Duke's Chris Rumph on His Three Sack Game

Edge rusher led Duke pass rush

Duke had five sacks and eight tackles for loss against Charlotte, led by Chris Rumph II, who had three of each.

“Coach (Ben) Albert teaches us to get off, an attack-style front,” Rumph said. Albert is Duke’s defensive line coach and co-defensive coordinator. “We had a great two weeks of practice leading up. We saw what they were doing. We brought intensity. Now, the next half of the season is very important for us. We wanted to start off on the right note. A lot of guys made plays. All over the field, we could find guys that made plays, not just me.”

“I just tackled,” Rumph said of his sacks. “I have Coach Albert making sure I finish my sacks, finish plays in general. The whole mentality of our defense is finishing. We’ve been a good first half team. We have to finish the second half of games. That includes tackling the quarterback, running back, whoever. It doesn’t matter. My whole mindset going in was finishing. I had to do my one eleventh today.”

Duke’s defense was on the field more than 42 minutes, since the offense scored in less than a minute on four different drives.

“I don’t think any defense wants the offense taking long to score,” Rumph said. “We want the offense to score as many points as possible. They did a great job today, flying around. Chase (Brice) was slinging. Deon (Jackson) had a touchdown. Jordan (Waters) had a touchdown. Gunnar (Holmberg) had a touchdown. That offense was firing on all cylinders. Give them credit. They gave us confidence going on the field that when we give them the ball back, they were going to score.”