TEMPE, Ariz. -- Comparisons help us understand the unknown, and the Arizona State Sun Devils' comparisons when describing their Sun Bowl opponents, the Duke Blue Devils, hint at how seriously they're taking the rising ACC squad.
Let's just say ASU doesn't have fond recent memories against the squads it believes to be similar to Duke.
"They remind me a lot, character-wise and stuff, of Stanford," ASU coach Todd Graham said. "Except the strength of Stanford's team is their defense. How their players play and the discipline of their players reminds me a lot of Stanford. Their scheme reminds me a lot of what Oregon would play and what Arizona would do."
Stanford was ASU's arch nemesis a year ago, beating the Sun Devils twice, the second of which won the Cardinal the Pac-12 Championship. Arizona, of course, took away Arizona State's conference title hopes in the final game this year.
More than Stanford, Arizona and Oregon, the Sun Devils said they see a lot of similarities when comparing Duke to themselves. Head coach David Cutcliffe's team likes to attack on the defensive end, and more than anything, it doesn't make many mistakes.
Here's what you need to know about the Blue Devils from ASU's point of view.
Duke's starting quarterback Anthony Boone doesn't throw the ball a lot. As a run-heavy team that uses two-back sets and zone read plays, the redshirt senior fits in perfectly and this season tallied five rushing touchdowns and 346 yards on the ground.
When he does throw, there's always the chance he's going deep. That's where the run game setting up the deep pass looks so similar to Stanford.
"(Boone is) really, really, really accurate with the deep ball," Graham said.
"They want to establish the run, and then they want to throw the ball over the top of you. Got to do a good job of playing top-down coverage and then stopping the run."
Look for Boone to target All-ACC First Team selection Jamison Crowder, who led the team with 942 receiving yards and also is dangerous in the punt-return game.
Duke linebacker David Helton led the Blue Devils in tackles this season and will likely be involved with the majority of play. But it's the safety duo of DeVon Edwards and Jeremy Cash who the Sun Devils will have to be wary of when it comes to avoiding critical errors.
Edwards and Cash were second and third for the Blue Devils in total tackles. They also rank among the top three in tackles for loss, sacks and pass deflections. Each have four forced fumbles on the season and will be as critical to Duke's pressure on ASU's backfield as they are in pass defense.
"Being a quarterback, playing a team like that, it's very similar to playing against our defense. They do a lot of similar stuff," said ASU backup quarterback Mike Bercovici. "They attack the football. They're not scared of the run."
While 5-foot-10, 205-pound running back Shaquille Powell (501 rushing yards) leads his team with 105 carries on the year, the smaller Shaun Wilson leads Duke with 590 rushing yards. Josh Snead has 399 yards, and he's followed by Boone with 346.
Backup quarterback Thomas Sirk essentially acts as a Wildcat player with his 45 rushing attempts and 14 passing attempts on the year, but he leads all Blue Devils with eight touchdowns via the run. ASU was working on defending the Wildcat offense last week in practice.
"The main thing is stopping their running back and making sure you have accountabilities to their quarterbacks," Graham said. "And then not giving up cheap ones to their wideouts. That's probably the strength of their team is their offense."
Duke guard Laken Tomlinson is a first-team Associated Press All-American.
Multiple Sun Devils were quick to point out that Duke offensive guard Laken Tomlinson earned first-team AP All-America honors for good reason.
Linebacker Salamo Fiso compared the Blue Devils' offensive line to that of Stanford in how smart they are and how well they get off the ball. Even cornerback Lloyd Carrington knows that he'll have to play differently against Duke's offensive line.
"They do a pretty good job of slide protecting, actually picking up blitzes and recognizing what a defense is going to bring," Carrington said.
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