What to expect from Duke in the Sun Bowl Saturday
EL PASO, Texas (WTVD) -- While some of us kids skip to the driveway to play with that shiny new toy this Christmas, football coaches lucky enough to still have a game on the table are busy polishing, or even retreading, and old gift. Most coaches will tell you a bowl game closer resembles a first game than it does the last. That may be true when it comes to nerves or execution, but make no mistake, the 12 games both Arizona State and Duke played leading up to this clash of power 5 teams will have a big impact on the outcome.
So what to expect on Saturday at the Sun Bowl? Points. "We are really excited to play a team as talented and as highly ranked as Arizona State," Duke coach David Cutcliffe told the Blue Devils' official website. "These are two teams with a lot of playmakers."
Arizona state Head Coach Todd Graham has had to adjust to keep up with the Oregon's. The Sun Devils average 37 points per game while Duke piles up close to 34. Those totals coming against teams loaded with athletes on defense. "Their scheme reminds me a lot of what Oregon would play and what Arizona would do," Graham told reporters in El Paso earlier this week.
Neither defense is going to light the world on fire. Both yield over 400 yards a game. Then again, that is the age that we live in. The blue devils are hoping to win their first bowl game since beating Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl back in 1961. Here's another "Sun-dried" nugget: Duke's last win over a top 25 team outside the ACC came in 1971 over Stanford. I'd say the Blue Devils are due.
With weeks to tinker the offense and fine-tune gadget plays you can expect plenty of points this holiday season, especially in the fast lane that is the Hyundai Sun Bowl.
