2021 Game Recap – Duke Wins

It was an ugly start. NCA&T imposed its will on Duke’s defensive line. The linebackers seemed to let the secondary do all of the tackling. And the NCA&T defense filled the box to stop Mataeo Durant and force Gunnar Holmberg to win by throwing the football.

Challenge accepted.

Gunnar and the offense looked good for the second week in a row, putting up 42 points in three quarters before the starters were pulled and the Blue Devils adopted a run heavy approach. Holmberg completed 20 of 27 passes for 270 yards and two rushing touchdowns. He did this while being careful with the football and not turning it over. And while Mataeo Durant and Jordan Waters weren’t running the ball particularly well (18 total rushes for 50 yards), Durant scored 3 touchdowns including a crucial one at the end of the first half to give Duke the lead. While those two struggled to run the ball consistently, the team combined to rush for 150 yards on 38 carries which comes out to 3.9 yards per attempt. It took time for the team to come together and hit its stride, but, in the end, the fans at Wallace Wade watched the Blue Devils get a win. It was nice to see Duke right the ship after a more than disappointing loss to Charlotte. Hopefully, this will be the first of many this season.

While the 45-17 victory over a well-coached Aggies team gives the appearance of a dominating win, let’s not read too much into it. This is game 2 of 2 on the season and the Blue Devils are 1-1. Like I said last week, I am not going to put too much into a single victory and will wait until we get to Week 4 before I get a good sense of what this season has in store for us. With that in mind, I’d like to address a few things I noticed that concerned me (and probably you, too). If you have to onside kick against an FCS school, things probably aren’t as rosy as the final score suggests. So, with that in mind, here is what concerned me about last night:

1. We weren’t running between the tackles.
   1. I’m not sure why we kept stretching the field, particularly in the third quarter. As the game went on, Durant started to get yards up the middle. Sure, not huge chunks, but you saw the OL open up more holes when running between the tackles and begin to control the pace. This crazy idea of running straight ahead worked perfectly when Durant scored the touchdown to close out the first half (which was risky because Cut had just burned his last timeout and a stop short of the goal line would have been disastrous), so why not do more of it?
   2. It may have something to do with the fact that Boyette, a former running back and offensive player, isn’t the one calling the plays. If we don’t see more between the tackles running going forward, Cut might want to give Boyette full control of the offense.
2. Our 2nd string DL > our 1st string DL.
   1. Maybe it was just me (but I did talk to a person at the game during halftime who concurred with my assessment), but our 1st string DL isn’t looking so hot. DeWayne Carter is getting isolated and Ben Frye and the rest aren’t doing much to get pressure on the quarterback. We didn’t register a single sack last night.
   2. But when Ja’Mion Franklin and Christian Rorie came in, we saw a little more discipline, a little more imposing of wills and a little more containing of the Aggies’ offense on 3rd down.
   3. If it were me, I’d switch up the DL starters and get Carter with Franklin and Rorie. I’d shuffle the others until everyone gets comfortable, but I like what I saw from Oben and Oppan. I’m just not sure who the fourth guy should be at this point.
3. I’m not sure what our LBs are doing.
   1. Maybe Heyward is trying to do too much, but he didn’t make an appearance until late although he did lead the team in tackles. Our co-DCs may want to consider putting someone else with Heyward to take the pressure off of him.
   2. I liked Masui, but part of me thinks that Colby Campbell may need a few snaps. He’s got a lot of experience and should be able to direct everyone. That may allow Heyward to just go out and play.
   3. Heyward did settle in late, so I’m hopeful he is just getting adjusted to his new role.
   4. I liked how our secondary played, but they can’t do everything. And if your DL and your LBs aren’t getting pressure, it is going to be a long season for Josh Blackwell, J’Marick Woods, etc.
4. Why even have 3rd down?
   1. Nothing new here. We still struggle getting stops on 3rd down. I think this has been the case for about 18 millennia or something. I’m sure we’ll figure it out in the fullness of time.
   2. Maybe the 3rd down gods just hate us?
5. Cutcliffe’s decision making is a little confusing.
   1. Gunnar Holmberg is making plays. I know this was against an FCS team and we’ll know more after seeing him against Northwestern, but he’s had consecutive weeks with real nice stat lines. He was 20/29 against Charlotte and repeatedly led the team down the field to regain the lead. He followed it up with a 20/27 performance last night. Those are good numbers from anyone, but particularly from a guy who hadn’t started a college football game before this season.
   2. In addition, Gunnar is getting rid of the ball quickly. The OL isn’t looking particularly great, but Gunnar isn’t getting fazed by it and isn’t letting a muddy pocket stop him. He’s calm, poised and in control. He also had a couple of real nice runs last night. I don’t want to use the phrase “game manager” because that has a negative connotation, but he is doing just that (and being a “game manager” is what you should want from your QB, I’ll die on this hill). Gunnar is being smart with the ball, making quick decisions and putting the ball in places where only the WR can catch it. That’s exactly what you want from your QB1.So, what does this have to do with Cut’s decision making process? Let me explain.
   3. WHY DID WE PLAY A TRANSFER ALL OF LAST SEASON WHEN WE HAVE A GUY WHO CAN DROP DIMES TO NICKY DALMOLIN?
   4. I’m not sure what Cut saw in Gunnar that caused him to go get Chase Brice. We won’t even get into the failure to bench Brice last year, I just don’t have the energy for that. While two games is a small sample size, if Gunnar keeps this up, we’re all going to start getting angrier about what happened last year.
   5. And I, for one, and 100% Team Gunnar.

Those are my thoughts on the game. Let me know what you think. Go Duke!