Duke football: Mike Elko has created a monster

It’s October and that means Halloween is fast approaching. If you’re a fan of horror movies like me, you really love this time of year. Mike Elko seems to have created a horror movie for Duke football starring a monster of his own making. Unlike Dr. Frankenstein’s creation, Elko’s monster isn’t green. It’s blue, but can do just as much damage when provoked. What is this monster, you ask? It is the Duke Blue Devils’ run game.

Welcome to Mike’s nightmare

Mike Elko has created an offensive line that has become a nightmare for opposing defenses. Any team that can run the football has a nasty offensive line and the Blue Devils certainly do. In their first five games the Blue Devils have rushed for over two hundred yards three times, have yet to be held to less than 139 yards in a game, and are averaging five yards per carry. Led by center Jacob Monk, it has been a force all season and bludgeoned a stout Virginia defense for 248 yards last week. Thanks to a couple of graduate transfers, they have depth and versatility. I wrote before the season that this unit filled with veteran players had to be a strength of the team and that is exactly what it has become.

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Two-headed monster

While Victor Frankenstein sewed just one head onto his monster, Elko has managed to attach two to his. Jordan Waters and Jaylen Coleman are both the kind of runners I like. They’re no-nonsense types who find the hole, get through it, and then make a move if needed. Both are physical runners who are not easy to being down. Waters has been steady all season, but Coleman’s improvement from the beginning of the season is noticeable. Together they are averaging 111 yards per game and over five yards per carry. Last season, Mateo Durant set a school-single season rushing record by averaging 103 yards per game and just under five yards per carry. That should open your eyes a bit as to how effective Elko’s two-headed creation has been to this point. Neither are monstrous in size (Waters is 215 pounds, Coleman is 205), but both run with the movie monster attitude that looks to leave path of destruction in its wake.

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Dr. Frankenstein used a laboratory to bring to life his famous monster-Mike Elko used the practice field for his. Opposing defenses would probably rather the tall green guy from the movies line up across from them rather than the surly monster in blue. At least music soothed Frankenstein’s monster. That won’t work on Mike Elko’s.