A lot of hype for Duke right now after their quick start, but it's about to end as they just are not going to be able to overcome these injuries that continue to pile up. It's also a great opportunity for Virginia to redeem themselves and turn around their season and it starts with a new QB in Phillip Simms who has looked good in his appearances this year.
Virginia continued to have issues with penalties and turnovers and the move to Simms should help alleviate those miscues as he has 5 TD and 0 interceptions while Michael Rocco gave the ball away 7 times with interceptions over the last 3 games alone. Duke is not much of a defense in terms of forcing turnovers and even though they are ranked 45th in total defense they have faced an average offense ranked 94th in total offense. Meanwhile Virginia has faced an average 56th total offense and has already played 4 bowl teams in Penn State, TCU, Georgia Tech and LA Tech.
Duke can pass the ball I'll give them that, but Sean Renfree might not even be able to play as he's questionable in this one, but even if he plays I'm confident in Virginia's pass defense ranked 40th in completion percentage defense. They play an offense that is very much one dimensional as Dukes rushing attack is ranked 112th in the nation. On the flip side look for Virginia to be able to run the ball a little bit again. While Duke has been good stopping the run they really haven't played anyone besides Stanford who can run and even Stanford is ranked 77th in ypc this year. I look for Perry Jones to have a big game as Duke has faced rushing offenses ranked 106th, 71st, 77th, and 82nd after allowing 5.1 yards per carry a year ago. The injuries in the secondary will be huge in this game too as Virginia's speed will pay dividends.
