Duke football‘s secondary took another hit on Saturday, Nov. 14, against Miami.
A week after the Blue Devils (7-2, 4-3 ACC) lost safety Patrick Smith-Young for the season vs. NC State, cornerbacks Kyon Loud and Dylan Flowers exited during the 36-25 loss to the No. 5/7 Hurricanes at Hard Rock Stadium.
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Their absences created opportunities for redshirt sophomore Landan Callahan and redshirt freshman Kaleb Lanier, who each played a season-high number of snaps. Callahan played 41 snaps, surpassing his previous season high of 25 against Boston College. Lanier played 16 snaps, one more than his previous high of 15 against Boston College and Stanford.
Callahan finished with three solo tackles and a pass breakup.
“It’s the number one scoring offense in the country, and for those two guys to go in the game and compete the way that they did, I thought was massive,” coach Manny Diaz said after the loss. “Probably not what their expectation was when we pulled up to the stadium today. And they gave us a chance. I mean, I thought they fought hard and I thought they gave us a chance. So I’m proud of both those guys and the way they stepped in.”
Duke‘s defense kept Miami’s offense in check early, but the Hurricanes eventually found their rhythm. After opening the game with two punts, Miami scored on each of its final seven possessions. Three of the first four scoring drives ended in field goals before the Hurricanes scored touchdowns on their final three drives.
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Miami finished with 532 total yards, including 382 passing yards from quarterback Darian Mensah, who completed 30 of 41 attempts and threw one touchdown. Running back Jaivon Mallory added two rushing touchdowns.
“(Landan and Kaleb) came in and did their thing,” defensive back Evan Smith said. “I was just really proud of those guys and how they haven’t seen the most snaps throughout the year. But they’ve definitely been working behind the scenes. They have a lot of confidence. And when their number got called, no one flinched an eye. The game plan didn’t change, and we trusted them with everything. So I’m extremely proud of those for how they played today.”
Diaz announced on Nov. 9 that Smith-Young is out for the remainder of the season. It is unclear whether Loud or Flowers will miss additional time as Diaz did not give a postgame update on the injuries.
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The Blue Devils face a quick turnaround ahead of hosting Clemson on Friday, Nov. 20, at Wallace Wade Stadium.
Anna Snyder covers Duke for The Fayetteville Observer as part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at asnyder@usatodayco.com or on X @annaesnydr.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Duke football secondary took another hit in loss to Miami. Who stepped up?
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