd and long, 3rd and four, 3rd and seven. I want to see how efficient the Hokies are in the red zone and in their goal line offense. These are the tough game situations where good offenses get good results.

Look for the Hokies to go to their team leaders in those tough situations. I am expecting Jeff King to get more involved in the passing game this week. Also look for Mike Imoh and Cedric Humes to convert on those tough short yardage situations.

It’s important for Vick to continue to develop chemistry with his receivers. He and David Clowney have been clicking since they both arrived on campus three years ago and it looks like there is a good chemistry developing between Vick and Justin Harper. Bryan Stinespring wants to keep building that identity of a balanced offense that utilizes all of its weapons equally, so expect to see Marcus looking towards Eddie Royal and Josh Hyman a little more against the Blue Devils.

On paper, this game is a mismatch, but every year we see teams with superior talent getting beat by lesser opponents. Think Frank Beamer has talked about TCU and Oklahoma a few times this week? Duke coach Ted Roof certainly has.