BullCityCoordinators

2022 Game Previews – Duke Faces Northwestern

The first road game of the Elko Era will see Duke travel to Ryan Field to face off against Northwestern this Saturday. Both teams are coming off of wins – the Wildcats beat Nebraska and the Blue Devils soundly defeated Temple. There are a lot of new faces for a Duke team that finds itself fully energized after a big win in Coach Elko’s first game. Likewise, there are a lot of Wildcats who are pumped up after a conference win to start the season. At this point in the year, I’d like to be talking about the specifics of each position and which team has the edge, but I don’t think that we are in a position to do that just yet because, as discussed in more detail below, there’s still a lot we don’t know about this Duke team. But while we don’t yet know a lot about the Blue Devils, we know a little more about the Wildcats from a historical perspective, although it’s still early in the season, so I feel confident resurrecting the trends from last season to discuss the upcoming game. With that in mind, let’s get to it.

Northwestern:

A win and time to prepare. As has been pre-ordained by the Football Gods, a Nebraska team coached by Scott Frost lost a close game by three points. This happened in Week Zero (what a [expletive deleted] stupid name for opening week) in Ireland against Northwestern (the game was held in Ireland because the Big Ten has its eyes on a few Irish teams for the next round of expansion).

While beating Nebraska may not mean much, Frost is an abysmal 16-30 in Lincoln, keep in mind that a lot of those 30 losses have been close ones. The fact that Coach Fitzgerald got a win against a P5 team is a big deal, and the fact that he got it against a team that knows how to keep itself in a game is an even bigger deal, especially after last season’s misery come to life that was 2021’s 3-9 outing. More important, the Wildcats didn’t play in Week 1 (which should be Week Two) and has an extra week of preparation coming into the matchup with Duke. That’s big. Coach Fitzgerald doesn’t have a winning record at a historically not that great of a football school because he’s an idiot. He knows what he’s doing, especially with time to prepare. That additional week should help the Wildcats. As should …

Playing at home. Northwestern gets the advantage of playing at home. That’s big. This team has a lot to prove after last season, and there’s nothing like playing at home in front of your fans and fellow students to give you that extra buzz for a win.

Bouncing back. In looking at Northwestern to draft this post, I noticed something interesting about the Fitzgerald Era. Take a look

Man, but those seasons ending ranked in the Top 25 are enough to make a lesser man jealous.

The Wildcats have regularly bounced back from losing seasons since 2006. In fact, this program has only had back-to-back losing seasons once under Coach Fitzgerald. That was in 2013-2014 when both teams went 5-7. Other than that, Northwestern has always gone from losing to winning, and often to a bowl game. Also, this program has gone from winning season to losing season every year since 2018. If that trend holds, look for a big year from the Wildcats (which probably means a win on Saturday).

Those are the trends that I considered important for the opponent. What about for our guys?

Duke:

Confidence and good vibes. Look, this goes a long, long way towards a good season. Anyone who knows anything about football knows that. Also, those of you who listen to the podcast know that confidence can take you a long way towards your goal. These Blue Devils are confident. They love their coach, they have a lot of (good) energy and they really, really believe they can win games and do something special. Every player I’ve spoken with and everyone close to the program I’ve spoken with has commented on that. It’s a big deal and it’s important. Given that, our boys from Durham have something important on their side heading into Saturday’s game.

A lot to prove. This program has a long ways to go before it’s relevant. While beating Temple is nice, dominating a bad Owls team won’t do much when it comes to rankings and street cred. Now, beating a Big Ten team on the road? That’s another story. Further, the pressure isn’t on Duke coming into this game. They are on the road and are in game two of the Elko Era – the opponent is at home and favored to win. The pressure is on the home team, not the road team. This combination of factors could give the Blue Devils a significant advantage on Saturday.

A lot we don’t know. One of my biggest concerns heading into this season is the lack of depth and the secondary. We really don’t know how good this secondary is because the game last Saturday didn’t tell us much. Temple’s play-calling was horrendous, which is why you typically don’t promote RB coaches all the way to the HC spot, so we can’t say what the secondary will do against a team that is better than the Owls. If the secondary holds up, this could be a fun, fun game.

We also don’t know how good our staff is, particularly Coach Elko. In my game preview for the Northwestern game last season, I compared the two head coaches for that game. Unsurprisingly, I went with Coach Fitzgerald as the better coach. I have to do that by default this time because Coach Elko only has one game as a head coach under him. There’s still a lot about Coach Elko that we don’t know and won’t know until some time passes. Now, that lack of a track record and game film isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It can be used to the advantage of the new coach because tendencies and habits aren’t known by the opposing team. Let’s hope that occurs on Saturday.

There are a lot of other things that I could discuss in regard to what we don’t know. Our quarterback is untested, but confident, and our running backs have gone from reserves to a back-by-committee. There’s a lot more to get into here, but let’s just say that there’s a lot we don’t know about this team and we’ll have to wait until about midway through the season, or longer, to know more.

Head-to-head. There’s one final trend I’d like to bring up. Duke is 11-10 all-time against the Wildcats and has won the last three. Two of those wins came when Daniel Jones was under center and a third came last season when the Wildcats almost pulled out a win after a quarterback change. That game was close and Northwestern was very, very close to getting the win. Based on that, and while I hate to say it, I think the Wildcats are due to get a win. I see them pulling it out against the Blue Devils and taking home a 30-24 win. Again, I stink at score predictions, so don’t use my score prediction to place bets.

While I may be taking Duke to lose, I think that the Blue Devils will play a tough, physical and competitive game. It wouldn’t surprise me if they pull out a win, but, given what I’ve looked at, I have to go with Northwestern in this one. But, hey, I was wrong about the margin of victory last week, so I’m hoping I’ll be wrong again.

Why am I taking the Wildcats? Well, I think that Jim Sumner’s recent article discussed it well. Northwestern was six yards short of two backs running for 100 yards each against Nebraska. Their quarterback, a USC Gamecocks transfer, tossed the ball to nine receivers for a total of 314 yards. That’s against Big Ten competition (which I think is, to some extent, overrated, but it’s still more than what Duke faced last week). Look, I like what I saw from the Blue Devils in Week One, but I’m not betting the farm on this team just yet.

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

Go Duke!

2022 Game Recaps – Duke WINS!!!

It had been since September 25, 2021 that Duke last won a game. After almost a year, eight straight losses, a coaching change and a lot of new faces, the Blue Devils delivered a 30-0 win over Temple and got the Elko Era off to a good start.

Jordan Moore making one of many big plays against the Owls.

It may not have been perfect, and we’ll get into that in the Five Things below, and it may not tell you much about what to expect from this team over the next eleven games, but it was a win. And if any program needed a win, other than Temple, it was Duke. The Blue Devils did a great job controlling the tempo, running the ball, utilizing multiple weapons in the passing game (eight different guys, including two tight ends, caught passes) and being in the right place on defense. Coach Johns put together an outstanding game plan and the co-defensive coordinators, Coaches Smith and Simpson, put the right guys on the field and let them make plays. Duke took a 7-0 lead on the opening drive, sparked by a wheel route in the making that Jordan Moore took almost to the house, and never looked back. It was a fun game to watch.

With that in mind, let’s get to the Five Things starting with the Five Things I liked:

No. 1 – Better personnel usage. On offense, we’ll start with Jordan Moore as a wide receiver. I’ve talked about the need to get our fast guys out in space and it looks like Coach Johns, who I’m sure doesn’t read my blog, already knew that which is why he’s got such a good track record as a player-caller. Moore helped open up the offense and give Calhoun, Pancol and Hagans opportunities to make plays. That helped the running game and it also gave Leonard, who had a really nice game, a chance to take his time, find the right guy and get the ball to that person. The best example of Moore’s ability was the wheel route (more on that below) that he took to an almost-touchdown. Let’s see more of Moore and more creativity on offense. To have a winning program, you need coaches who put players in the best position to make plays and it looks like Coach Johns knows how to do that.

On defense, we saw a guy on the defensive line who didn’t get enough snaps last season finally get the opportunity he needed. I’m talking, of course, about Ja’Mion Franklin. I tweeted, probably daily last year, about how he needed to be on the field more. And two fumble recoveries later it sure looks like I’m not completely crazy. Nor is everyone else who thought the same thing.

I’ve spoken highly about both Moore and Franklin for a while and I’m glad to see them get opportunities. Let’s hope it continues.

No. 2 – We didn’t get hurt by a wheel route. Believe it or not, Duke stopped a wheel route on defense last night. And I don’t mean stop by letting the other team score a touchdown like we saw oh so many times last year. I mean stop by not letting Temple convert a third down. It was a small thing, but I loved it.

And, as mentioned, the Blue Devils ran a wheel route and almost scored a touchdown. Beautiful, just beautiful.

No. 3 – Better tempo on offense. It looked like Coach Johns heard all of our collective complaints and slowed things down. It seemed like there was a concerted effort to run the clock down closer to zero before snapping the ball. There weren’t a lot of forty second drives. Instead, we saw a more methodical, time-consuming approach offensively. While it working against the Owls probably doesn’t mean a whole lot, it should help the defense stay fresh as the season goes on.

No. 4 – Utilizing the tight ends. Look, four catches for thirty-nine yards isn’t a lot, but it tells the opposing defense that the tight ends can’t be ignored. And if you put a body on a tight end, it means you can’t double-cover Pancol, Calhoun or Moore. The tight end is a young quarterback’s best friend, so let’s keep calling for throws to Finney and Dalmolin to help Leonard develop.

No. 5 – Being right. If you look back at my last post, you’ll see that I said there were five things we had to see from Duke. Those five things included: a win; tough, physical and intelligent play; an offense that controls the clock and puts Moore in the slot (I can’t recall where he lined up the most because I was watching TV, drinking an adult beverage and playing old-time music); and a competitive game that referenced how much we’d all love to see the Blue Devils win by 30. Sound like Friday night’s game? Maybe I do know a little bit about this football thing after all.

And an honorable mention goes out to friends of the pod Mem Factor and the Section 17 guys. We saw the back of Mem Factor on TV and we also saw a lot of Bleed Blue shirts. It was pretty cool.

Now, here are the Five Things I didn’t like:

No. 1 – Sloppiness. There were more false starts than I’d like to see. While it didn’t hurt Duke on Friday, it will against better teams. That’s going to have to improve over the course of the season. So, too, will the less than stellar second half. The Blue Devils came out firing on all cylinders to start the game, but after coming away with no points on the last drive of the first half, the offense seemed a little disjointed and like it was looking ahead to Northwestern. Duke scored twenty-four in the first half followed by just six in the second. Not keeping the foot on the gas will hurt this team as the season goes on.

No. 2 – The kicking teams. Consistent with the sloppiness discussed above, Charlie Ham missed three field goals including two short-range field goals. The 51 yarder doesn’t concern me, but the two short-yardage ones do. I’ll give Ham a pass on the one at the end of the first half because it looked like a bad snap, but the Blue Devils can’t afford to leave points on the board. A good kicking game can win you at least two games a year. It can also lose you a lot more.

No. 3 – Clock management at the end of the first half. It sure seemed like Coach Elko should have called a timeout once in the red zone instead of letting the clock get down to about nineteen seconds before the snap (I didn’t write this down as it happened, so my memory may be a little off on the exact time). I also think that Duke had time for one more play before attempting, and missing, a field goal. Again, these little things can win and lose games.

No. 4 – Lack of fans in seats. Nothing new here, but a lot of the fans dressed as empty seats. I hate to see that. I have my own excuses for not being there – three hours away, moving into a new house, starting a new law practice, etc. – but you can bet I’d be there if I lived closer to Durham. I hate that more weren’t on hand. Now, the attendance may have improved as the game went on, but it isn’t like the lousy announcers would tell us anything.

No. 5 – I actually don’t have a number five, so I’ll just grumble about the fact that the TV commentators weren’t great. I think that me and the Section 17 crew, with Freddie Hodges on the field, would be a perfect combo. Any takers?

Let me conclude by saying this – getting a win against what looks like a pretty bad Temple team doesn’t really tell you a whole lot about what to expect from this team. The Northwestern game is likely to be tough as is the Kansas game. We’ll know a lot more after those two games than we know now. That said, I’m excited for the players. This group has been through a lot of misery. The Jump Pass, the nightmare of a season that was 2020 and then, obviously, the disaster that was last year. I’m real glad to see these players to get a win. It’s great for them to be playing for a coach they’ve clearly bought into. And I’m excited that Coach Elko started his tenure as the Blue Devils’ head coach off with a win. But I’m not changing my prediction from 4-8 just yet. This team has to do a little more before I fully buy in. But, again, I’m really, really happy for this team to get a win and I hope to see a lot more of them this season.

And that’s it for the first game recap of the Elko Era. Let me know what you think about what I think in the comments or on Twitter.

Go Duke!

2022 Game Previews – The Elko Era Begins

September 2, 2022. 7:30 p.m. Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium. Duke takes on Temple to start the Elko Era. I don’t know about you guys, but I can’t wait.

Coach Elko is ready to lead the Blue Devils to victory.

In trying to put together a game preview for Temple, I realized that I can’t rely on my trusty trends from last season because, well, there are no trends for this incarnation of Duke football. We have a new head coach, new coordinators, new staff, new running back, new quarterback and, well, you get the idea.

Well, what about the opposing team? Surely there are some trends for the Owls, right? Not really, Temple is in the same boat that the Blue Devils are – a new coach looking to turn around a program that has fallen from prior heights. Dating back to 2006 when Al Golden took over at Temple, the Owls had done pretty well under four different head coaches (Golden, Steve Addazio, Matt Rhule and Geoff Collins) until Rod Carey came to town and the bag broke when COVID hit. After an 8-5 season and a loss in the Military Bowl in 2019, Temple went 1-6 in 2020 and 3-9 in 2021. Not great. And not that different from our guys in Durham.

So, instead of trends, I’m going to riff on my Five Things from game recaps and state the Five Things we need to see from this Duke team on Friday:

A win. This is obvious, but the Blue Devils always have to go at least 3-1, if not 4-0, in non-conference play to get to a bowl game. If Duke wants to go bowling this season, a win against Temple is a must. Sure, this team may not have the toughest non-conference schedule, but you can’t say that wins are guaranteed against Northwestern or Kansas. And while there are 11 chances to make up for an opening loss, history has taught us that the margins are generally thin in Durham. If the season starts with a loss, getting back on track won’t be easy.
Tough, physical and intelligent play. We can’t see both linebackers leave a running back open. We can’t continue to get beat on the wheel route. And we can’t tackle shoulders. If these Blue Devils want to win, or at least be competitive, they are going to have to be smart. They are going to have to be tough, physical and dominate the line of scrimmage. They are going to have to compete every down. And, more important, …
They are going to have to hold each other accountable. Someone, really a collection of someones, is going to have to step up and lead the team. Team cohesion will be critical for this team as it tries to get out of the doldrums that have been around since that one play in 2019 we won’t mention. Accountability and leadership doesn’t happen as a result of one player running the locker room. Rather, each player will have to believe in one another. Not only that, but they will have to hold one another accountable. Each player will have to know what everyone else on the field is supposed to do at all times. That’s what it is going to take.
An offense that can control the clock. And also be creative. What I’m hoping to see from Coach Johns’ offense is a hard-nosed, smash-mouth unit that runs the ball, throws to the tight end and gets creative. Our wide receivers haven’t been great at getting separation, so let’s see Jordan Moore in the slot. How about Luca Diamont, too? Be creative and take the pressure off of Jalon Calhoun and new starting quarterback Riley Leonard. And running the ball won’t only help open up the receivers, it will give the defense a chance to rest. Plus, you know the OL will love beating people at the line and opening up big holes for the RBs to run through.
A competitive game. While we would all love to see Duke win by 30, I think we would all take a win regardless of the score. The blowout losses have to stop. If this team wants to win games, it will have to find a way to stay in games and keep the score close. So, even if this game isn’t a blowout, I’ll be happy to see this team play a close, competitive and physical game. And winning it would be great, too.

So, those are the five things that I want to see from the Blue Devils against Temple. Let’s hope we get those, and a lot more.

Now, while I was pretty bad at this last season, I’ll go ahead and throw in a score prediction – I’m taking Duke with a 31-27 win over Temple. While I would like to take the Blue Devils by a larger margin, I don’t feel that I know enough about this team to be able to predict with confidence. While I like everything I’ve heard from the players so far, I am going to wait until I see it to start getting bullish about this team. And, for the record, I want to see these guys do it even though I may sound a little pessimistic about things.

Now, before I close this post, you’ll see that I added a new category – “2022 Season” – to help better keep track of each season that I keep doing this.

Since I added a 2022 category, you’re probably asking if I’m going to go back and categories for 2019, 2020 and 2021. To those of you who ask that I say

Anyway, tell me what you think about what I think in the comments or on Twitter.

Go Duke!

Interview – Duke Season Preview with Lee Rodio

Listen here.

Our old friend Lee Rodio returns to the podcast for his third appearance. (Listen to his first two here and here.) After he updates on us on what he’s been up to lately, we go over what it will take for Duke to have a successful season, Lee gives his picks for each game and closes with a discussion about what NIL can mean for students. Also, Lee delivers some real hot takes when he starts talking about that other school in North Carolina which all us Blue Devils will love. This is a fun talk with a great guest.

Also, we recorded this on Sunday night and by the time I got this posted, Coach Symmes’ interview hit the SEVENTY listens mark. Congrats, Coach! I know when you retire from coaching you’ll think about appearing on this podcast before anything else. Right? I mean, appearing as a guest here as to be a momentous achievement. Right? Bueller? Bueller?

Go Duke!

Interview – Jeff and Ben talk Realignment, 3-5-5 and the ACC

Listen here.

Jeff from the All Sports Discussion ACC Weekly Podcast stopped by for a great talk about the future of the ACC. With USC and UCLA bolting the PAC-12 for the Big Ten, we know that the college football landscape is, once again, uncertain. Jeff and I break down what this could mean for our beloved conference. We also discuss the 3-5-5 scheduling format and what to expect from the ACC this season. It was a great talk with a great podcaster!

Go Duke!

Interview – Matthew Symmes

Listen here.

After a bit of trash talk on Twitter, Coach Symmes took some time out of a Wednesday evening to talk about ECU football, his coaching career in college and the NFL and, of course, Duke football. Coach Symmes coached at Duke during the Cutcliffe era before moving onto Indiana where he worked with current Blue Devil OC Kevin Johns. Coach Symmes also had stops at Florida, USC (the one in South Carolina) and with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Here’s the Twitter exchange that led to the interview

During this informative conversation, you’ll learn about what a defensive analyst does, the challenging life of a coach and what made the 2013 Duke team so special. We’ll give Symmes a pass for thinking that Indiana made the field goal at the end of the Pinstripe Bowl. I think his glasses were broken or something. Oh, and we mention Miami. Blerg.

Go Duke!

Interview – ACC Season Preview with Dan Siegel

Listen here.

Those of you who follow the ACC closely probably get information from Dan Siegel. Dan hosts the eponymously named The Dan Siegel Show where he covers all things ACC. It’s a great podcast that you should listen to.

Dan stopped by to give us his thoughts on what to expect from the ACC this football season. As you might expect, the Coastal is up for grabs whereas the Atlantic is likely to be won by one of three teams. Dan also educates us about his recent Twitter disaster which caused him to set up a new account. Let’s hope all of his listeners find him – he’s a great source of information.

We hope you enjoy the episode. Let us know what you think in the comments or on Twitter. As a heads up, the Miami game was mentioned during the episode and I said a few choice words. Sorry, but it was time. And please let me know if you think I should do a special episode specifically about the Miami game. The idea would be that I would edit all the discussion we have so far about the game into one episode.

Go Duke!

Bonus Jam Session – Seneca Prepare Dance

I hope someone appreciates this reference. I do. And in the end, isn’t that all that matters? The answer is no.

As you all know from my appearance on This Might Be A Podcast, I’m a TMBG fan. Well, as a result of Greg being kind enough to have me on, I got the opportunity to combine me and Tim’s old-time music with the stunning vocals of the super-talented Rachel Jones (who Greg put me in touch with). We put together a cover of TMBG’s Prepare which combines the lyrics from that song with the tune of Seneca Square Dance (aka Waiting for the Federals). The end result is Seneca Prepare Dance.

Check it out below and let me know what you think. Thanks again to Rachel, Tim and Greg for helping put this together. If you want to hear more from Rachel, check out her band here.

And, with that, here’s the tune!

Let us know what you think the comments or on Twitter! And check out the Prepare episode here.

Interview – Porter Wilson

Listen here.

Porter Wilson, Duke’s famous punter and the man in possession of a great mullet and moustache, stopped by to talk about how he got into football, his plan to stay for another three years in Durham, the approach he takes to get ready for game day and what the Blue Devils are looking to accomplish this season. He also tells us about the time he takes to get his mullet and his moustache ready for football season.

Oh, and Porter is fully recovered from the horrific injury he suffered during last season’s game against Pitt which you can watch below.

Watching that again, I think we can agree that he is lucky to be alive.

I hope you all enjoy this interview. It was a lot of fun. Thanks for stopping by, Porter!

Go Duke!

Interview – Carlos Wray is Back!

Listen here.

We all remember Carlos Wray from his time at Duke (2012-2015) and the Golden Era of Duke Football he was a part of. Carlos previously sat down for an interview back in 2020 and another one in 2021 to discuss the Blue Devils’ appearance in four straight bowl games.

During our third and most recent discussion, we talk about Carlos’ coaching career, family crises, leadership and, of course, Duke football. As you would expect, we spend some time going over what it will take for Duke to win and also how to better connect the football program to the Durham community. And we both mention that we don’t like BLEEDBLUE and that DukeGang should make a comeback (or, at the least, start using DukeGRIND).

Go Duke!