Coach Mike Elko and the Duke Football team opened ACC play with a dominant performance against Coastal Division foe, Virginia, this past Saturday night at Wallace Wade Stadium. The Blue Devils handily-defeated the Cavaliers 38-17, and handed Elko his first conference win in as many tries. There were many positive moments in this game, and many players who deserved recognition. Here are our UVA game helmet stickers:
BRIAN’S PICK: JAYLEN COLEMAN
My helmet sticker this week goes to junior running back Jaylen Coleman. Coleman led Duke’s rushing attack against Virginia, running for a career high 97 yards on 19 carries. Coleman, along with Jordan Waters, have helped guide the Duke rushing attack so far this season, and Duke amassed 248 total rushing yards against the Cavaliers Saturday. With his performance, Coleman has 308 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns for the season.
Coach Elko also recognized Coleman after the win: “I can’t tell you how proud I am of that kid, from where he came battling injuries. He was a little bit up and down at times in the spring, but He really made a decision this summer that he wanted to be our back. He had a tremendous fall camp. He was one of the kids very early on that just popped out, like wow this kid is different. Just really happy for him and all those guys.”
JAMIE’S PICK: JA’MION FRANKLIN
After a DOMINANT defensive performance against Tony Elliot’s Virginia Cavaliers, there were several guys that stood out on the defensive side of the ball. That made this week tough. I decided to give my helmet sticker to senior defensive tackle Ja’Mion Franklin. He was a HUGE part of that defensive front that made life really difficult for Brennan Armstrong. I can’t remember anytime in recent memory where a Duke defense had so many deflections. Franklin got his hands up all night, and had 2 of those deflections.
The most memorable play of the night for me from Franklin came when Duke was up 28-7, but Virginia was driving. If Virginia would’ve scored, it would’ve been 28-14, and they would’ve been right back in the game. He busted through the line, and sacked Brennan Armstrong. Big play. Duke held them to 3 points there, and UVA never got any closer than 18 the rest of the night. What a great game by Ja’Mion Franklin, and he gets a well deserved helmet sticker.
JOSH’S PICK: KEVIN JOHNS
My helmet sticker this week goes to Duke Offensive Coordinator Kevin Johns. On a night when weather conditions could have played a major factor in the scheme and overall play calling, Johns called a nearly perfect game in my eyes. After realizing the WR screen game was not going to be the answer on the first drive, Johns got into a great rhythm balancing the strong play of the OL and RB rooms with the accuracy of QB Riley Leonard. Even in the wet weather, Johns showed faith in Leonard, and Leonard responded by completing 18 of his 24 passes and not committing a turnover. As the lead continued to grow, Johns relied on the legs of Leonard, Jaylen Coleman, Jordan Waters, and Jacques Moore (shoutout to him for his first career TD) to grind out the second half. Duke fans have longed for a play caller like this for years, and I am confident that Johns is that guy.
**Pet peeve of mine: Johns put Leonard under center for most of our 3rd or 4th and short plays on Saturday. I love this look when we have a big, strong QB as opposed to the shotgun formation on short yardage.
SCOTT’S PICK: THE OFFENSIVE LINE
My helmet sticker for the Virginia game is going to the offensive line: Graham Barton, John Gelotte, Andre Harris, Jack Burns, Maurice McIntyre, Chance Lytle, and Jacob Monk with a special shout out to TE’s Nicky Dalmolin and Cole Finney. These gentlemen gave up only 1 sack, keeping QB Riley Leonard clean for almost the entirety of the Virginia game. (Virginia came into the game averaging 3.5 sacks per game.) They helped lead the RB room to rush 48 times for 248 yards with a 5.2 yards per carry average. Their dominating play also gave Duke the advantage in time of possession (36:03 to 22:51). Duke is now 1-0 in ACC play and 4-1 overall heading to Atlanta against Georgia Tech this Saturday, October 8th, at 4 PM. #BLEEDBLUE