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Blades Jr. Accepts Postseason Bowl Invitation
1/19/2024 1:02:00 PM | Football
DURHAM – Graduate cornerback Al Blades Jr. is the third Blue Devil to accept an invitation to a postseason bowl game.
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Blades Jr. is set to participate in the Trillion Tropical Bowl, which is slated for Saturday at noon in Municipal Stadium in Orlando, Fla. The game can be viewed on pay per view by clicking HERE.
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Blades Jr. is the ninth Blue Devil to be invited to the Tropical Bowl, joining Dwayne Norman (2015), Lucas Patrick (2015), Tre Hornbuckle (2019), Edgar Cerenord (2019),  Devery Hamilton (2020), Kade Parmelly (2021), and Eric Gallman II (2022) and Datrone Young (2022) from a year ago.
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The 6-1, 195-pound Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native tallied 47 tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss, a team-high 10 pass breakups and two quarterback hurries this past season. Blades Jr. had his two most productive games of the season against No. 4 Florida State and No. 24 North Carolina, where he accumulated eight tackles and one pass breakup and seven tackles and one pass breakup, respectively. He was an integral part of the Blue Devils' defense that ranked tied for 10th nationally in red zone defense (.744), tied for 16th in fourth-down conversion percentage defense (.393), 26th in pass defense efficiency rating (121.45), and 41st in passing yards allowed per outing (210.80).
#GoDuke
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Blades Jr. is set to participate in the Trillion Tropical Bowl, which is slated for Saturday at noon in Municipal Stadium in Orlando, Fla. The game can be viewed on pay per view by clicking HERE.
Â
Blades Jr. is the ninth Blue Devil to be invited to the Tropical Bowl, joining Dwayne Norman (2015), Lucas Patrick (2015), Tre Hornbuckle (2019), Edgar Cerenord (2019),  Devery Hamilton (2020), Kade Parmelly (2021), and Eric Gallman II (2022) and Datrone Young (2022) from a year ago.
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The 6-1, 195-pound Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native tallied 47 tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss, a team-high 10 pass breakups and two quarterback hurries this past season. Blades Jr. had his two most productive games of the season against No. 4 Florida State and No. 24 North Carolina, where he accumulated eight tackles and one pass breakup and seven tackles and one pass breakup, respectively. He was an integral part of the Blue Devils' defense that ranked tied for 10th nationally in red zone defense (.744), tied for 16th in fourth-down conversion percentage defense (.393), 26th in pass defense efficiency rating (121.45), and 41st in passing yards allowed per outing (210.80).
#GoDuke
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Players Mentioned
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