SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee met with the media on Tuesday to break down the matchup at Duke. Here’s what Lashlee had to say before his team took on Manny Diaz’s team.

Opening speech: “I’m looking forward to another great road challenge. Should be great. Two 6-1 teams. They were incredible at home. They have playmakers at all three levels, on offense at quarterback, running back and receiver, as well as on defense. They were incredible, especially in our league. He leads nearly every category that matters, from third downs to scoring defense to pass defense to overall defense. They are No. 1 in the country in tackles for loss, which is a showcase of Manny and his defense.

“There is probably no coach in college football that I respect more than Manny Diaz. I don’t like playing with friends, I have a few friends over there, from Manny and Patke on the defensive side, of course Jonny Brewer and Gator Lamascus on the offensive side here with us. David Feeley is the direct trainer there. They are great people, they do it for the right reasons. Manny is great at creating successful cultures and I think you saw that there and I’m definitely a better head coach if I worked with him for a few years. This will be a big challenge for us. We are excited about the opportunity.”

About Duke QB Maalik Murphy: “He can really throw the ball deep. He has a big arm. the deep ball, the RPO game. Gets the ball out of his hands quickly. He’s tall so he can see over the lines. What he does great and what they do on offense is get the ball out, not take sacks. They’re among the best at it, and they don’t turn the ball over. I think what they’ve done as well as anyone in college football is play great team football. Their goal is the same as all of us: to win the game, no matter what it looks like week to week, based on the opponent. Obviously they rely on a high level of defense, and they should. The defense is really, really good in every major statistical category this year, forcing turnovers, and also on offense, they just stress people out over the course of a game. They were outstanding in the second half of many of their games when it came to winning and finishing the game. You will only create more confidence in your program the more you win. They’re 6-1 and we couldn’t play more confidently. I’d like to think we’re in the same boat, so it should be good.”

On Duke RB Star Thomas: “I hope it helps (seeing Brashard Smith) because there are some similarities. Stars have been really good for them and they have relied on him to finish games over several weeks. What I know is that like us on offense, they try to eliminate the negative plays. We’re generally pretty good at negative impact on defense, I think it was 11 last week, but defensively they’re No. 1 in the country. Even if you move the ball a little bit toward someone as you’re going backwards, it’s now 2nd-and-13 or whatever, that puts you in a tough spot. When you get on third down against the Duke defense, it’s scary. I think the same goes for our defense. We’ve proven we can move people to third and long. A guy like Star gives them a chance to get ahead of schedule and not end up in a third-and-long situation. Then when they get into the scoring zone, he’s good at getting into the end zone. 3. In short, he was really good. Then when they have to finish games, he was really good. We will have to carry out a group attack. A guy won’t bring him down.”

Watch the video below to see what Lashlee has to say about SMU vs. Duke.