2021 Game Recap – Duke Loses (to Charlotte)

Why are we allowed to play night games? Seriously, why?

Duke lost a nail-biter to Charlotte Friday night, dropping the opening game of the season 31-28. The Blue Devils lost to a team it beat last season. A team it beat last season by 34 points. The best thing about this game was the fact that I didn’t get to see it – I was in Boston with Mrs. Bull City Coordinators on a mini-vacation with friends from law school. Thank whatever god or gods you believe in for life’s small miracles. Anyway, the nature of the loss reminds me of one of my son’s travel lacrosse tournaments over the summer.

During the first tournament of the season, the boy’s team beat what would be considered a vastly superior opponent. After that game, we noticed the losing team practicing in between the remaining games that day. While practicing the kids that often in very, very hot weather on top of the games that day was risky, if not foolish, it got the desired result. That team slaughtered the boy’s team in the rematch the next morning. It was a remarkable turnaround. One parent summed up the opposing team perfectly, “You can say what you want about their tactics, but they won.”

I tell that story to highlight what happened in between this season and last. Charlotte improved, scoring more points and giving up fewer. Duke didn’t. Despite moving the coaching staff around, the Blue Devils continued to struggle defensively in crunch time, remained susceptible to big plays and made crucial mistakes on offense (basically, the same problems that have haunted us since 2019’s Jump Pass continue to haunt us). As to those mistakes, a dropped TD and a fumble around the goal line by new QB Gunnar Holmberg could have changed the outcome (and don’t give me the “Gunnar cost us the game” crap I’ve seen online. This wasn’t on him – our defense gave up 14 points in the 4th and there was a dropped TD pass. Plenty of people could have done things differently. Not one person is responsible for this loss). But, even if Duke got those TDs and won, it would have hidden what should be obvious – Charlotte’s team improved during the off-season. And, despite all the talk from Coach Cutcliffe during the off-season, his team sure looks like it continues to do things the same way that it always has. And, given the duration of his tenure in Durham, other coaches have figured that way out. It shows in the score of Friday night’s game and in the general trend of teams like UVA and Georgia Tech, who Cutcliffe used to consistently beat, consistently getting wins against the Blue Devils.

What does this loss mean? Well, given the razor thin margin a team like Duke has year in and year out, this is not a game that can be lost and still lead to a bowl game at the end of the season. But one thing the podcast has taught me is to be patient. And that’s what I’ll be here.

While the loss is a huge negative, there are some positives to take away here. First, a lot of teams struggled this week. UNC lost, Tulane took Oklahoma down to the wire, Montana beat Washington and Vandy got dominated by ETSU. So, maybe it isn’t so much that this team is bad. Perhaps it’s just that this team hasn’t settled in. And, to the second point, the Blue Devils lost four players to the NFL draft and several other older players to the transfer portal. Guys like Big Vic, Chris Rumph, Deon Jackson, Noah Gray, Derrick Tangelo and Drew Jordan are hard to replace. Especially given the way that Cutcliffe slowly advances players. And I can’t be the only one who is thinking it would have been nice for Holmberg to get more time last season so he wouldn’t have such a learning curve this season. Same for the defensive line. And the linebackers. But I digress. Back to my points.

Third, the offense put up points, and yards. Mataeo Durant set a school record for rushing yards in a single game. Gunnar had a real nice stat line and didn’t throw a pick. The offense also reclaimed the lead multiple times before finally running out of time. Given the amount of turnover on the offense and defense, the new offensive co-coordinators and the new play caller, the fact that the game was close shouldn’t have surprised us. The fact that this ended in a loss, however, should be. And it’s okay to be upset about it. I am, and I think we all should be.

That said, this is just one game. Before we start demanding that people get fired, and I will say that Cutcliffe probably didn’t want to lose his first game under new athletic director Nina King, let’s table those comments for now. Let’s see how the first 4 games of the season go. We’ll know a lot more about where this team is after the first third of the season is over. That will tell us whether this team has come together or whether it’s going to be a long and painful season.

Until then, I’m going to withhold judgment on any sort of staff changes. While I will note that this is an alarming and upsetting loss that will hopefully cause the players to take control of the team, I am not going to panic over a single loss. Am I concerned? Of course. Do I think that Cutcliffe needs to do a lot of introspection and be more flexible than he typically is? Yes. Yes, I do. And the fact that I’m saying that the players need to take control should tell you what level of confidence I have in Cutcliffe and his staff at this point.

But does this necessarily mean the season is over? No, it doesn’t. Mataeo looked real good, Gunnar showed promise and the offense could have scored over 40 had it not been for a dropped pass and a turnover. If Gunnar can go 20/29 for 228 yards each week, if Mataeo gets close to 30 touches each week, if Jake Bobo can snag 7 catches each week and if Jordan Waters can average 13 yards per carry (let’s not overlook that), then this is an offense that can be dangerous. And if the defense solidifies, this could be a fun team.

So, while I am concerned, I’m also optimistic about what this offense can do. So, I’ll just keep saying it – Go Duke!