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:
- 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 …
- 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?
- 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.
- 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.
- 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!
Bull City Coordinators - A Duke Football and Roman History Blog 
I have seen many game recaps this year, but this one hits home on the most important point.
The second point is the most significant point. Play calling is suspect at the best and it is evident in the example you give with Jake and Jalon. The staff haven’t seemed to adapt the playbook or play calling to the strengths of their players. The lack of creativity and play selection has been atrocious. Players are about flow and subbing players in at the wrong times or running Mataeo on 3 or 4 consecutive plays is a sign that this staff doesn’t know how to play call to create the success these players should be having this season.
It is an absolute shame what Gunnar has been through with this coaching staff after what he has given to the program. He doesn’t deserve this kind of treatment. My heart bleeds for him and all of the other young men who unfortunately are working with a coaching staff that does not belong at a Power 5 Conference football team.
Would be nice to see what this team is capable of and throw out the playbook against Miami and really see what Gunnar and the rest of this team is capable of achieving when the handcuffs are removed.
Excellent job, Mike!
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