Category: Game Previews

You’ll notice that I haven’t spent much time doing game previews this season. This is primarily because all I would have to do is change out the name of the opposing team each week. My preview for each game would generally boil down to: a) Duke will turn the ball over; b) Duke’s turnovers will results in a loss. It’s pretty much been this way since the end of the Duke-UNC game last season.

I will do one for the Charlotte game, though. This is because the game will take place on Halloween (which, you know, never ends well for Duke) and because some people think the Blue Devils can win this game. The logic is Duke is in the ACC, Charlotte is new to this level of competition and Cutcliffe’s teams generally get their wins each season aginst non-conference teams.

Given my general nature, I’m not optimistic about the Blue Devils’ chances. To begin with, the 49ers were pretty good last year. They finished the season with a 7-6 record and a loss in the Bahamas Bowl. Duke didn’t make it to a bowl. You can argue that our opponent knows how to win games. But, but, but … Charlotte is currently 2-2 with losses to FAU and App State. The wins are against North Texas and UTEP, so you could say that Duke should be able to coast through this one.

But I’m not confident about this one. Why? To begin with, Charlotte has won two straight and has more wins than the Blue Devils. Moving that most obvious of stats aside, I’ll turn to the most important concern I have going into this game – Duke turns the ball over way, way too much. I’ve covered this extensively and won’t get into it now – if you’re reading this, you know how sloppy the Blue Devils are with the ball. So, moving to the next area of concern, keep in mind that Duke makes a lot of dumb penalties. How many times has Chris Rumph jumped offsides at critical moments? Too many to count.

And what about the injuries? We’re already thin in the secondary and now Mark Gilbert is gone from Wallace Wade forever. That won’t help. The Blue Devils are also down to a third-string center as Will Taylor is going to undergo surgery and Cutcliffe has said that Taylor is likely to miss the rest of the year. I like the OL more than most, and the bye week helps to give the unit more time to gel with a new center, but I’m not crazy about it. I’m rooting for Graham Barton, but this offense has struggled all year (mainly due to, you know, the turnovers).

Let’s be honest, Duke is 1-5 – why would we expect a sudden change in fortunes?

All of these problems and mistakes add up. A team that is injured can’t make mistakes by turning the ball over and making dumb penalties. The breakdown in discipline behind the turnovers and the penalties is something that can kill any team, especially one that doesn’t have any margin for error. For the Blue Devils to win, all three units (offense, defense and the kicking teams) will have to be flawless or at least not a complete disaster. Mistakes will have to be minimized and the team will have to stop being so sloppy. Given that Duke is 1-5 and the head coach is in season 13, I don’t see them improving this week.

Sure, the Blue Devils could still win this game playing the way the team has played all season. It worked against Syracuse. But even if Duke does notch its second win and overcomes terrible play, do you think that formula will work against UNC? Against Wake? Against FSU or GT? I don’t. It sure didn’t work against ND, BC, UVA, VT or NCSU, so I don’t expect it to work against the other ACC teams remaining on the schedule. You can win by playing bad, you just can’t do it often.

To conclude, what’s my prediction? Duke scrapes by with a win in a very, very close game.

We’re back! It’s been a while thanks to COVID-19 and all the upheaval we’ve dealt with. But that’s over. The season starts today at 2:30 p.m. on NBC. Duke travels to South Bend to take on the 10th ranked Irish. This is going to be a tough game, there is no question about it. The Irish dominated the Blue Devils last year by a cool 38-7. We’ve covered all the changes during the off-season, so while we can’t say things will be the same as they were last year, there’s also reason to expect a loss. Notre Dame is ranked 10th. Duke isn’t. Notre Dame consistently outperforms Duke. The game is at South Bend. Jack Wohlabaugh is out for the season. Need any other reasons to be pessimistic?

How about reasons for optimism? It starts with Chase Brice.

A good quarterback will elevate your team and get you wins you shouldn’t. Remember Daniel Jones against UNC? We do because we were there. It was one of the greatest performances by a Blue Devil we ever saw on the football field. So, there’s one reason.

The WR corps is also better than it has been throughout most of Cutcliffe’s tenure. While he may not have a Jamison Crowder just yet, this is a deep group (Damon Philyaw-Johnson, Jalon Calhoun, Darrell Harding, Jr., Eli Pancol, etc.). And Noah Gray at TE is a big plus. There are a lot of weapons for Brice to get the ball to. If Duke can keep the defense honest by running the ball effectively (Deon Jackson and Mataeo Durant, anyone?), Cutcliffe’s next NFL QB may have one heck of a season. The weapons on offense give us a second reason for optimism.

The defense, while it had some turnover, should also be strong (especially with Mark Gilbert coming back which is freaking great).

Ben Albert is a heck of a coach and the talent level has consistently improved especially since he came on board. These guys can make plays and will give the Irish their best. Cutcliffe has generally gotten his team ready for big games at the start of the season. Remember how well an undermanned team played against Alabama last year? Remember the year before that when, while it was later in the season, Duke actually lead against Clemson? Cutcliffe, with time to prepare, can give better teams fits. So that’s a third reason for optimism.

But, speaking of Cutcliffe, I’ve been throwing cold water on him as the play-caller ever since he announced he was taking over the job. Just scan through our Twitter account — it’s there. Cutcliffe ran predictable plays in the red zone, messed with the offense’s flow by switching QBs and wasn’t always the best at clock management. As much as we love Cutcliffe here, we are honest about the fact that he gave up those duties for a reason. And his talking about a goal line package should give us cause for concern (he said it isn’t a priority for this week, but history tells us to be worried).

Final prediction? Irish to win, but a fun game. Go Duke!

Duke’s football season is approaching what will hopefully be a merciful end on Saturday at Wallace Wade. The Blue Devils host Miami for what is almost certainly the team’s final game of the season (there is a technical chance that Duke could make a bowl with win and a 5-7 record). So, what can we expect? The odds say a Duke loss and a Miami victory (ESPN gives the Hurricanes a 67%+ chance to win).

Breaking it down in more detail, expect turnovers. Quentin Harris has thrown 11 interceptions and turned the ball over through fumbles on a consistent basis. This is why he has an abysmal quarterback rating of 50.1. Were the turnovers not enough, you should keep an eye out for missed tackles. Michael Carter talked about this recently and 247 sports noted that one of Duke’s best players, Marquis Waters, leads the team with 18.

You can also expect predictable play-calling. I’m not going to rehash those issues here (it’s Thanksgiving and I have to work tomorrow, so I don’t have time to get that angry before bed). There are likely to be a lot of runs up the middle, run-pass-options without Harris keeping the ball and throwing WR screens on first down. Much of this is likely designed to minimize Harris turning the ball over. It hasn’t worked so far, but I suppose it could be worse.

Duke’s defense, assuming it hasn’t already quit, will likely play hard on the first few series and run out of gas. This is the result of the inability of the offense to do much of anything. Drives stall out and the defense has to rush back on the field without any rest. Even when the Blue Devils do gain yards, they rarely put the ball in the end zone. While the kicking teams have come on strong of late, that won’t win a game on its own.

To conclude, expect a Miami win and a six straight loss for Duke.