Month: November 2019

Duke versus Miami – What to Expect

Duke’s football season is approaching what will hopefully be a merciful end on Saturday at Wallace Wade. The Blue Devils host Miami for what is almost certainly the team’s final game of the season (there is a technical chance that Duke could make a bowl with win and a 5-7 record). So, what can we expect? The odds say a Duke loss and a Miami victory (ESPN gives the Hurricanes a 67%+ chance to win).

Breaking it down in more detail, expect turnovers. Quentin Harris has thrown 11 interceptions and turned the ball over through fumbles on a consistent basis. This is why he has an abysmal quarterback rating of 50.1. Were the turnovers not enough, you should keep an eye out for missed tackles. Michael Carter talked about this recently and 247 sports noted that one of Duke’s best players, Marquis Waters, leads the team with 18.

You can also expect predictable play-calling. I’m not going to rehash those issues here (it’s Thanksgiving and I have to work tomorrow, so I don’t have time to get that angry before bed). There are likely to be a lot of runs up the middle, run-pass-options without Harris keeping the ball and throwing WR screens on first down. Much of this is likely designed to minimize Harris turning the ball over. It hasn’t worked so far, but I suppose it could be worse.

Duke’s defense, assuming it hasn’t already quit, will likely play hard on the first few series and run out of gas. This is the result of the inability of the offense to do much of anything. Drives stall out and the defense has to rush back on the field without any rest. Even when the Blue Devils do gain yards, they rarely put the ball in the end zone. While the kicking teams have come on strong of late, that won’t win a game on its own.

To conclude, expect a Miami win and a six straight loss for Duke.

Season’s End: Comings and Goings

As the season quickly approaches its anticlimactic end, the preparation for next season is underway and that includes some notable departures for the Duke Blue Devils football program.

Aside from the seniors, the Blue Devils announced some unexpected, if not unsurprisingly early defections including wide receiver Scott Bracey and kicker AJ Reed.

They join four other early departures heading out of Durham following what is likely to be the season’s final game Saturday against Miami.

Bracey has battled injury most of his Duke career and finally broke out this season. Despite being healthy and reaping the benefits with greater targets, Bracey is on the way out likely to seek more opportunities with another program as a graduate transfer.

The bad news is Duke is losing a quality, and veteran receiver, which would come in handy with whichever first time starter the Devils opt to go with next season at quarterback. The good news is that despite the struggles of this season, Duke has a solid, young core group of receivers who have shown big play making ability.

Jake Bobo will return for his junior year and can be expected to be a go-to target for the Blue Devils. Bobo was sidelined to start the season but has shown glimpses of what the Duke coaching staff was hoping to see prior to suffering a broken clavicle.

Duke also will return Jalon Calhoun, Eli Pancol, Darrell Harding Jr., and Damond Philyaw-Johnson which should make for a formidable wide receiving core.

Bracey will be missed in Durham, but he hardly is leaving with the cupboard empty for whomever takes over at quarterback.

The departure of kicker AJ Reed, the comeback story of the year for the Blue Devils leaves a few more questions. After coming in with lots of expectations, Reed struggled through his freshman season and went nearly two years before making another field goal.

His reemergence this season stabilized the Duke kicking game which had become a liability since Ross Martin graduated. Duke now must replace Reed, presumably with Jack Driggars who has handled kickoff duties this season.

If Driggars can’t get the job done, then Duke’s kicking game will fall back into limbo.

Duke has plenty of time in the off season with no bowl to prepare for these things, and given the frustrations of this season perhaps some time away will re-energize a program that has suddenly found itself with more questions than answers after several years of steady progress.

Notes: Besides Bracey and Reed the early departures include: Safeties Javon Jackson, Damani Neal, and Antone Williams as well as lineman Liam Smith.

Duke Lost to Wake Forest … Again

It was a rough Saturday night for Duke football fans. While not as bad as last year’s implosion against Wake, it was painful to watch. The game followed a generally predictable script. The defense played well, the offense couldn’t convert opportunities and, despite two outstanding kick returns and a good punt return, Duke lost. Turnovers and miscues doomed the team. The defense couldn’t carry the team and, for the fifth straight game, Duke lost. The obvious question is why.

There is no shortage of answers. Poor play-calling early hurt (why go shotgun on 4th-and-1 instead of lining up under center?) as did a number of fumbles. Quentin Harris continued to miss receivers and took the air out of the team when he threw an interception to the very open Aaron Young. And while the defense played well, the obsession with trying to strip the ball instead of tackling resulted in a lot of yards after contact.

So, what is next for Duke football? The team is now 4-7 after a great 4-2 start with a beautiful dismantling of a Virginia Tech team that is now ranked serving as the lone bright spot of a dismal season. Since that game, Duke has had only two good offensive performances – scoring 30 points in a loss to Pittsburgh and 41 points in a win against Georgia Tech. Outside of that, Duke has put up the following lackluster outputs – 14 points against Virginia, 17 points against Carolina (thanks in large part to that idiotic jump pass call), 7 points against Notre Dame and an inexcusable 6 points against lowly Syracuse. While Duke managed to score 27 against Wake, 14 of those were thanks to kick returns by Damond Philyaw-Johnson. Take away AJ Reed’s field goals and Duke only managed one offensive touchdown.

While a bowl game is still technically possible, this team is rudderless. The offense is an unmitigated disaster. Zac Roper’s calls are predictable and ineffective. Head coach David Cutcliffe’s loyalty is commendable, but the decision to stick with Harris, a senior, instead of playing Chris Katrenick is hard to understand. Katrenick will be at Duke next year. Harris will not. The fact that the team has not ditched the tempo system in favor of a huddle to give the defense a breather is equally frustrating. The play-calling needs to change and should have weeks ago. While the defense has given up a lot of points, this is the best and most talented unit in decades. It’s going to waste. And while Harris was never meant to be the starting quarterback (Daniel Jones left early, Gunnar Holmberg got hurt and Jack Sears decommitted), this team has had chances to win close games. Better coaching and clock management (remember the disastrous end of the first half against Notre Dame) wins some of those games.

The loss to Wake confirmed that the season is lost. While it hadn’t been in doubt for weeks, it was still painful to see. Regardless of what happens against Miami, the real question Duke football has to answer is “What do we do next season”? We’ll see if Duke’s athletic director, Kevin White, asks Cutcliffe that and, if so, what the response is.

Tell us your thoughts in the comments.