Month: November 2021

2021 State of the Program – The End of an Era

What many of us suspected would happen has come to pass – David Cutcliffe is out as head coach at Duke. A 3-9 (0-8) season marked by a seven game losing streak is a sad, sad way to end the greatest era of Blue Devils football since Coach Murray roamed the sidelines back in the ’50s and ’60s. While I have been critical of David Cutcliffe since The Jump Pass and its aftermath, no one wanted to see empty stands, a winless conference record and three straight losing seasons. As a head coach, David Cutcliffe made Duke football relevant. He led the team to a Coastal title, an ACC Championship game, the Peach Bowl and three straight bowl wins. While we may be unhappy with the way that these last few seasons went, we can, and should, appreciate everything he did in Durham. I certainly will and can’t wait to see the statute that (damn well better) gets erected in his honor. Coach Cut made the Blue Devils an important part of the college football landscape for almost a decade. I won’t forget that. And I’ll always look back fondly on his time in Durham. Coach Cut, if you read this, thank you for what you did. I appreciate it.

As far as what comes next, I won’t engage in speculation about who may be the next head coach. Instead, I want to take a moment to say that as rough as it is for us to go through a coaching change as fans, it’s a lot rougher for the players and, perhaps more important, the parents of the players. The uncertainty surrounding the coaching staff probably has them all worried about playing time next season, what kind of coach will come in and how their child will fit in with a new staff . The unease we feel as fans is dwarfed by their unease. And a lot of them are just as worried about what the transfer portal will bring. Will their child stay or go? Will a new player come in and take their child’s playing time? It isn’t an easy time for the players or their families.

Even more unease surrounds the staff and their families. We know that this will be a rough time for you all and we want it all to work out well. I hope that some of you get retained by the new head coach and, if you don’t, that you quickly land on your feet. Hopefully the transition process won’t be too rough for you all.

That’s all I have to say about the coaching situation right now. On Twitter, I mentioned that I was going to get a season recap up before this post about the coaching staff. Well, I have a season recap ready to post, but the tone of it won’t fit with the moment. It just isn’t the time for it. What is in that recap does need to be said, but, out of respect for Coach Cut and the staff, I’m going to put it in a virtual drawer for the time being.

Let me know what you think about what I think in the comments or on Twitter.

Go Duke!

Interview – Randy Cuthbert (The GOAT)

Dr. Randy Cuthbert is the greatest Duke running back in my lifetime. He was part of the magical 1989 season that ended in a ACC Championship (shared with Virginia) and played in the NFL with the Steelers. Dr. Cuthbert took some time out of a Saturday to talk about his career in education, his time as a football coach, how to approach concussions in football and, of course, Duke football.

Now as you listen to the podcast, you’ll probably wonder why it took so long to get to one of the greatest moments in Duke football history which is pictured below

41-0. Scoreboard!

I have to apologize for that oversight. We spent a lot of time talking about the win against Clemson and how it started the Blue Devils on a run to the title and I guess I got distracted. But I appreciate Dr. Cuthbert getting back on the call to finish up the interview. He shares a great story or two about that great win.

We also discuss one of the greatest touchdowns in Duke history which came in the 1989 game against Clemson. I’ve skipped it ahead to about 1 hour and 30 minutes in so you can see Cuthbert cap the drive that got the Blue Devils back into the game and started them on their path to the ACC crown

Go Duke!

Listen here.

2021 Game Recap – Duke Went Winless (in the ACC)

When I first met my wife in 2001, Carl Franks roamed the sidelines in Durham as Duke’s head football coach. Back then, the Blue Devils were bad, real bad. In fact, when my wife and I met in August of that year, Duke was in the midst of a 12 game losing streak that would turn into a 23 game losing streak before it ended. I remember when the Blue Devils finally won a game in 2002 and followed it up with another win that season – two in a year, what?!?! – and we went out for a beer to celebrate. That’s how rare wins were for Duke back then.

So, when my wife and I drove down to Durham to watch the Blue Devils close out a disappointing season, I felt a little like we were traveling back in time to the start of our life together. And while I had great time at the game with my wife, I couldn’t say that I had a great time watching the game itself. Unfortunately, the people who say you can never go home again are wrong. You can always go home again, especially if you never leave. And that’s what it feels like watching Duke football right now. We’re stuck in a weird time loop that has taken us right back to where we were when Franks and Roof were coaching. As proof, look no further than the fact that, after finishing an underwhelming 3-9 this year, David Cutcliffe has a 77-97 overall record as the Blue Devils’ head coach. That isn’t a misprint – Cut is just three loses away from 100 for his career and is twenty games under .500 in Durham. Not great, Bob, doesn’t even begin to summarize where we are right now.

But enough of that. Let’s turn to Five Things. We’ll start with what I liked:

  1. The kickoff returns. Stinson showed up with our only touchdown of the day on his second return of the game. I won’t let the fact that he scored our only touchdown depress me. Too much.
  2. The people I got to see. It was nice to touch base with The Hard Hat Guys, The Section 17 guys, Michael Torbert, Lee Rodio and his brother and a number of different Duke parents family members. Lummie Young has one real proud grandfather. All of you family members are great. You support your kids no matter how rough the season gets. It wasn’t easy for you, but you are one special group.
  3. The soft pretzels get an A+.
  4. Did I mention I mention I went to the game with my wife? Here we are having a great time together
She doesn’t like to have her picture taken.

Now, let’s turn to Five Things I Didn’t Like.

  1. Too many Miami fans. Back in the old days, the opposing team’s fans would significantly outnumber the Blue Devils’ fans. That’s what it was like today. The Miami fans were on our side of the stadium which caused us to move seats. And because so few Duke fans were there, we didn’t have a hard time. But at least we got to be near the Blue Devils’ parents, so that was cool. Putting that aside, poor fan turnout means the program is backsliding. Something has to be done about it.
  2. The offensive plays were fairly bland and predictable. I didn’t like the 4th down run it up the middle call, letting Calhoun try and pass for a TD so early didn’t make sense and the fake punt coming just a week after Porter pulled it off … Sorry, that’s probably enough for now. But even worse than the “Let’s throw a bunch of short routes and never stretch the defense” offensive strategy was …
  3. The bad personnel grouping. I still don’t think that we ever got the right WRs on the field at the same time. I also think we subbed too many people in too frequently and prevented them from getting into a rhythm. Now, I am not criticizing the staff for utilizing depth, but I am saying that they didn’t get the right offensive guys on the field at the right time. It was the same with the defense. Franklin didn’t play enough today. Given that we went to a 3-3-5 for a lot of plays, which I commend the shakeup, I don’t understand why he wasn’t the starting nose tackle. I also don’t understand why we always seemed to use a LB as a fourth DL in that formation and did it in a way that didn’t confuse anyone. While I respect the DCs for trying something different, I think the execution was poor. There’s more that I could say about the defensive personnel issues, but I am afraid it will come across as critical of players and I don’t want to do that. Those guys play hurt, through pain and put it all out on the field, so, if you want to hear more about that just DM me on Twitter.
  4. Can we get people in charge of gameday operations to do better? How about playing music with the word “Devil” in it at set times during the game? (H/t to The Hard Hat Guys.) Why are we playing Sweet Caroline at all? If the goal is to intimidate your opponent, Sweet Caroline won’t do it. If the goal is to play music your mother or grandmother liked, you’ve succeeded. While victory may be in how you define the parameters, you’re still losing if you play that song. I mean, I don’t even understand why anyone plays Sweet Caroline. It isn’t a song that pumps people up. “Carolina” isn’t in our name like it is for the Panthers down in Charlotte which gives them some reason to play that song (not that they should play it, I’m just pointing out they have a reason to do it, no matter how dumb that reason actually is). Are you telling me there isn’t a better song in the entire history of music you could play? A simple Google search uncovered 10 rock songs, mainly metal, with “devil” in the title or the lyrics. This isn’t hard. And why do the Red Sox play it after they win? What is wrong with you people?!?!
  5. A winless conference season. You can’t sugarcoat this one – this is just pathetic. From 1996 until 2008, Duke went winless in conference eight times. EIGHT. Over twelve seasons. The word you’re looking for there is pathetic. The fact that we’re back to doing that again says a lot about what we’re in for if we stay the course and keep this coaching staff intact. I’m not rooting for anyone to lose their jobs, but I am pointing out that what the current staff is doing isn’t working.

I’ll have a lot more to say about what happened to the Blue Devils in 2021 when I do my season recap later this week. But I’m going to turn away from that for a few days because I need to decompress and, more important, because we are going to drop episode 2.1 tomorrow! Check out the site and follow our podcast to get notified when the episode is available.

Let me know what you think about what I think in the comments or on Twitter.

Go Duke!

2021 Game Previews – The Season Concludes

On Saturday, November 26, 2021, Duke will conclude its 2021 season against Miami. While the season, like so many before it, got off to a promising start, it has since come crashing down. The Blue Devils started 3-1, but are mired in a seven game losing streak. While I would like to thing Duke will snap out of it and put an end to the losing streak on Saturday, I don’t see it happening.

This Miami team isn’t particularly good, they are 6-5 overall and 4-3 in conference, they are better than the Blue Devils are. Looking at the trends, this Miami team could actually be a lot better than its current record. The Hurricanes lost to UVA by two and lost by three to both UNC and FSU. If they win those games, Miami is an outstanding 9-2 overall and 7-1 in conference. The margin between winning and losing is often thin, and this Miami team shows it. Manny Diaz is on the hot seat right now because his team dropped three games by a total of eight points. Football is a tough sport, especially for the coaches.

But turning from the trends to this specific game, if you consider the fact that Miami scores right around 30 a game in conference, I don’t see how you can expect Duke to win. I won’t take time to recap what’s been wrong with the Blue Devils this year, so I will get straight to my prediction. Duke loses. Final score? Miami 52, Blue Devils 20.

And, unfortunately, that is how the Cutcliffe Era will end in Durham. Despite making Duke relevant and taking this program to six bowl games, it will end, in the same fashion that so many seasons ended before Cutcliffe came to town – too few victories, a losing season and a winless conference season. It’s a sad way to go out, but it’s what we’ll see. Despite my negative outlook on this game, I’ll be in Durham rooting for the Blue Devils. If you happen to be there, come by Section 30, Row D, and say hello. While it may be a painful game, I want to see what is likely the last home game for the coach who made this program relevant. And, for that, I’ll always be grateful and glad we had Cut in Durham.

Let me know what you think about what I think in the comments or on Twitter.

Go Duke!

Interview – ACC Coaching Carousel

Matthew from All Sports Discussion and The ACC Weekly Podcast took some time tonight to come on the podcast and give his thoughts on what coaching changes we’re likely to see in the ACC next season. We had a great time, dropped a Metro Conference reference and, after talking a lot of football, got into Duke and VT basketball. Oh, and I previewed some guests for Season Two. Thanks, Matt, for coming on!

We hope you enjoy the episode.

Listen here.

2021 Game Recap -The Wheels Came Off (Again?)

Duke got beat by Louisville on Thursday night. Badly. This was a seventh straight conference loss and seventh straight loss overall. Since there wasn’t much to like about it, I’m going straight to the Five Things I Didn’t Like:

  1. I didn’t like going to Moore the first time in the red zone. I liked it even less the second time. Gunnar was in a rhythm, moving the ball well and putting us in a position to score even though Mataeo was hurt. Why disrupt the rhythm on first down? Why not wait till third and fourth or inches to do it? And, more important, why not let Moore do more? How about a deep toss instead of running all the time? We saw him connect for a touchdown in Blacksburg. Why didn’t we let him do it again? Probably because …
  2. The offensive staff sure seemed to want Gunnar to fail. The play calling and personnel groupings on offense didn’t show signs of life or smarts until Riley Leonard came in. Look, Jake Bobo is as tough as they come, but he won’t fool anyone when he goes in motion. No one is going to think we’ll actually run the ball with Jake (who is a great player, by the way. I can’t say enough good things about him. I’m just saying he isn’t a running threat.) But, hey, we did that exact play with Jalon when Leonard was under center and, wow, it worked. Why not do it with Gunnar? Even harder than that for me to understand than the sudden change in play calling is how it looked like Gunnar got benched. Up until he was taken out of the game, Gunnar played well. It wasn’t his fault the Blue Devils were getting abused by the Cardinals. How about the staff support Gunnar and give him a chance to win?
  3. I continue to not like our defense. Despite all the time the staff has had with this unit, they still haven’t figured out how to cover the edge and fill gaps. Or how to cover open offensive players. The worst, or best, example of this was when both of our LBs left an open man on 3rd and long (3rd-and-24, if my memory serves) to give up a touchdown. How in the world they managed to do that WHEN WE ALWAYS PLAY MAN is beyond me. Even more problematic is the fact that this unit can’t tackle. I like a lot of these guys individually (especially Woods who sure didn’t seem to get enough playing time), but the coaches aren’t putting them in a position to make plays. Week after week, this unit gives up a ton of points and way, way too many yards. Yet we keep doing the same thing. Over. And. Over. Again. With the same results.
  4. How d0 we not have Satterfield in some coaching role at Duke given that he grew up in Durham? That doesn’t really count as a thing, but it’ll have to do.
  5. No energy from Coach Cut. Before the game, the TV cameras picked up the Duke team in the tunnel. Cut was near the front of the group and, as I pointed out previously, he didn’t seem to have much energy. Cut looked disinterested and like he wanted to be anywhere but where is feet were. There’s a good political history comparison I could make, but I don’t get political on this site, so I won’t now. DM me on Twitter and I’ll discuss it with you. While I didn’t like Coach Spurrier resigning as head coach of the Gamecocks midway through the season, I now appreciate a coach realizing it wasn’t working and deciding to make a change.

This has been a rough season for the Blue Devils, real rough. And the way that the staff has failed to make adjustments hasn’t helped. The way it seems to undermine a very, very talented quarterback who has played well makes it even worse. I will understand if a lot of these guys refuse to come back next year, just like a lot of seniors did last year. Benching Gunnar explains that while Cut looks out for a staff that can’t put an offensive or defensive game plan together, he sure doesn’t look out for guys who stuck out several rough seasons and put it all on the field for the team. And that’s unfortunate. But that’s where things are now.

Let me know what you think about what I think in the comments or on Twitter.

Go Duke!

2021 Game Previews – Duke Plays on Thursday

I’m not a big fan of Thursday night games, and it isn’t because I have to get up early in the morning for work the next day. Okay, it probably has a lot to do with that, but still. Can’t we play at a time that works better for us old guys? If you can’t tell, I’m trying to avoid putting together a game preview because, well, I don’t expect much.

I listened to Coach Cut’s press conference earlier this week and get the sense that the quarterback situation is a mess (primarily because Gunnar hasn’t fully recovered from his injury yet). Given what we saw against a not-so-great Virginia Tech team (a team that fired the coach after a thorough beatdown of Duke), I don’t have a lot of faith that the Blue Devils will play well against a not-so-great Louisville team. The Cardinals are 5-5 (3-4) and have a coach on the hot seat. So, yeah. Expect a repeat of last week.

I’m taking Louisville to win this game. While I’d like to think that Gunnar will be able to play and will lead the team to success, I think we’ll see either Leonard or Moore and no creativity by having Moore or Luca play wide receiver to help the offense by playing receivers who can get separation from the defense. Given that our OC likes to go away from our strength (not running Mataeo once at the opponent’s 12, for example) and our defense continues to struggle, I don’t expect a lot from this Duke team.

I’m taking Louisville to beat the Blue Devils 35-13. Let me know what you think about what I think in the comments or on Twitter.

Go Duke!

2021 State of the Program – Rumor Mill on Fire

A recent rumor indicates what a lot of us expected, and some of us predicted before the season started, may be coming true. (Can I just add that my pre-season picks were pretty much on the money with the exception of how these games are being lost?) It is looking more and more likely that the David Cutcliffe era at Duke, which was the best era of my lifetime and the best era for a lot of the fans out there, will be coming to an end.

Pete Thamel over at Yahoo! Sports put some fuel on the fire, but this is something that has been lurking for a while. Cut’s contract remains good through the end of the 2022 season (it ends midway through 2023) and a series of blowout conference losses (discussed earlier this year here) aren’t likely to change that. The News & Observer has also had articles about retirement / changes this season.

Given the context of the last several years, and following another blowout conference loss, no one should be surprised by this situation. And, like I said previously, this is unfortunate. David Cutcliffe made the Blue Devils relevant in college football. This was the first time since 1988-1989 that Duke remained relevant for more than two seasons and the first time the Blue Devils ever made it to an ACC Championship Game. The four straight bowl games were a thing of beauty as were the six bowl games in seven years. I appreciate all the good that he’s done for the Blue Devils and that’s how I will remember the Cutcliffe era. I know I’ve been critical, but I mean what I say here.

Go Duke!

2021 Game Recap – Duke Lost to Virginia Tech

In my game preview, I picked Duke to win. Then, shortly before the game started, I learned that Gunnar Holmberg wasn’t going to start. I told the guys I went to the game with I was switching my pick and taking VT to win. The three of us all shared the same assessment – the Blue Devils would lose a close game against a bad VT team. We were half right, but way, way wrong. This one turned into yet another blowout conference loss; and it was a bad loss to a bad team led by a coach that is going to get fired at the send of the season. To be clear, I’m referring to Tech, but the assessment about a bad team with a coach on his way out could apply to Duke.

It was fun till it started.

The Blue Devils lost 48-17 against a hapless Hokie crew. So, let’s get to Five Things followed by a little Duke history lesson.

Five Things I liked:

  1. I met Stanley Monk and the Hard Hat Guys. That was cool.
  2. Jordan Moore played well in relief. But I have more on the quarterback situation in what I didn’t like.
  3. I got Porter Wilson’s attention coming out of the tunnel after the half when I yelled “Go Duke!”. He looked up, I yelled “Go Duke!” again and he nodded. Then we became best friends. We’re going to hang out after the season and he’ll teach me how to avoid injury from an official’s penalty flag. (Okay, only the first part of that happened. The rest of it is just a dream. But you keep punting, you crazy diamond.)
  4. I’m all tapped out.

Five Things I didn’t like:

  1. Mataeo didn’t get enough touches. The three of us couldn’t figure out why Mataeo didn’t get the ball 30+ times. One of us was a VT fan, so he was fine with it, but it didn’t make sense to anyone. VT probably loved it, especially when nothing was done to give the QB a chance to succeed. Which brings me to the next thing I didn’t like …
  2. We didn’t let Riley Leonard throw the ball down the field. He clearly had single read plays and we didn’t adjust from that. VT stacked the box and there were throws to the right on a quick slant that we didn’t take advantage of. Bad. Play. Calling. Take pressure off of the OL, give your RB and QB opportunities and force VT to get out of its comfort zone.
  3. And speaking of bad play calling, how do we get an interception at the VT 12 yard line and not give Mataeo the ball one time? Bring in Moore to run? OK, well that’s stupid because everyone knew what was coming. Mataeo is one of the best backs in the conference. He should have gotten the ball in that situation. We also needed to put in Diamont at WR (and possibly Moore, too, given how fast he is), because our WRs are not great at getting separation. We need to be creative, but, just like our play calls are bad, our utilization of talent on offense is subpar. Fortune, as they say, favors the bold. And whatever the heck we’re doing isn’t bold. Well, perhaps it is in its stubborn commitment to doing things that don’t work, but I’m not sure that’s what Caesar meant.
  4. Bad quarterback management. When Gunnar went down, we should have been ready to turn to Luca who spent last year learning the system. Instead, we turned to true freshmen. And the results spoke for themselves. Leonard looked uncomfortable, missed open receivers by throwing low and wide and generally looked like he wasn’t ready for the moment. WHICH IS NOT SURPRISING BECAUSE HE’S A TRUE FRESHMAN AT A DEVELOPMENTAL PROGRAM. WHY PUT HIM OUT THERE? It’s particularly hard to understand given how well Moore looked when he got into the game. A lot of this may have been that the staff helped him by doing smart things (finally) and letting him throw down the field. Yesterday was the predictable result of terrible QB room management. It’s just another reason Jeff Faris and David Cutcliffe will have a lot to answer for at the end of the year.
  5. The defense. We got zero pressure on the quarterback. We gave up over 500 yards to a bad VT team. The defense has been terrible all season in conference. But we just keep doing the same thing. This is a result of scheme and not putting the right players on the field together. Which all goes back to coaching. All of it. It’s hard to say that these folks deserve another chance given how poorly they’re performing.

Watching the Blue Devils lose another conference game in blowout fashion was painful. Yesterday seemed a lot like “Same old Duke football.” Bad situational management, an early missed field goal and no creativity after the first drive. It reminded me of all those Franks and Roof years where there would be one good drive to start the game and that was it. And, speaking of which, tell me which conference season you would prefer if you had to choose.

Option 1:

Option 2:

Option 3:

If you chose Option 1, you chose Carl Franks’ 2002 season. That was the one before he got fired during the season. If you chose Option 2, you chose Ted Roof’s 2006 season. That was his next to last season as the Blue Devils’ head coach. If you chose Option 3, then you’re one of the last people who doesn’t think Duke needs a new head coach (you chose this season). And, if you do think that, I would appreciate you telling me why. No changes are being made on offense or defense, the team continues to be haunted by the same problems every week and there is zero life on the sidelines. This team looks dead in the water. Like I said previously, it’s time for a change.

This program is right back where it was when the two coaches who are generally considered the worst in its history (and possibly some of the worst in college football history) were told it was time to leave. The current coach isn’t doing any better than those two did at the end of their tenures. In 2019, Cut went 3-5 in conference. Last year, he managed an abysmal 1-9. And now? We’re on track for a winless conference record and seven straight losses after a 3-1 start. (So, maybe last year wasn’t all on COVID?) If football matters in Durham, the trends tell you all you need to know about what has to happen after this team concludes its season at home against Miami on November 27.

All that said, I won’t stop rooting for the Blue Devils. Let me know what you think about what I think below.

Go Duke!

2021 Game Previews – Duke Battles Virginia Tech

Duke heads to Blacksburg this Saturday to take on Virginia Tech. Both teams are in a spiral. The Blue Devils have lost five straight since notching a win against Kansas back in September. The Hokies haven’t done much better and stand at 4-5 overall, 2-3 in conference and 5th in Coastal. The only silver lining for Virginia Tech’s status in the ACC is that Duke stands at 0-5 in conference and is in last place in the Coastal. It’s the little things in life, right?

In trying to make sense of this game, I’m going to stick with trends, albeit the more recent trends as opposed to the long-standing trends like I’ve been doing all season. The reason I’m doing that is because the recent trends give the Blue Devils a chance for a win (health of Gunnar Holmberg and willingness to be creative on offense are the key contingencies here). So, with that in mind, let’s get to it.

In looking at the trends for Virginia Tech, what started off as a promising season has fallen off the rails. After a 3-1 start and a close loss to Notre Dame, Virginia Tech went from hoping for a good season to hoping for a new coach. Losing 4 out of 5 to fall to sub-.500 in conference is what the end of a head coach’s time at a school looks like and that’s what we’re seeing unfold in Blacksburg. While Fuente has done some good things at Tech, my VT buddies all said they got the sense that the Hokies quit and resigned themselves to the inevitable. Which is unfortunate, because we don’t root for people to lose their jobs here (my comments about Coach Cut’s future notwithstanding. I’m not rooting for him to get fired, I’m just saying it has to happen to move the program forward).

Why is Virginia Tech struggling important? Good question, because it isn’t like Duke is looking hot right now. Furthermore, this team hasn’t done anything since September that would cause us to expect a win. Well, here’s why Tech struggling is important. Most of the VT fanbase is looking ahead to the next season and is ready for a new coach. The rumor mill won’t stop turning about VT. Further, Burmeister may not start at QB for the Hokies and, if the players have thrown in the towel like a lot of the fans suspect, the Blue Devils can snatch a road win and avoid a winless conference season. (Can I just say the fact that we’re talking about this during a relatively healthy season is a sign of how low the program has sunk?) Also, some of my VT pals have pointed out that the quarterback situation behind Burmeister is a mess and that could help our guys from Durham. VT struggling is a good thing for the visiting team. So, with that in mind, let’s turn to the trends coming out of the Bull City.

Whereas Tech looked fairly lackluster in a 17-3 loss to BC, Duke came out somewhat sharp last week against Pitt before the wheels came off. If the Blue Devils hadn’t been sloppy with the ball early, this could have been a very different game (albeit one that ended in a loss because Duke’s defense is really, really struggling right now). Let’s assume that Gunnar comes back from his injury and plays on Saturday, this team has a shot right? Look, if the Blue Devils can show life against one of the best teams in the Coastal, surely they can play well against a team near the bottom of the Coastal. Heck, Duke did that against Georgia Tech and, if memory serves, blew a lead late in the 4th. (Again, this defense is really, really struggling.)

But it will take a significant amount of creativity and thinking outside the box to make that work. And that’s where the problem comes in. Creativity isn’t this team’s strongest asset. The offense is fairly vanilla and easy to figure out. Hence the poor performances against UNC, Virginia and Wake. Here are a couple of ideas to try and help the team get a win on Saturday:

  1. Slow down. We need to keep our defense off the field if we want to win. I’m not going to recap how poorly the Blue Devils have been as a unit defensively, but I will say that we need to keep the defense on the sidelines to have a chance. How do we do that? Run. A. Huddle. Get rid of the tempo. Look, the other team is just going to have a ton of “injuries” crop up to slow us down and disrupt the tempo, so take that away and run the offense out of a huddle. Give the defense time to adjust.
  2. Different personnel. Let’s get guys like Ja’Mion Franklin on the field more. Get R. J. Oben on the field more. Our DL has struggled to consistently get pressure and, at 3-6, it’s time to shake things up and see if that will get some more production. The secondary needs help and this could be a way to do that. I like Ben Frye, but he’s a grad student and it’s probably time to see what some of the younger guys can do. How bout we bring him off the bench for leadership and energy?
  3. But it isn’t just the defense that could use a change; we need to help the offense by putting Luca Diamont on the field to play wide receiver. The kid looks fast when he’s in (and I know it’s against a second unit, but still) and he is known as a running quarterback. Why not give him a shot at wide receiver? I like our guys, but getting separation isn’t their strongest skill (hence all the quick passes). Why not give a fast guy a chance to see what can happen? He’s buried on the depth chart as it is, so move him to a different position. Run him on some underneath routes, go over the middle with him, try some reverses and fake reverses. Create confusion. Why the heck not at this point? We had a pretty decent guy who wore number 2 play WR in the past, so why not try it again? And thanks to Matt Lentz for this idea.

So, can Duke get a win on Saturday? It’s possible. I’ll even be in Blacksburg cheering the Blue Devils on in Section 19. I’m hoping for Duke to get a win and, because I want to see them win, I’m going to call for the upset. I’m taking the Blue Devils to win 24-20.

Let me know what you think about what I think in the comments or on Twitter.

Go Duke!