it was a really long offseason talking and speculating what exactly would transfer quarterback Malik Murphy look like in this Duke offense we found out over the weekend in week one and it looked pretty good and the Duke football team all in all taking steps in the right direction this is lock on Blue [Music] Devils you are locked on Blue Devils your daily podcast on the Duke Blue Devils part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day hello everybody and welcome into another episode of the lockdown Blue Devils podcast my name is JJ Jackson today is Wednesday September 4th 2024 lockdown Blue Devils it's your One-Stop shop for everything going on in the life of Duke Athletics really really excited to talk about this Duke football team uh with what they were able to do over the weekend picking up their first win against Elon we got to talk about Malik Murphy his debut as the Duke football quarterback and who better to join us on the program than Josh Cox from duke football talks section 17 podcast if you have not done so already please be sure to follow And subscribe to lockon Blue Devils for free wherever it is that you get your podcast leave us a f star rating and written review as we love all of your support coming through in the algorithms I talk about them a whole lot but to keep growing the show those written reviews do a whole lot for us uh watch the show on YouTube each and every day uh subscribe to our YouTube channel like this video share it with your friends all those things and follow us on X at lore BL Devils I'm there as well _ jjjs here he is back with us for another week on the program we were talking before we got going Josh and I've done this over 100 times being able to chat with one another on lockd on Blue Devils let's keep running that number up man as here we are in the 2024 season now yeah man we've talked about a lot of Duke over the over the 100 100 plus episodes and uh yeah you're you're um doing a great job with with lock down here and for the listener I know you guys probably think that like oh this is just super just fun it just is fun and it is but there's also work it's also hard work and getting people scheduled and making sure that you know that their schedule matches with with his schedule and like all that and so um JJ I really do appreciate it man doing doing something listen we do it once a week during football season doing five days a week for 10 months out of the year and three days a week after that is is commendable man you do a good job appreciate that man and really excited to uh talk now about a football team that's played a game this season that's the best part is that when we have these 100 plus conversations so often they're in offseason mode when we're sitting here trying to speculate exactly what it would look like you were there on site over the weekend we can now say Manny Diaz has led a Duke football team into a football game and into a victory I love hearing from you directly and I know other Duke fans do as well what was that environment like man take us inside Wallace Wade Stadium how would you best describe the atmosphere yeah well first of all um throughout the day and this was depending on what weather app you looked at you either uh knew there was going to be some rain or like my Apple uh Apple weather app it did not show rain and there was a a a monster soon of sorts that h a couple of different times throughout the day so shout out to the DU ground crew you know once again that playing service is just incredible um still pretty wet by the time game time hit but all that to say I do believe that the weather kept some people away obviously it's also a holiday weekend um but I think the weather kept some people away uh but the overwhelming success of the evening was the Devil's Deck um you know that there were a lot of question marks around it um you know who who was going to be in it how many people were going to be in it first of all it looked full now I wasn't able to go into it um I was in a different location but I was able to see it uh very well there were there it looked full like from the stands and I'm sure they could fit way more people in there but it looked full they had the DJ with the blue lights uh up in the middle and like the students were in that section so like there was kind of that kind of more party vibe there there was cornhle going on um and so I believe that was the overwhelming success um of the night um and then you know the attendance it is what it is it's Elon number one um it's on a holiday weekend and it was raining for literally the eight hours you know previous so you know at the end of the day I thought it was a success I think Duke announced 18,000 fans that's obviously lower than what you want on the opening night but I think you're going to see a bounce back as far as fans being there for that Yukon game uh coming up in two weeks yeah without a doubt and uh a Friday night game of course adds various challenges this time of year you know I'm sure several in the community had uh their own children playing in high school football games who knows we across the state wanting to go and support them and do that but uh nonetheless a successful debut Duke wins by a score of 26 to 23 uh I talked a bit about 26 to three 23 a lot more points on the board in my head I was doing the math and the point differential between the two right 26 minus 3 equals 23 come on JJ get with it 263 is the fin I'm sure I'm sure defensive coordinator Jonathan py would want to make sure you said three yeah exactly instead of 23 right and the three came right there at the end man in the last 60 seconds of the game what did you make of the defensive effort well first of all for those of you who took me over um at 23 and a half um sorry they kicked the field goal at the end there so what did I make of the defense well number one I mean we have been talking as we mentioned we've talked a whole lot on this podcast but one of the things that we talked about in the off season you know was the Manny Diaz defense right and like how he is a defensive coach and how he is you know he leans defense uh we mentioned Jonathan py and I think if I'm not mistaken two weeks ago three weeks ago we talked about what is one area on defense that Duke is going to excel at and I believe you and I both spoke about tackles for loss yep and so the defense comes out in week one with 16 tackles for loss one six that is second in the country after week one um and so that was awesome eight sacks um it was really good to see VJ Anthony as active as he is was he's really been in the weight room a lot this off season he had an incredible game cam berson who was uh the nickel replacement really for uh for Brandon Johnson from last year's team who went on to Oregon by the way had a really great game for them had interception in the end zone but cam berson uh led the team with eight sacks um they just got they were they were creating you know Havoc all over the field and sure we gave up some you know short yardage throws on the outside but I almost think that that's the way this defense is structured is you know you go all out to get to the quarterback and then you got to make sure you give yourself a little bit of padding there on the outside in order to not you know get burned and so overall JJ I would I I'm sure you know if you're Manny Diaz you have to look at that and say like that was a job well done uh by Jonathan pachy and the and the coaching staff on that side of the football but then the players went out and executed it so it was it was really cool to see that 16 tackles for loss as you said for the Blue Devils last year they didn't have a single game with more than 10 on the season never got into the double- digit Mark they had 16 the most for Duke since 2007 and then those eight sacks are the most uh but since 2019 when Duke had nine against Miami when Manny Diaz was on the opposite Sidelines as the head coach that's a good pull there yeah good good numbers there for the St football team and excited for what the defense can do moving forward well I mentioned VJ Anthony and also mentioned cam burgon cam burgon has already surpassed I believe his tackles for loss last year yeah and I think vj's a half sack away from from his from what he did all of last season already so that's really cool for for players like that you know so in in the in the era of transfer portal and you know new guys coming in and Duke benefited from that it's really neat to see the guys that have been there for two three and four years who are now cam berson getting their chance right and and to see them capitalize on it was it's really neat to see all right let's talk about quarterback though Malik Murphy is the big storyline for a lot of people from the outside looking in when you take a look at the stook football program how did he Faire in his debut we'll tell you a little more after this time out lockdown Blue Devils here today is brought to you by our friends over at eBay Motors passion drive and patience it's the formula for winning championships and it's also what keeps your ride or die alive eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to Peak Performance superchargers roof racks exhaust kits LED headlights and more whether you're into speed power or style eBay Motors has you covered with over 122 million parts for your number one rid or die you'll always find exactly what you're looking for and with the ebayed guaranteed fit your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time or you get your money back because with eBay Motors you're burning rubber not cash keep your ride or die alive at ebaymotors.com eligible items only exclusions apply eBay guaranteed fit is only available for us customers lockdown blue Devil's here today on this Wednesday September 4th I'm JJ Jackson he is Josh Cox from duke football talks section 17 podcast Malik Murphy debuts as the quarterback what' you think of his performance uh well 291 yards uh throwing the football completion percentage you know probably wasn't exactly what he wanted but there were I don't know JJ I five six seven that were like fingertips and so I think if he gets that dialed in I mean he threw for 291 and he wasn't dialed in and so if he gets dialed now I understand the level of competition I understand that you know this Friday du's heading to Evon Illinois um you know for for a game with Northwestern and the defense is going to be on a different level than it was this past Friday night but I believe Malik Murphy had a great game I believe uh Brewer called a great passing game I believe they kept the ball in the outside Malik under threw a couple of of deep balls but the majority of the deep balls he threw vast majority of them it was where only his guy could catch him and that was it and that's what you really want there you want it to be your guy and the defender has has no you know way of of of getting the ball um so I thought it was great I thought they made good decisions I believe the offensive line did an incredible job in pass blocking I believe he was uh he never didn't wasn't sacked one time I can only remember a couple different times where I felt like he was even rushed or hurried to get the ball out of the pocket I don't believe he got knocked on the ground I could be wrong there but I don't believe he hit the ground um and so you know for Duke fans I'm sure after two years of of Riley Leonard uh type quarterbacking I'm sure Duke fans you know would like to see some more running but that's not a part of of Malik's game at least not right now and so all in all I was very pleased with with with Malik Murphy if you watch his throws you saw that that deep ball you saw the touch that he has and then I thought he did a pretty decent job on on this on the the you know short routes as well so if I'm if I'm coach Brewer I'm saying listen if if we're going to grade on a scale of 1 to 10 you were a seven and let's get it let's get that to an eight as soon as possible you know that kind of thing yeah yeah definitely not a four and not a five he was he was good for sure yeah 26 of 40 291 yards through the year two touchdowns and the one interception that second touchdown pass to Eli pink I mean he just zipped that football in there we heard all about the arm strength but just seeing kind of things like that knowing the windows that are going to be there it's it's it's really important to be able to have a little bit of zip to those passes if you're a quarterback and we learned that Malik Murphy certainly has that yeah he's got the arm strength for sure and then and I I I went back to rewatch the game but I should have taken note of this but like I think conservatively speaking there were four deep balls that would have been touchdowns or close to it that were fingertip balls that just barely were missed by the receiver and I don't know how many of those four Duke wound up scoring later on in that same Drive well let's just say out of two of them two of them would have been additional touchdowns I mean now you're looking at you know Duke winning 40 to three instead of you know 26 to three and so I I personally believe he was just a couple of you know deep balls away from putting up four touchdowns 400 yards right and and then we're having an even bigger conversation about Malik Murphy yeah no I mean just all in all remarkable job in his debut uh we talked about it long enough that's I'm just excited that now we got to see him playing a real game against an opponent and and kind of leading the way for this team I mentioned Eli panl on that touchdown pass so great to have him back and healthy seven catches seven catches for Joe Mo as well those wide receivers make the job a whole lot easier for somebody like Malik Murphy I thought that wide receiver room had a good day they did and I would I would think if they were on this podcast right now a couple of them would have said yeah I had a good day but there were a couple that I should have pulled in sure that that I just didn't and so I don't I don't blame that on the receivers and I don't blame that on Mal leag I actually think what could be at play there was a little bit of a soft field you know as I mentioned there was a lot of rain that hit throughout the entire day and I while the field drains very quickly that gr that wet grass I mean you know I've never played college football but I understand when the field is mushy and grass is wet you don't quite have that zip that you have when everything is you know what I mean when everything's perfect and so I think that can be the cause of a little bit but you're right Jordan Moore had a great game I understand Malik wound up throwing the one yard pass to Jeremiah hazley after this but the Jordan Moore almost touchdown like I couldn't believe it when I saw it that I'm like he obviously was in but then when you went back and looked at the at the replay his knee did touch a little bit I couldn't I couldn't believe the way his body moved into the end zone so quickly I thought for sure he' gotten in there but but yeah great game Samir hains was was solid um as well and uh and I I believe it was nine different receivers that Malik Mur Murphy completed passes to so he spread the ball around love that and didn't key in on one guy so yeah very good Duke is one and0 on the season they've got uh Northwestern coming up on Friday we'll see how they can build off of that performance let's talk a little bit about the Run game as well for the stou football team as something that they can improve on and we'll do that after we take our final out here on today's episode show today brought to you by our friends over at FanDuel America's number one sports book football season is back I can't believe it tomorrow the NFL is back what a game we've got between the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs taking on Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens you've heard us talk a lot about FanDuel America's number one sports book we've got something a little different for you now through September 22nd all FanDuel customers can bet $5 and get a three-week free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV then with a YouTube TV based plan you'll be able to watch every regular season Sunday afternoon out of Market game all you need is a Google account and a current form of payment and you can cancel any time just visit fanduel.com and download America's number one Sportsbook fanduel.com go check them out they're proud sponsor of lock on Blue Devils all right we're wrapping up today's episode of lock on Blue Devils I'm JJ Jackson he's Josh Cox from duke football talks section 17 podcast tell me a little bit about the show Josh yeah we're in uh midseason form you know now week two heading into week two weekly podcasts uh typically release on Tuesday morning sometimes we get them out late Monday night depending on how quickly our producer turns them around uh but we talk uh deep dive into Duke football episodes are typically an hour to hour and a half long um and we give you um we answer listener questions we preview our opponents and then you know we give you our predictions and whatnot so a lot of fun there give you a background uh on our opponent and and the history there between the two schools and so just a lot of fun and you can find us on uh Twitter X dufb talk uh YouTube you can search for Section 17 podcast and then our website is Duke football talk.com so we appreciate anything I was reading JJ I was actually pulling up uh speaking I know you talk about reviews and ratings right U all the time and so I was looking up the lock on Blue Devils podcast oh yeah and a fellow by the name of the big rrr okay said he loves this podcast and he thanks you shout out to the big RR I appreciate big RR big no three Rs r r r okay so whoever that guy is so we love you yeah we appr appreciate that even when I say scores wrong and that sort of thing so Duke ju 26-3 uh against Elon over the weekend now they play Northwestern in their next game this Friday uh you look at the numbers though and I I think a lot of people were underwhelmed to say the least at what we saw uh from the rushing attack what do you make of that Josh yes so that's the big question right I mean uh was it a scheme ISS that coach Brewer is able to go back and film and say hey we were calling a certain type of Run play and it just wasn't going to work with what the defense was offering I have no idea um or was it just the fact that our guys are better pass blockers than they are run blockers obviously it's a different you know that's a different game for offensive lineman uh to pass block and and to run block and so with pass blocking and once again I'm no football player but with pass blocking you know that you're in a little bit more of defense mode and you're you're just protecting and then with run blocking you're attacking and you know I I don't know I don't know the answer to that question but it's going to be very intriguing over the next one to two weeks um to see if the Run game continues to struggle or was it just something from week one you know obviously Dukes got the guys in the backfield I think one of the questions we had leading into the season was how was that backfield gonna look and you know it really has taken on the one two three of jock wesmore star Thomas transfer running back and pton Jones and so that's the kind of the way it looked there it wouldn't surprise me to see pton Jones numbers you know come up a little bit throughout the season as far as number of carries yeah once again at some at a certain point you know Duke just had to kind of rely on throwing the football and I know I know Malik is fine with that I'm pretty sure coach Brewer is fine with that but in every every good football team has got to be able to line up and run the ball for three or four yards when they need to and so you know Duke's got to figure that out and as I told our guys on this week's recording on our podcast if I knew the answer to that question I'd be on the coaching staff absolutely yeah yeah divvying up the carries is something that we'll kind of see how all of that plays out but uh yeah just an underwhelming performance the running back room as a whole the rushing attack for Duke just 2.2 yards per carry against Elon in a game like this and not many running opportunities for Malik Murphy himself I'm really curious again people uh might jump to a conclusion that he's more of a runner than he actually is I think we're going to see over the course of the season now this is a quarterback however there's just such an added element to your game if you can find more kind of design looks for Murphy to get the ball and pick up a few yards and create Rhythm and that sort of thing yeah and the question is is that a part of you know the offense and a part of his game um and so you know he is known as a pocket passer he showed that Friday that he likes to stay in the pocket you know when when you and I were in Charlotte and we were talking to Malik yep um you know he he made the comparison of himself to Justin Herbert another passing pocket quarterback bigger guy um and so I don't know what that looks like just to be honest with you um obviously there there are two different reasons and ways quarterbacks run one of them is by Design which is what you kind of want right you want it to be like okay we want you run the other is by necessity and that is when your pocket breaks down and you got to get out of Dodge and so you know Duke's offensive line protected him well enough where the second one didn't come into play on Friday night and they didn't call anything you know obviously for him to run so there will come a time this season JJ whether it's this Friday night in Evon or whether it's later on in the ACC schedule where Malik Murphy's gonna have to get out of that pocket he's gonna have to make something happen and we'll see you know I think it'll be funny if like a little cornerback tries to come up and and Tackle him and just he could literally like bulldoze right over room so uh I don't know it's gonna be it's going to be interesting but you know you don't want a kid you want a kid to be himself like you want the quarterback to be himself if he's a pocket passer more power to him yeah um just know every now and then we're going to need a yard or two and we're gonna need that 65 240 pound use the big frame to do something with it yeah for sure he's GNA be ready to do that I'm sure all right so uh Duke and Northwestern coming up on Friday G to be a fun one uh to see these teams kind of go head-to-head but before we get there just final thoughts on on the win over Elon who are two or three guys Josh that we haven't mentioned today that you do or want to give more praise to which is kind of the individual performance that they had in that win yeah I mean I think you may have mentioned him in passing but I think Eli panle having him back uh was was really key um and and he had a he had a really good game so um he you know that was that was good I'm trying to think um on somebody we haven't mentioned uh Ryan Smith I like what Ryan Smith did on the defensive line he got a sack maybe a sack and a half uh in this game I really like what he our defensive ends in general Michael ree was in there making some stuff happen um but yeah those those are a couple of of guys that I think of on on our side of the football I mean on on Duke's side of the football um that we haven't mentioned and of course you know uh Jeremy hazley I I love what he's bring into the tight end room for sure yeah and I go back to what cam berson was able to do on the defensive side of the football I go back to kind of our preseason conversations and so much conversation in that area uh around other players on that Duke defense right Tre yeah I mean Alex Howard we spoke about we spoke about Alex Howard and Alex Howard played a ton of snaps right Friday night and you know was I forget how many tackles he ended up with but I think he was top three or four on the team in tackles so one of the things I kind of called the offseason with I I felt like he was going to get you know plenty of plenty of snaps so no doubt no doubt good performance from the stou football team they pick up a big win uh now they take on Northwestern this upcoming Friday Josh really great to see you on the show as always man do me a favor and tell people how they can best support you and and your team that you got over there with Section 17 podcast yeah for sure first of all if you're going to be at the Northwestern game is going to be really cool I'm GNA be there so if you're there uh hit me up I'd love to meet you gonna be in that like lacrosse is stadium so that's going to be really cool um but yes so section 17 podcast you can find us uh like I said said on our website Duke football talk.com anywhere you listen to podcast ratings and reviews as JJ would appreciate for locked on we appreciate them over there and and listen we try to interact with our fans we do weekly giveaways we give away t-shirts we give away mini helmets we give away stuff so you know we have we try to make it a community man and so the Duke football Community is a smaller community so that we got to stick together yes we do but anyway I appreciate all your support man I really I appreciate you having me on now for the 100th and however mean times keep running those numbers up keep run and hey hopefully you had quite a sales pitch to The Boozer twins over the week the it was good having them in town and it was also cool I think we've spoken I don't know if you and I have talked about this but I'm sure it's been talked about it was good to see mom mama AB Boozer yep in town with them wearing Duke gear and so like that's been a little bit of the of the Gob back of fourth there between like dad and mom so it was good to see Mama Boozer wearing Duke gear uh with the boys on their visit yeah let's get that commitment done that'd be so big all right Josh we'll talk again soon okay have a good day man we'll see you all right that's Josh Cox joining us here on today's show go support his work as always does really good stuff with those guys at the section 17 podcast that's going to do it for today's show as always go duke I'll talk to you tomorrow my name is JJ Jackson thank you and good day