Game Notes: Charlotte

DURHAM, N.C. – Duke welcomes Charlotte for a Halloween night contest for its lone non-ACC game of the 2020 season.

Kickoff between the Blue Devils and 49ers is set for 7p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on RSN.

Saturday will mark Duke's first contest against Charlotte … it also will be the second of four consecutive games against schools from the state of North Carolina … the Blue Devils are currently 0-1 during that stretch, having dropped a 31-20 decision to NC State in their last outing … Duke will play North Carolina and Wake Forest following its contest with the 49ers.

Saturday's RSN broadcast will feature Tom Werme, James Bates, and Kelly Crull on the call. The game can also be heard on the Blue Devil Sports Network from Learfield IMG College through the TuneIn app or goduke.com

HOW TO FOLLOW
Duke (1-5, 1-5 ACC) vs. Charlotte (2-2, 2-1 C-USA)
Saturday, October 31, 2020 • 7:00 PM
Durham, N.C. • Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium

TELEVISION • RSN
RADIO • Blue Devils IMG Sports Network
GAME NOTES • Duke Notes • Charlotte Notes
LIVE STATS • GoDuke.com
TWITTER • @DukeFOOTBALL

GAME NOTES
In Duke's last game at NC State, senior TE Noah Gray broke Stan Crisson's career mark for pass receptions by a TE (98) … heading into the weekend, Gray sits with 100 career receptions for 900 yards and eight TDs … fellow classmate DE Victor Dimukeje also shifted closer to breaking a Blue Devil program record against the Wolfpack … he needs just 2.0 sacks to eclipse Charles Bowser's all-time school standard (22.0).

The Blue Devils are 26-7 (.788) against non-ACC opponents since the start of the 2013 season and 23-5 (.821) against non-conference foes during the regular season ... they also have won 19 of their last 25 (.760) games overall versus non-conference foes.

Duke is 20-26 in the month of October under David Cutcliffe and 1-2 this season ... at home, the Blue Devils are 8-13 and 0-1, respectively ... against ACC opponents this month Duke is 14-26.

2K SNAPS + 40 GAMES PLAYED
Currently there are five Blue Devils with 2,000+ career snaps to their name: S Michael Carter II (2,240), OG Rakavius Chambers (2,444), DE Victor Dimukeje (2,432), CB Leonard Johnson (2,080), and S Marquis Waters (2,472) ... of those five, four also have over 40+ games played with Johnson being the only outlier at 31 games.

In addition to those four players, another five Blue Devils have seen action for Duke in 40+ games as well: Noah Gray, Deon Jackson, Drew Jordan, Robert Kraeling, and Derrick Tangelo ... Chambers, Dimukeje, Gray and Waters have seen action in every game since coming to Durham (44 games), while Jackson and Jordan have both missed just one contest ... Dimukeje is the lone player to have earned the starting nod in every game he's played.

TAKING OWNERSHIP OF THE OFFENSE
Since transferring in from Clemson, redshirt junior Chase Brice has taken the helm of the offense after being named Duke's QB1 … in his first six career starts, Brice has compiled 128-of-233 (.549) passes for 1,461 yards with six TDs ... the Grayson, Ga., native sits fourth in the ACC with a 243.5 passing average per game mark, while his 256.7 yards of total offense per outing places him sixth in the conference.

His 128 completions are the third-most in the ACC behind Boston College's Phil Jurkovec (140) and Clemson's Trevor Lawrence (135) … in five of his six games this season, Brice has competed 20+ passes, including a season-high 24 against NC State during his last outing … during his short Duke tenure, Brice has registered 26 total passes of 15+ yards and has recorded at least six passes of 15+ yards in three of six games this year (seven vs. Notre Dame, six vs. Virginia & Virginia Tech).

2K CAREER GROUND YARDS
As Duke's leading returning rusher from a season ago, Deon Jackson was tabbed a preseason third team All-ACC selection by Athlon Sports heading into his final season ... he is also a candidate for the Doak Walker and Paul Hornung Awards.

In Duke's last game at NC State, Jackson became the eighth Blue Devil to surpass the 2,000 rushing yard mark during his career … his 2,031 career yards place him seventh all-time and he is 411 yards away from breaking into the top-five … his 474 rushing attempts place him eighth in program lore as well.

Jackson is averaging 74.3 rushing yards per game this season to rank ninth in the ACC … his 446 yards via the ground game this season has him eighth in the conference and 21st nationally.

RUN GAME
The running back duo of Deon Jackson and Mataeo Durant both recorded 150+ rushing yards against Syracuse to become the first Duke pair to rush for 150+ yards in a single game ... the duo also become the first pair to rush for 100+ yards since three Blue Devils did so against Indiana in 2015 ... Jackson's 169 yards and Durant's 163 yards are the fourth and fifth most by a single rusher under Cutcliffe, respectively.

Jackson leads the team with 446 rushing yards on the year, but Durant follows closely with 356 yards … both have registered multiple TDs on the year as well with two and three, respectively … Duke joins North Carolina and Wake Forest as the only three ACC schools with two running backs with over 350+ rushing yards.

FIRST DOWNS
Duke sits fourth in the ACC, averaging 22.2 first downs per game … the Blue Devils recorded a season-high 36 first downs during their lone victory at Syracuse … those 36 first downs against the Orange tied for the most achieved during the David Cutcliffe era (Dec. 27, 2012 vs. Cincinnati).

BOBO BIG UNDER PRESSURE
Junior WR Jake Bobo is quickly becoming Duke's top target when it needs to extend drives … the Belmont, Mass., native has 21 catches on the year, 18 of those have been for first downs … another catch of his went for a touchdown, leaving just two receptions that didn't result in a first down or a score … ironically, both of those misses were receptions for nine yards.

Bobo's six catches against NC State during Duke's last outing were also the most by a wide receiver since Jalon Calhoun posted six at North Carolina last year.

TACKLES FOR LOSS
In 2019, Duke had five players register six or more tackles for loss, led by DE Chris Rumph II who recorded a team-best 13.5 ... DE Victor Dimukeje and LB Shaka Heyward are the other two returning players on the list with 9.5 and 6.5 TFL, respectively, last season ... Rumph II ranked eighth in the ACC with his 13.5 TFL.

In 2020, Dimukeje, Rumph II and Heyward have already recorded multiple TFL with 7.5, 6.5 and 3.0, respectively ... Derrick Tangelo (4.0 TFL), Marquis Waters (3.0 TFL), Rocky Shelton II (3.0 TFL), Ben Frye (3.0 TFL), Drew Jordan (2.0 TFL), and Jeremiah Lewis (1.5 TFL) round out the remaining Blue Devils with 1+ TFL on the year.

Dimukeje and Rumph II both find themselves ranked in the ACC's top-15 in this category … Dimukeje is tied for seventh with 1.25 TFL per game, while Rumph II comes in 12th averaging 1.08 per outing … Duke's duo ties Pittsburgh as the only two schools in the ACC with at least two players with 6.5 TFL and 4.5 sacks each.

THREE RETURNING ENDS
Defensive ends Chris Rumph II, Victor Dimukeje and Drew Jordan have a combined 72.5 TFL and 43 sacks between them.

Dimukje is a candidate for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, the Chuck Bednarik Award, and the Lott IMPACT Trophy ... in 44 career games, Dimukeje has 144 tackles, 32.0 TFL, 20.5 sacks, one INT, four caused fumbles, three fumble recoveries, and 26 QB pressures ... Jordan holds 87 tackles, 12.5 TFL, 8.5 sacks, one caused fumble, two fumble recoveries and 12 QB pressures in 43 career games.

Dimukeje and Rumph II currently rank first and fourth in the ACC, averaging 1.08 and 0.75 sacks per contest, respectively … the twosome combined to have 11.0 sacks between them and make the Blue Devils just one of only three schools to have two players combined for 11.0+ sacks on the year (Pittsburgh [11.5] and North Carolina [11.0]).

DIMUKEJE LEAVING HIS MARK
Senior Victor Dimukeje, who's played 2,432 career snaps, owns 29 games with 3+ tackles and 10 outings with 5+ stops, including a career-high eight tackles against Wake Forest in 2019 ... in Duke's game against Boston College, the Baltimore, Md., native tallied 3.5 sacks to match Chris Rumph II for the second-most in program history for a single game.

Dimukeje is first in the ACC in sacks per game (1.08) … the last Blue Devil to lead the league in sacks was Shawn Johnson in 2002 … in addition, Dimukeje is aiming to become just the third player in Duke history to pace the team in sacks three consecutive seasons, joining Chris Combs (1996-97-98) and Kenny Anunike (2011-12-13)

For his career, Dimukeje has four games with 2.0+ sacks and currently sits second all-time with 20.5 ... he is 1.5 sacks away from tying Charles Bowser's all-time school record of 22.0 … the defensive end also broke into Duke's top-10 in career TFL and currently has 32.0 to his name to tie with Joe Giles-Harris for 10th in program lore … his 7.5 season TFL number ranks tied for seventh in the ACC as well.

DEFENSIVE PRESSURE
The Blue Devils currently rank seventh in the ACC in rushing defense allowing just 151.5 yards per game … Duke also finds itself eighth in the league in total defense giving up 400.5 yards per outing … finally the Blue Devils rank third in the conference and ninth nationally, averaging 3.50 sacks per contest … their 21 total sacks on the year place them third in the country, while their 131 sack yards are fourth.

Redshirt sophomore Jeremiah Lewis is fifth in the ACC with 1.17 passes defended per game, while his 0.33 interceptions per outing have him tied for eighth … as a unit, Duke's six interceptions on the year are tied with Boston College, NC State, and Virginia for fifth in the conference.

According to Pro Football Focus, DEs Chris Rumph II and Victor Dimukeje have combined for 54 QB pressures this season, which is more than 26 FBS teams.

Players Mentioned

Jake Bobo

Chase Brice

Jalon Calhoun

Michael Carter II

Rakavius Chambers

Victor Dimukeje

Mataeo Durant

Ben Frye

Noah Gray

Shaka Heyward

Deon Jackson

Leonard Johnson

Drew Jordan

Robert Kraeling

Jeremiah Lewis

Chris Rumph II

Rocky Shelton II

Derrick Tangelo

Marquis Waters

Duke information