Fire the coach. That’s it. That’s the post.
Month: September 2020
2020 Game Recap – Duke Loses in South Bend
It was a familiar script for the Blue Devil’s against a highly ranked team. They started strong, punched above their weight class and took an early lead. Despite looking like world beaters and going up 6-0, the Blue Devils’ offense stalled out and Notre Dame ended up with a 27-13 win. The final score is somewhat misleading as this was a tight game until the fourth quarter. But a loss is still a loss.
My five takeaways from the game are:
1) Poor execution in the red zone.
Duke got there three times but only got one touchdown. That won’t get it done. The plays Cutcliffe called were predictable and easy to defend. Why roll Brice out on third down instead of a spread package? Why pitch to Durant on the short end of the field? Why not do an RPO with Jackson? This stuff may be due to a lack of Spring ball and a new QB, but if this continues over the next few games, we have a problem. It may be time to do a serious OC overhaul.
And speaking of the offense…
2) Free Deon.
Other than a few missteps (Calhoun’s fumble and repeated throws to the backup TE), the offense looked pretty good. Duke had long drives and got into the red zone. But the offense struggles the minute Deon is off the field. He brings speed and quickness the defense has to account for. He’s also a good receiver. While I like Durant, he doesn’t do what Deon does. This isn’t like the Stable days when Cut had to rotate guys in and out because they lacked talent. Deon is a top-level back. Give him the carries he deserves and make the defense defend the entire field.
3) It’s deja vu all over again.
The defense played great but wore down as the game went on and a close game ended up getting away from the Blue Devils late. If you feel like you’re watching a movie you’ve already seen, it’s because you have. This has been the story of Duke football for the last four years. Cut needs to slow the offense down a bit and give his defense a breather. If he doesn’t, this defense is going to fall apart. Which would be unfortunate because I liked everything they did. The line was good, the LBs hit hard and the secondary should have had two picks (Rumph can’t jump offside like that). They have the tools, they have the talent. Don’t waste it with a hurry-up scheme when the defense needs to rest.
4) Mistakes.
There were a few. Calhoun fumbling, Rumph jumping into the neutral zone, play calls in the red zone. Just some typical first game sloppiness. What is bad about the mistakes is that they happened in a tight game in which Duke was a 20.5 point underdog. If the mistakes go the other way, the Blue Devils could have kept it at one possession. These mistakes can’t continue if Duke wants to have a good season.
5) Mark Gilbert.
I can’t say enough about how great it was to see him back on the field. Just tremendous. He played well. Congratulations, man. You’re writing one heck of a story.
2020 Season – Duke versus Notre Dame
We’re back! It’s been a while thanks to COVID-19 and all the upheaval we’ve dealt with. But that’s over. The season starts today at 2:30 p.m. on NBC. Duke travels to South Bend to take on the 10th ranked Irish. This is going to be a tough game, there is no question about it. The Irish dominated the Blue Devils last year by a cool 38-7. We’ve covered all the changes during the off-season, so while we can’t say things will be the same as they were last year, there’s also reason to expect a loss. Notre Dame is ranked 10th. Duke isn’t. Notre Dame consistently outperforms Duke. The game is at South Bend. Jack Wohlabaugh is out for the season. Need any other reasons to be pessimistic?
How about reasons for optimism? It starts with Chase Brice.
A good quarterback will elevate your team and get you wins you shouldn’t. Remember Daniel Jones against UNC? We do because we were there. It was one of the greatest performances by a Blue Devil we ever saw on the football field. So, there’s one reason.
The WR corps is also better than it has been throughout most of Cutcliffe’s tenure. While he may not have a Jamison Crowder just yet, this is a deep group (Damon Philyaw-Johnson, Jalon Calhoun, Darrell Harding, Jr., Eli Pancol, etc.). And Noah Gray at TE is a big plus. There are a lot of weapons for Brice to get the ball to. If Duke can keep the defense honest by running the ball effectively (Deon Jackson and Mataeo Durant, anyone?), Cutcliffe’s next NFL QB may have one heck of a season. The weapons on offense give us a second reason for optimism.
The defense, while it had some turnover, should also be strong (especially with Mark Gilbert coming back which is freaking great).
Ben Albert is a heck of a coach and the talent level has consistently improved especially since he came on board. These guys can make plays and will give the Irish their best. Cutcliffe has generally gotten his team ready for big games at the start of the season. Remember how well an undermanned team played against Alabama last year? Remember the year before that when, while it was later in the season, Duke actually lead against Clemson? Cutcliffe, with time to prepare, can give better teams fits. So that’s a third reason for optimism.
But, speaking of Cutcliffe, I’ve been throwing cold water on him as the play-caller ever since he announced he was taking over the job. Just scan through our Twitter account — it’s there. Cutcliffe ran predictable plays in the red zone, messed with the offense’s flow by switching QBs and wasn’t always the best at clock management. As much as we love Cutcliffe here, we are honest about the fact that he gave up those duties for a reason. And his talking about a goal line package should give us cause for concern (he said it isn’t a priority for this week, but history tells us to be worried).
Final prediction? Irish to win, but a fun game. Go Duke!
Bull City Coordinators - A Duke Football and Roman History Blog 