Upon arriving at Duke from Boston College, Ben Albert had a simple message for his Blue Devils defensive linemen.
“The biggest thing is having those guys have a great sense of pride in our unit,” the Duke assistant said. “Making sure guys understand that the speed of the leader determines the rate of the pack, and we want to be the leaders of this football team.”
As Duke readies to face Heisman front-runner Lamar Jackson and travel to Louisville on a short week, Albert’s unit has set a rather surprising tone for the defense. It took the Blue Devils just four games to match last year’s sack total of 17, and their 20 sacks through a 3-3 start is tied for ninth nationally and third in the ACC, this despite not recording a single quarterback takedown in this past Saturday’s 13-6 win over Army.