Category: Game Recaps

It was a familiar script for the Blue Devil’s against a highly ranked team. They started strong, punched above their weight class and took an early lead. Despite looking like world beaters and going up 6-0, the Blue Devils’ offense stalled out and Notre Dame ended up with a 27-13 win. The final score is somewhat misleading as this was a tight game until the fourth quarter. But a loss is still a loss.

My five takeaways from the game are:

1) Poor execution in the red zone.

Duke got there three times but only got one touchdown. That won’t get it done. The plays Cutcliffe called were predictable and easy to defend. Why roll Brice out on third down instead of a spread package? Why pitch to Durant on the short end of the field? Why not do an RPO with Jackson? This stuff may be due to a lack of Spring ball and a new QB, but if this continues over the next few games, we have a problem. It may be time to do a serious OC overhaul.

And speaking of the offense…

2) Free Deon.

Other than a few missteps (Calhoun’s fumble and repeated throws to the backup TE), the offense looked pretty good. Duke had long drives and got into the red zone. But the offense struggles the minute Deon is off the field. He brings speed and quickness the defense has to account for. He’s also a good receiver. While I like Durant, he doesn’t do what Deon does. This isn’t like the Stable days when Cut had to rotate guys in and out because they lacked talent. Deon is a top-level back. Give him the carries he deserves and make the defense defend the entire field.

3) It’s deja vu all over again.

The defense played great but wore down as the game went on and a close game ended up getting away from the Blue Devils late. If you feel like you’re watching a movie you’ve already seen, it’s because you have. This has been the story of Duke football for the last four years. Cut needs to slow the offense down a bit and give his defense a breather. If he doesn’t, this defense is going to fall apart. Which would be unfortunate because I liked everything they did. The line was good, the LBs hit hard and the secondary should have had two picks (Rumph can’t jump offside like that). They have the tools, they have the talent. Don’t waste it with a hurry-up scheme when the defense needs to rest.

4) Mistakes.

There were a few. Calhoun fumbling, Rumph jumping into the neutral zone, play calls in the red zone. Just some typical first game sloppiness. What is bad about the mistakes is that they happened in a tight game in which Duke was a 20.5 point underdog. If the mistakes go the other way, the Blue Devils could have kept it at one possession. These mistakes can’t continue if Duke wants to have a good season.

5) Mark Gilbert.

I can’t say enough about how great it was to see him back on the field. Just tremendous. He played well. Congratulations, man. You’re writing one heck of a story.

Duke enjoyed a sweet end to a sour season by knocking off ACC foe Miami in their final game of the season.

The Blue Devils came from behind in the fourth quarter to pull out the 27-17 victory, and while the win will be enshrined in the weight room and ended their 5-game losing streak it ultimately puts Duke (5-7, 3-5 ACC) one game shy of another bowl birth.

Miami who has struggled this year under first year coach Manny Diaz, was already bowl eligible and looking to bounce back after an embarrassing loss last week to FIU.

The Hurricanes, much like most of the year proved just how far removed from the glory days of the program they have become by dropping their finale to a Duke team that had looked lost over the last month and a half of the season.

Duke once again struggled to find any offensive consistency in the first half. The Blue Devils did manage to keep Miami close and only trailed 14 to 13 at the half.

Quarterback Quentin Harris, the much maligned starter, again struggled with accuracy and ball security though proved to be the hero in the end running for a touchdown and throwing for the decisive score in the fourth quarter.

Jalon Calhoun, the recipient of Harris’ touchdown toss caught 3 passes for 82 yards. Running back Deon Jackson scored the go-ahead touchdown prior to that.

Duke’s defense, which has struggled at times with consistency and getting off the field held firm in the second half, keeping Miami out of the end zone and allowing only a field goal in the second half.

Yet as sweet as the victory over the Hurricanes is, it has to leave players, coaches, and fans with a lot of “What ifs” on a very frustrating season. Even if Coach David Cutcliffe won’t let his team use the word.What if Duke hadn’t score so early against Pitt and or their defense could have held on the Panther’s final game-winning drive? What if Duke hadn’t chosen to run what was a horribly executed jump pass late against North Carolina on the goal line?One of those two winnable games and the Blue Devils would be 6-6 and bowl eligible.

Many will look back at this season as one with lots of lost promise but an ultimate failure: At one point the Blue Devils were 4-1 and had decimated Virginia Tech on the road. After that, Duke fell to Pitt, bounced back to beat Georgia Tech and then the wheels came off. It will go down as a lost and disappointing season with a lot of questions Coach Cutcliffe and his staff will have to answer in the offseason.

It was a rough Saturday night for Duke football fans. While not as bad as last year’s implosion against Wake, it was painful to watch. The game followed a generally predictable script. The defense played well, the offense couldn’t convert opportunities and, despite two outstanding kick returns and a good punt return, Duke lost. Turnovers and miscues doomed the team. The defense couldn’t carry the team and, for the fifth straight game, Duke lost. The obvious question is why.

There is no shortage of answers. Poor play-calling early hurt (why go shotgun on 4th-and-1 instead of lining up under center?) as did a number of fumbles. Quentin Harris continued to miss receivers and took the air out of the team when he threw an interception to the very open Aaron Young. And while the defense played well, the obsession with trying to strip the ball instead of tackling resulted in a lot of yards after contact.

So, what is next for Duke football? The team is now 4-7 after a great 4-2 start with a beautiful dismantling of a Virginia Tech team that is now ranked serving as the lone bright spot of a dismal season. Since that game, Duke has had only two good offensive performances – scoring 30 points in a loss to Pittsburgh and 41 points in a win against Georgia Tech. Outside of that, Duke has put up the following lackluster outputs – 14 points against Virginia, 17 points against Carolina (thanks in large part to that idiotic jump pass call), 7 points against Notre Dame and an inexcusable 6 points against lowly Syracuse. While Duke managed to score 27 against Wake, 14 of those were thanks to kick returns by Damond Philyaw-Johnson. Take away AJ Reed’s field goals and Duke only managed one offensive touchdown.

While a bowl game is still technically possible, this team is rudderless. The offense is an unmitigated disaster. Zac Roper’s calls are predictable and ineffective. Head coach David Cutcliffe’s loyalty is commendable, but the decision to stick with Harris, a senior, instead of playing Chris Katrenick is hard to understand. Katrenick will be at Duke next year. Harris will not. The fact that the team has not ditched the tempo system in favor of a huddle to give the defense a breather is equally frustrating. The play-calling needs to change and should have weeks ago. While the defense has given up a lot of points, this is the best and most talented unit in decades. It’s going to waste. And while Harris was never meant to be the starting quarterback (Daniel Jones left early, Gunnar Holmberg got hurt and Jack Sears decommitted), this team has had chances to win close games. Better coaching and clock management (remember the disastrous end of the first half against Notre Dame) wins some of those games.

The loss to Wake confirmed that the season is lost. While it hadn’t been in doubt for weeks, it was still painful to see. Regardless of what happens against Miami, the real question Duke football has to answer is “What do we do next season”? We’ll see if Duke’s athletic director, Kevin White, asks Cutcliffe that and, if so, what the response is.

Tell us your thoughts in the comments.