Duke Head Coach Emphasizing Details Ahead of Clemson Matchup

Ahead of the Clemson Tigers’ matchup against the Duke Blue Devils this Saturday, Duke head coach Manny Diaz spoke about his team’s opponent earlier this week.

Despite Clemson being 3-4 and out of contention for the ACC Championship and the College Football Playoff, there’s been a confidence throughout the facility that was refreshed by the bye week.

The Blue Devils are also coming off of a bye week, and regardless of the starting quarterback that they see on Saturday afternoon, Diaz expects the Tigers to be explosive outside of that position, speaking highly of the offense.

"It's the people around the quarterback that make the big difference,” he said. “Their weaponry on the outside will be as good as anybody we've seen so far this year."

As for Clemson’s signal caller, Duke is prepared for both, regardless of who gets the start. Starter Cade Klubnik missed Clemson’s most recent loss to SMU on Oct. 18, but after having an additional week to recover, that’s who Diaz expects to be playing for the Tigers on Saturday.

“We always prepare for teams to be at full strength, especially coming off the bye,” he said. “I think what they do on offense, not withstanding, is going to be relatively similar."

Diaz spoke highly about the team’s backup, Christopher Vizzina, after his first start with the team against the Mustangs. Throwing for over 300 yards and three touchdowns, the Duke head coach said that Vizzina “handled things really well”, despite the loss.

He credits Clemson’s skill positions for making the redshirt sophomore’s job easier.

“You could see as the game got going, [he was] getting more and more comfortable, for them to call the way they wanted to with him in there. When you have the skill around [him], the quarterback is almost like the point guard,” Diaz said. His job is to get the ball out of his hands, and get it to their talented guys, which they've got plenty."

In terms of Duke’s gameplan, the Blue Devils know that they have a tall task in the Tigers, and it will be about the small details if Diaz wants to prevent Clemson from getting its first win over a Power Four opponent this season.

Diaz thinks that his staff and players have the capability to do so.

“The nerve it takes, the understanding of where everything matters, details matter, you see it all around the sport right now,” he said. “You're going to have to have some real belief to go in there and knock that team off. I think we've got the right leadership to set the tone for our guys and how they work this week."

Clemson and Duke will kick off from Memorial Stadium at noon on Saturday. The game will be broadcast on the ACC Network.