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.