By Matt Osborne
SouthernPigskin.com

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Duke’s defense played an outstanding game in leading the Blue Devils to a 20-13 victory over Virginia.

1. Dukes defense is undoubtedly one of the best units in the country as it pertains to giving up chunks of yardage without conceding a significant amount of points. The Blue Devils x9cbend but dont breakx9d defense was on full display again on Saturday, as Jim Knowles unit allowed 465 yards of total offense, while surrendering a mere 13 points. The strength of the defense is a secondary which has a number of ball-hawking defenders. Those secondary defenders forced Virginia passers to complete less than 50 percent of their passes on the afternoon, which was a major contributing factor to the victory.

2. Dukes defense may have picked up the victory, but there is no denying the fact that Virginia has a strong defense as well. The Cavaliers held a talented Duke offense to just 334 yards, while allowing the Blue Devils to successfully convert less than a third of their third down conversions. Eli Harold is a star in the front seven, while Anthony Harris and Quin Blanding combine to give the Wahoos one of the better safety combinations in the country. The only real x9cissuex9d for the Virginia defense on Saturday was the fact that the unit failed to force a turnover for just the second time all season.

3. The Blue Devils has marginal success running the football through the first three quarters, but Scottie Montgomerys commitment to continue putting the football in the hands of his ball-carriers really proved critical coming down the stretch. Duke ran the ball five times on its game-winning drive, averaging 11 yards per carry on those handful of attempts. Shaq Powell, Shaun Wilson, Josh Snead and Joseph Ajeigbe are all capable of contributing on the ground, which has allowed the Blue Devils to emerge as one of the conferences most efficient rushing offenses.

4. The Cavaliers appear to be well above-average when it comes to running the football and playing defense, but if there is going to be a weakness that keeps Virginia from winning the Coastal Division, it will be the passing offense. Quarterback Matt Johns threw for a season-high 306 yards, but he completed just 21-of-44 passing attempts in the process. Both Johns and Greyson Lambert have been less than stellar for the Cavaliers this season, and the team will need one of the signal callers to elevate his game if they still have aspirations of making it to Charlotte.

5. Anthony Boone has lost just one regular season game as a collegiate starter, but he will need to play better if he hopes to make it back to the ACC Championship Game. Boones overall statistics arent bad, but he has had encountered more troubles with accuracy this season than he did a year ago. He is currently completing less than 60 percent of his throws on the season, and he has had problems completing many of his deeper pass attempts in particular. His accuracy issues appeared a couple of times on Saturday, as he misfired on some open receivers in the intermediate passing game. Again, Boone has not been bad, but he is capable of playing much better.