This whole game's on Duke's back. He will absolutely need to be superhuman for us to win. He's our best player, and he's the one guy that can be an equalizer for us. He'll need to sack up and avoid tapping his helmet and pulling himself out for little nicks and dings. He's going to need to be an absolute hoss. If he goes for 150+ and houses a kick we'll have a chance. The team that wins the rushing battle usually wins this game.
In other words, our OL will have to show up like it never has before. This is why I put such importance on the underdog "us against the world" mentality and the hope that fsu comes in thinking they're unbeatable. This sht will come down to mindset in the trenches. Will our guys be mean enough and mad enough and tough enough to push those guys around? If they do, then we can do this.
All of this. Two of the more impressive, yet understated games for RBs in our history are the 2003 FSU game for Payton and the 2000 FSU game for James Jackson. They were brutal games without flashy plays, but both RBs were able to grind. Excited to see Duke up for that challenge.
I was thinking of James Jackson when wrote that post. He was a warrior in that game and didn't take negative plays. He didn't bust anything big, but he kept chewing up yards and putting the offense in good position. I forgot about Payton's game, but that's another one that fits the bill. Like you, I can't wait to see how Duke responds to this enormous challenge.
I just hope we don't abandon the run quickly if we're not racking up big yards right away. We've been pretty quick to do that over the last several years, but I'd like to see us stick with it even if we're not necessarily gashing them.
