By Matt Osborne
SouthernPigskin.com

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For the first time in David Cutcliffe’s tenure, Duke appears to have a championship-caliber defense.

Having the perceived misfortune of opening up conference play against the overwhelming favorite to win the Coastal Division, the Duke Blue Devils set out against No. 20 Georgia Tech on Saturday afternoon to prove that the team should still be considered a major player in the league.

And though it was far from pretty at times, the Blue Devils were able to accomplish that goal by picking up a 34-20 victory.

More important than showing that the team has what it takes to be a contender in the Coastal, the Blue Devils displayed something on Saturday afternoon that David Cutcliffe has been waiting to see since arriving in Durham back in 2008: a dominant defense.

The Blue Devils entered the contest allowing less than 10 points per contest, and spent the vast majority of the game against Georgia Tech completely stifling the Yellow Jackets dynamic offense.

Led by All-American safety Jeremy Cash, Dukes defense allowed a mere 316 yards on 82 plays, and held Georgia Techs spread option ground game to just 173 yards on 60 attempts (2.9 yards per carry). Had it not been for a couple of turnovers from the Duke offense, the Blue Devils would have given up even less than the 20 points they allowed as well.

x9cRight now our defense is playing at as high of a level as weve seen since weve been here, and maybe one of the highest levels Ive seen a team play,x9d Cutcliffe commented following his teams triumph.

The aforementioned Cash will likely give Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson nightmares during the offseason, as he put together one of the most dominant individual defensive performances in the country through the first month of the regular season. Constantly moving his positioning and attacking the football, Cash finished the contest with 12 tackles, three tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, a sack and four quarterback pressures. His performance earned Cash the Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week award.

x9cIf there is a better defensive football player in the country right now, I dont know who they are,x9d Cutcliffe said of his star defender. x9cI respect all players, but I dont see anybody producing what hes producing on the field.x9d

With Cash as the biggest star of the unit, Dukes secondary has quietly flown under the radar as one of the best overall groups in the ACC. Fellow safety DeVon Edwards, who also stars for the Duke track team, is one of the most dynamic athletes in the country, as is evidenced by the fact that he already has seven career touchdowns on defense and special teams in less than 2.5 years as a college player. Veterans Breon Borders and Deondre Singleton add tremendous experience and elite athleticism as well.

But perhaps the biggest difference for Dukes defense through the first four games of the campaign has been the surprising play of the defensive line, a unit which has long plagued the Blue Devils.

Despite already having played two games against ranked opponents which preferred to run the football, the Blue Devils are allowing a mere 2.6 yards per carry on the season. Upperclassmen defensive tackles Carlos Wray and A.J. Wolf have done an outstanding job of occupying blockers and making plays in the middle of the line, while true freshman standout Brandon Boyce has made a rapid adjustment to life in the trenches as a major conference college football lineman.

Ultimately, Dukes offense must improve if the Blue Devils want to make it to Charlotte for the ACC Championship Game.

The good news, though, is that Dukes defense is, for the first time in more than a decade, playing championship-caliber football.

Such a thought certainly has to be a pleasant one to long-suffering fans of the program.