Duke's Derrick Tangelo Ready to Face Boston College's Offensive Line
Duke will face Boston College in Saturday’s home opener. While B.C. has a new coach, quarterback and many skill position players, the Eagles return a big, experienced offensive line.
Defensive tackle Derrick Tangelo is ready for the challenge in the trenches.
“I’m definitely expecting some smashmouth football,” he said. “When you have a big offensive line, you can really take control of the game, but we have a big defensive line as well. It’s going to be experience on experience, big on big. So we’re just going to try to do our best on this end to make sure we can limit those guys and explosive plays.”
It’s the second straight week that the defensive line has an experience offensive line going against them, after opening with Notre Dame.
“Coach says it’s all about heart,” Tangelo said. “They’re a big offensive line. They’re physical. They get push off the line, but we’ve just got to beat force with force, be ready for what they threw at us. They’re a big team. They get on you early. We’ve worked in practice on shooting our hands, driving our feet on contact, just trying to get them off us.”
There will be no fans in Wallace Wade Stadium, which could create a strange atmosphere, but Tangelo knows one thing that will be audible.
“All I can say is you’re going to hear a lot of pads popping,” he said. “You’re going to hear a lot of physical play. You’re going to hear a lot of good football being played out there.”
