In what looks to be a trend for this Duke team, the Blue Devils raced out to a 210-0 lead against Northwestern only to cool down and see the Wildcats make a game of it. Fortunately, Duke managed to hold on, thanks to the intervention of the football gods, and escape with a win. As I said on Twitter, I’d rather be lucky than good. The Blue Devils are now 2-0 on the season after getting the first road win of the Coach Elko era. Excuse me while I celebrate.
This wasn’t, by any stretch of the imagination, a perfect game. After taking a 21 point lead, Duke got outscored 23-10. The secondary, which I’ve been a little concerned about all season because of depth issues, gave up 435 passing yards and our defense was real close to giving up a 75 yard touchdown drive at the end. After kicking a field goal to go up 8, the Blue Devils went into a prevent that Northwestern promptly picked apart as it methodically, and quickly, marched down the field. Fortunately for Duke, Wildcats RB Evan Hull fumbled around the one, the Blue Devils recovered in the endzone and a victory formation sealed the game. Despite the inconsistencies, Duke continued to show promise. I’m foregoing a more traditional game recap to get to Five Things. Let’s start with the Five Things I Liked:
No. 1 – The running game. Earlier this season, I talked about how important it would be for the Blue Devils to run the ball to help the quarterback, control the clock and give the defense time to rest. Well, 35 carries for 221 yards did just that. Coleman and Waters also broke off long runs, including a 42 yarder by Waters for one of his two touchdowns. That’s the exact thing this Duke team will need if it wants to compete all season.
No. 2 – Luck. We’ve talked a lot on the podcast about how the football can bounce in a weird, weird way. For the last few seasons, it hasn’t been bouncing favorably for the Blue Devils. Well, the football gods smiled on the road team Saturday. Northwestern missed a field goal, made an ill-advised decision to go for two in the third and then their all-world RB fumbled right at the end of the game. Oh, and remember that play where quarterback and running back weren’t on the same play and Franklin got a great sack? And that doesn’t even take into account the Three Stooges play that Calhoun made when a ball bounced off a receiver’s hands and landed in Calhoun’s arms. He broke that play for a lot of yards after the catch. To win games, a team needs favorable bounces. And maybe, just maybe, fortune is going to favor Duke for a bit.
No. 3 – Big plays. Man, this is not last season’s offense. The Blue Devils are making big plays that flip the field and put pressure on the opposing defense. Calhoun had a 51 yard catch, Waters, as previously mentioned, broke off a 42 yard touchdown run and, my favorite on the day, Eli Pancol snagged an 81 yard catch that almost went to the house. While Eli didn’t score, he set a record for the longest non-touchdown play in Duke history (if the game announcers were correct). Eli making big plays is exactly what this team needs. When the new staff took over, I thought about how guys who had been around for a while were going to need to step up and make the most of this opportunity. Eli is doing just that. He’s faster, more confident and looks real hungry each time he steps on the field. While I started to think he was becoming a possession receiver, which is something a team needs, his 81 yard run shows he’s got the wheels to be a downfield threat. I love seeing it. If Eli keeps playing like this, the offense could be a lot of fun to watch over the remaining 10 games.
And it wasn’t just the offense. Josh Pickett and the secondary had all the pass break ups at all the right times, Franklin had that nice sack and we got an interception on a two-point conversion attempt. That was huge. Just huge. Oh, and Anthony Nelson recovered a fumble. This defense isn’t perfect, but it’s a lot better than it was last year. I can’t wait to see what the staff can do with this unit in the coming years.
No. 4 – Creativity on offense. With Hannibal, in the form of Evan Hull and Ryan Hillinski, at the gates, and the offense on the ropes, Coach Johns dialed up some plays for Jordan Moore. While 2 catches for 14 yards may not look like much, one of those was a touchdown that helped get the Blue Devils going again. Coach Johns continues to show that he’s a smart play caller and knows the importance of getting the ball to his playmakers. I’m excited to see how Coach Johns utilizes his weapons as the season progresses.
No. 5 – Third down stops on defense. We all remember how bad the defense had been the last few years on third down, particularly third and long. We haven’t seen that so far this season. The Wildcats were an abysmal 5-17 on third. That’s a great sign. If Duke can keep up that level of defensive efficiency, this could be a good season.
But, as good as the Blue Devils were on third, we’ll turn to the Five Things I Didn’t Like because …
No. 1 – The Blue Devils defense was terrible on fourth down. Giving up 4/6 conversion attempts won’t get it done. This team will have to do something different if it wants to win games and have a good season.
No. 2 – Inconsistencies continue. Just like last week was a tale of two halves, yesterday was a tale of the first quarter and everything else. In the first quarter and change, Duke put up 21 points and looked like a world-beater. But then things slowed down and the Blue Devils didn’t do much of anything offensively until the 4th quarter. After getting outscored 16-0, and seeing Northwestern get within five points, Duke got a touchdown and a field goal to up 8. But then the defense gave up a long drive to a team with no timeouts. But for the Hull fumble, we may not be talking about the Blue Devils being 2-0 today. Duke will need to be more consistent as the season progresses if it wants to go bowling. Playing well for 15 or 30 minutes isn’t enough. The team has to start putting together complete games.
No. 3 – Penalties. 7 for 85 yards is a problem. I don’t think we need to elaborate on why. This can’t continue.
No. 4 – The kicking teams. Charlie Ham missed another makeable field goal. He finished the day 1/2. Following on the misses from last week, it’s fair to wonder whether we are going to have to play around our kicker. I hope not, but it may be the case.
Likewise, our punt return unit didn’t do much to write home about. Calhoun ran backwards on a return and lost 11 yards. Not great, Bob, doesn’t begin to describe the frustration me and Tim felt seeing that play. While one play doesn’t determine the outcome of a season, that kind of bad decision can kill a team in a close game. Let’s hope this gets fixed. And speaking of bad decisions …
No. 5 – Sloppiness. In addition to the punt return by Calhoun and the penalties, we saw some missed tackles. We also saw a drive near the end of the game where the offense didn’t let the clock run down enough before snapping the ball which gave the Wildcats 25 extra seconds to work with. How big was that at the end of the game? Throw in the decision to take the field goal to go up eight (which I was fine with at first until it blew up) instead of going for it on 4th and 1 at the Northwestern 1, and we’re starting to see some slight clock management issues. These have to be tightened up. But, hey, this is game two of a new era. We can be patient and wait for things to improve.
Let me close with three thoughts. First, it’s great to be 2-0. I mean it; being undefeated, even though it’s only through two games, is a lot of fun. Second, did you all notice the Hellraisers on the staff fleeces? I did. If those fleeces aren’t for sale in the team store when I’m down there for the UVA game, there will be consequences. You hear me, Duke store?!?!?!
Third and final, the Drinking Team Coordinators will take the blame for the inconsistency on offense. Co-Drinking Team Coordinator Tim and I have a routine for noon games that we’ve followed zealously for years. Tim finishes up his coffee and I go straight to a beer at noon. When Tim’s done with the coffee, he transitions to the beer. This time, though, I delayed the beer until the second quarter and, when I did, I didn’t go with the standard frosted mug. Tim also went with a water after his coffee. And that doesn’t even take into account only playing one old-time tune during TV time outs and halftime instead of the several we normally shuffle through during the game (we only played one song because of a project we’re working on, so there was a reason for it).
I think our attempt to psych out the Wildcats backfired. Northwestern clearly got upset that we thought so little of them that we could change up the drinking and music routine that has served us and the Blue Devils so well for so many years. We should have known better and we apologize. We won’t make the same mistake next time. We promise.
Anyway, that’s it for the game recap. Let me know what you think about what I think in the comments or on Twitter.
Go Duke!
Bull City Coordinators - A Duke Football Blog 
One thought on “2022 Game Recaps – Duke Survives”