Manny Diaz recaps Duke's win over Elon

opening night Victory um I think the story of the game was certainly our front on defense 16 t for loss eight sacks um you know we felt like watching us in training camp that we'd have some guys that could have big performances you just don't never know in that opening game in a new scheme if is it really going to come to fruition and um I mean it was a sight to see I mean it it was it was it was uh tough on those guys to get the ball back to line scrimmage the quarterback was under pressure all night um did a really good job of limiting explosive plays on defense and what that allowed is that allowed our offense to get into a rhythm you certainly we had a really good first drive of the game which Ned three points um and what I liked is that when we when we you know kind of hit a law from a scoring standpoint nobody panicked uh we knew the plays would be there you have to give credit to Elon I thought they played us very well they put a lot of guys around the the Box made it very difficult to run the football and when people do that you have to you have to attack them down the field and I think when we watch the film I think the story of our game was the shots that we hit and then also the shots that we were probably an inch or two away from hitting and um that will give our players I think some confidence to realize how close they were from a truly dominating performance um in terms of attacking the coverages that that Elon was playing against us and I'm proud of again of of the offensive line and our backs I thought the running game as time went on got better and better you know the last kind of big Drive in the fourth quarter we were able to to break some type of runs that was very encouraging especially team standpoint topino you know making the field goals was really big um I just generally we did not have a a penalty en forced against us tonight which in an opener is really good I thought from as a new staff organ I think we had to burn one time out in the first half other than that you know procedurally we were pretty clean and sound things that you worry about in an opener so you make a big jump between week one and week two and we need to make a big jump you know we're going on the road to a big 10 opponent um but it's nice to do that with the the first win under our belt questions what did you like most out of what your defensive line show you with is winning the one-onone battles is that the main thing something El they just went and I know that sounds so silly but but they just they just attacked you know the way that this defense is really designed to um and then once they got the nose for it they didn't stop they they were just Relentless and you know you you never felt the law just always felt like that the quarterback was under duress and you know they tried different things they tried to move the pocket they tried chipping they tried you know some Maximum protection and it didn't seem like it mattered um which was a credit to our guys so I I I do feel like the depth the numbers that we have you know we rolled through a lot of guys at the D tackle position we rolled through a lot of guys at the defensive end position I think that was a big help as well to help us stay fresh and really be in that attack mode was that schematic on your end or was that individual effort what would you attribute that too well both I mean you have to give the individuals the credit they're the ones who make the plays but you know as i' we mentioned all offseason you know our goal is to be one of the top teams in the country and T for loss um so 16 for us in the scheme is it's a lot but it's not like that's not happened before four you just don't normally expect that to happen in in week one game one um so I think we'll get a lot of confidence from that um in terms of how we play our front how we play our linebackers but to see a guy like cam berson um you know making the plays he made I think the two half Tacker for losses VJ Anthony there's just a lot of guys that that you know I thought showed up tonight Manny how much did that touchdown in the first half changed the narrative going into the locker room half time I think it did you know there there's no way that you know that three- Z you just you feel it's tight and and Elon was doing a really good job on offense of just slowing the game down trying to take the error out of the out of the game and and shorten the game so to be able to hit that explosive play you know I think you know it's like we finally got one you know we we had been close we' been close and then there we finally got one I think everybody relaxed a little bit after that time um but still have to credit the defense I mean the defense just you know you know with 13 it's kind of not a two-core game and I think defense were out there in the third quarter and they were just dominant uh which eventually let us push it to you know to 19 21 and so on So speaking of that explosive play Eli hasn't played in the game since I think December 28 of 2022 seven catches was 81 touchdown how happy were you to see him get this opportunity I'm I'm really happy in our locker room was a static when when they heard that you know um a guy like you know any player when they come back from injury it's it's it's always tough when you're away from the game but when you're at his point of his career when you're an older guy and sudden you start to to stare life after football in the face um and so for him I mean he appreciates every day in this program because he's so it it is like a new leas on life that he's got this football you know back and um we felt like in this offense again the way with the temple we play there's going to be a lot of balls to go around and U and you never know who's going to be the guy and it just it happened to be him on a couple of those throws tonight and and we needed it what was your overall assessment of Malik going through his progressions not you know just having a single turn speaking of progressions um for for game one we're pretty pleased you know like I said I think he will he'll look at some of the near misses that really could have blown the game open um you certainly had the one pick maybe another time or two that the ball was In Harm's Way uh I got to FR offens line he was never sacked um that's huge um and they they probably pressured they probably sent five I would say maybe over half the game so credit credit for that um so I think it's a good opening performance for Malik uh but I think he like everybody else will say oh wow like there's so much more meat on the bone coach shifting to the atmosphere what did it mean to to you to see the student section fill up there right before kickoff and then maybe just talk about the the new deck and everything and the whole student section was awesome um it was funny I didn't look I didn't look through the deck as much as as I wanted to during the game I was kind of busy but I did notice the students I thought they were phenomenal and and especially today I mean it was like it was like you know building Arc rain like from 2: to 4: this afternoon and you worry about what that deter some people for coming so I thought our I thought our players fed off the energy of the game of of the crowd and especially once we started rolling the second half it was it was it was a fun atmosphere to be around coach so much energy in this game and you guys kept it very disciplined minimized you know penalties uh how proud are you were them you know first game of this season for that yeah in a in an opening game that's a big deal it really is and so like I said just the we we didn't help Elon very much right and and and sometimes the way to win games is make yourself hard to beat um so by not having penalties we only had the one turnover limiting explosive big plays on defense we didn't have very many you know like I said not getting sacked so we weren't going backwards on offense so checks a lot of the boxes usually on what ends up winning a game Manny you you said earlier in the league when I how your emotions might be about getting out back out there coach you said you're worried about everybody else were you able to kind of take it in a little bit kind of the were you so preoccupied with game plan and everything else that you can't savor it a little in that you know what it it just honestly it felt uh it just felt very natural you know just good to be back um and good to just sort of you know the staff were on game day were problem solvers right and when you're the head coach you're kind of the chief Problem Solver and so you just sit there you listen to both sides of the ball and and and see what's working what we can be doing better and and just try to help the guys on the staff you know you know make the adjustments during the game which which I thought we did a good job job of today so it was it it was an enjoyable experience and again our guys make it our guys and our staff um make it easy for me to to have an enjoyable experience last question three or four of those deep balls bounced off the receiver's hands how do you work on how do you correct that what do you say to the guys during the game you're just your inches away right your inches away and I think our guys will see that you know um and we had one on the sideline as well so um it it's it's the Precision that's needed to be elite which is really what we want to be on offense I I look at ways I I look at it as it will make our guys so hungry because they will see what this thing can be um and the amount of yards that we could have had and the points that we could have had so we're not very far off um but these are things that you normally would expect it takes a game or two to kind of get yourself you know in in that timing of the quarterbacks and his receivers to to really get it on point [Music]