duke football news

[hart2chesson]

We did a lot of things well, and a lot of things not so well. Our DB’s actually played very well, but our LB’s had trouble covering their backs in the flat and middle. Very conservative playcalling after we took the 21-0 lead - not sure why we got screenpass happy. But very pleased with the outcome - lots of good things to build on, and the mistakes should be fixable. BTW, our transfers all played very well. Most importantly, this was a game we would have lost the last few years.

We owned the game at the start, and just seemed to go asleep at the wheel. Conservative play calling, and leaving the defense on the field too long. Still the defense was coming up with lots of big plays, and was victimized by some very mysterious officials calls.

All told, I felt happy to leave the field up 11 at the half. I figured we would regroup, and march down the field. We did. Unfortunately, Riley's pass for Eli was slightly off target in the end zone. I still felt it was a CATCHABLE BALL, and NW intercepted.

The gut punch became complete when they cut it to five. Charlie Ham's struggles continue on anything outside a PAT, and it became a real game. However we won the turnover battle 1-3, and Leonard to Jordan Moore TD pass was huge. NW again cut it to five, and Ham hit the chippy to make it 31-23. At the time, I wanted to go for the TD.Perplexed Jaquez Moore was in on our goal line package at RB.

Anyway- on to the final play: Stinson and Joiner timed their "Hull Sandwich" at the perfect time! Kudos as well to Brandon Johnson who had some timely plays for falling on the pigskin.

Like I said this week "Duke will do the things they have to do to win." Barely I know, lol- but I believe in Mike Elko!! I said he would be the best coach on the field today, and I believe he was. Preparation was a key, and Duke came ready to play. They never lost the lead!! OFC

 

[ConorONeill]

Subscriber-only story on how Duke's "G.R.I.N.D." was on full display.

 

[kingbluedevil]

Our former quarterback got a big time win today. Appalachian knocks off A&M

 

[geddoughton23]

A tremendous win! Duke has a good coach and a good QB. I haven't seen the game mentioned on ESPN. Maybe they're trying to freeze out the Fox and Big Ten games

 

[ConorONeill]

I asked Elko whether it was human nature/NW adjusting that Duke let off the gas after going up 21-0. Here was his response on the offense:

"Yeah, I just thought we got a little bit out of rhythm. I thought we were really precise and accurate early, then I think they started kind of boxing in the runs a little bit, which caused us to get into the RPO game. I thought we missed a couple of blocks on the perimeter. I thought some of the ball placement was just a little bit off. And we just got behind the chains and we weren't able to overcome that. And I think that just kind of bottled us up. We still felt like we were in good rhythm, still felt like we were moving the ball, we were just missing on a lot of things through the middle part of the second quarter, into the third quarter."

 

[hart2chesson]

I asked Elko whether it was human nature/NW adjusting that Duke let off the gas after going up 21-0. Here was his response on the offense:

"Yeah, I just thought we got a little bit out of rhythm. I thought we were really precise and accurate early, then I think they started kind of boxing in the runs a little bit, which caused us to get into the RPO game. I thought we missed a couple of blocks on the perimeter. I thought some of the ball placement was just a little bit off. And we just got behind the chains and we weren't able to overcome that. And I think that just kind of bottled us up. We still felt like we were in good rhythm, still felt like we were moving the ball, we were just missing on a lot of things through the middle part of the second quarter, into the third quarter."

I thought we made some nice adjustments at halftime. We actually seemed to regain confidence on offense, just missed at the payoff window.

"Ball placement" was just slightly off on what should have been a TD pass to Pancol, and NW got the INT. We should have gone up 28-10 at outset of 3rd qtr. Then, Charlie Ham missed a FG shortly thereafter, so we left 10 pts off the board.

OFC

 

[Devilinside]

Our former quarterback got a big time win today. Appalachian knocks off A&M

Curious how our former QB has played so well for App State but was a turnover machine under the alleged "Quarterback Whisperer". OFC

 

[hart2chesson]

Curious how our former QB has played so well for App State but was a turnover machine under the alleged "Quarterback Whisperer". OFC

"Alleged" is so true.....OFC

 

[surfdevil]

Brice is a good qb but needs to be in the right system. cut had settled into the rpo system and Brice is a drop back passer that on occasion can run. square peg in a round hole. appy uses him in the right way.

 

[Liftee]

I'm much happier with Riley than Brice. Riley reminds me of Daniel Jones, being able to throw or run.

I am not able to see on TV whether Duke substituted a lot on Defense. There's no question the defense was tired at the end. Did Duke play a lot of different guys on defense in the last quarter?

Duke has had seasons where it started off well but due to lack of depth, faded as the season went on (1971 a good example). I hope that doesn't happen this year.

 

[hart2chesson]

Duke has had seasons where it started off well but due to lack of depth, faded as the season went on (1971 a good example). I hope that doesn't happen this year.

Amen. Ironically '71 was the first year of another Duke head coach named Mike. Mike McGee's initial squad started 4-0 in '71. They were ranked 14th after their 9-3 major upset of Stanford.

Already a depth shy club, they were ravaged by injuries. Players were even playing both sides of ball (Rich Searl and Ernie Jackson come to mind). We staggered home to a 6-5 finish.

OFC

 

[BlackKnightNut]

Nail-biting win but I'll take it! Energy is much better from this team and they didn't fold

 

[Devilinside]

Brice is a good qb but needs to be in the right system. cut had settled into the rpo system and Brice is a drop back passer that on occasion can run. square peg in a round hole. appy uses him in the right way.

Why didn't we? OFC

 

[Devilinside]

Amen. Ironically '71 was the first year of another Duke head coach named Mike. Mike McGee's initial squad started 4-0 in '71. They were ranked 14th after their 9-3 major upset of Stanford.

Already a depth shy club, they were ravaged by injuries. Players were even playing both sides of ball (Rich Searl and Ernie Jackson come to mind). We staggered home to a 6-5 finish.

OFC

Players I know hated McGee. OFC

 

[hart2chesson]

Players I know hated McGee. OFC

Mike was very stubborn to say the least.

OFC

 

[Liftee]

I just use 1971 as an example of a Duke team with talent that just didn't have the depth of other teams as the season went along. I hope that is not the case this year.

 

[skysdad]

Mike was very stubborn to say the least.

OFC

Back in those days went to a lot of Duke football games. I would sit in the bleachers with other young Duke fans in our early 20's and yell not nice things to Mike McGee. Of course he could not hear us, It got to a point that we were calling plays right before the play. Our favorite play called was " up the middle " and we usually right. Looking back on those days I feel bad sometimes because he was a Dukie and one of the best offensive lineman we ever had. Still like Coach Cut his time was up. The torch has been past and we all seem to be on board with Coach Elko. I just hope in three or four years from now still has our support . Be patient Duke football fans. OFC

 

[ConorONeill]

Quick snap count breakdown from PFF:

100 total snaps (so, a ton).
Shaka Heyward played 95, most on the team.
Three others played at least 90: Darius Joiner, Jaylen Stinson, Brandon Johnson.
Three others above 85: Dorian Mausi, Datrone Young, Joshua Pickett.
Even the interior DLs, DeWayne Carter and Ja'Mion Franklin, played 69 and 63, respectively.

So yeah ... those are high snap counts for all of those guys. This week against A&T has to be back in the neighborhood of Temple -- 59 total snaps and Joiner (41) and Stinson (40) were the only ones to play at least 40.

 

[hart2chesson]

I just use 1971 as an example of a Duke team with talent that just didn't have the depth of other teams as the season went along. I hope that is not the case this year.

It's a valid concern, no question.

OFC

 

[ConorONeill]

Story off of today's presser (free).

 

[Liftee]

Good article Conor. Thank you.

 

[hart2chesson]

Thanks Conor!

OFC

 

[Liftee]

When Elko made the decision to go for the field goal, I felt he was completely wrong. Since then, I've spoken to several people whose opinions I respect, and who could care less about Duke football, and they agree with him. Interesting.

 

[jeffrey236]

I had mixed emotions about that decision. Earlier in the game, a punch-in by Waters would have seemed like a sure thing, but for some reason we had gotten away from that. If we made it, game over. But if we had gone for it and missed, we may have been beaten by the TD that was inches away from going in for NW. Also, the importance of kicking an important FG for Ham’s confidence can’t be overstated.

 

[jeffrey236]

Thanks Conor!

OFC

Conor, your coverage of Duke football is greatly appreciated. It was woefully neglected the last 5-6 years. Not that there was much good to follow, but your improved coverage began even before the season began and we started to see some successes. Keep up the great work, please!

 

[ConorONeill]

Conor, your coverage of Duke football is greatly appreciated. It was woefully neglected the last 5-6 years. Not that there was much good to follow, but your improved coverage began even before the season began and we started to see some successes. Keep up the great work, please!

Thank you, I really appreciate it.

I'll keep the coverage coming the best I can -- have a stringer covering Wake Forest on Saturday so that I can get back to Duke.

 

[hart2chesson]

Conor, your coverage of Duke football is greatly appreciated. It was woefully neglected the last 5-6 years. Not that there was much good to follow, but your improved coverage began even before the season began and we started to see some successes. Keep up the great work, please!

Conor you truly have made Duke football even more enjoyable for us diehards. It's not only your tremendous coverage, but affable personality too we all appreciate!!! #GoDuke OFC

 

[hart2chesson]

When Elko made the decision to go for the field goal, I felt he was completely wrong. Since then, I've spoken to several people whose opinions I respect, and who could care less about Duke football, and they agree with him. Interesting.

I had mixed emotions about that decision. Earlier in the game, a punch-in by Waters would have seemed like a sure thing, but for some reason we had gotten away from that. If we made it, game over. But if we had gone for it and missed, we may have been beaten by the TD that was inches away from going in for NW. Also, the importance of kicking an important FG for Ham’s confidence can’t be overstated.

Right when it occurred, I second guessed because we were right there at the goal line. There's quite a difference between starting at your 25 and one yard lines.

However the way Hilinski guided the 'Cats down the field, I have no doubt Elko made the right decision. At least we had the added pressure on them to make a 2 pt conversion to simply tie, if they secured a TD. Who knows, perhaps our defense could have been totally demoralized we produced ZERO points and NW could have won it???

I do think ANY FG Ham punches thru right now is gravy. @jeffrey236 makes a good argument any success can only help Ham's confidence. OFC

 

[Liftee]

Maybe Elko was also thinking long term and that Ham could use a boost?

 

[jeffrey236]

Maybe Elko was also thinking long term and that Ham could use a boost?

A very plausible explanation. Conversely, had we gone for it (and failed), would that have appeared as a lack of confidence in Ham?

 

[jeffrey236]

Here’s some great news:

 

[Devilinside]

Back in those days went to a lot of Duke football games. I would sit in the bleachers with other young Duke fans in our early 20's and yell not nice things to Mike McGee. Of course he could not hear us, It got to a point that we were calling plays right before the play. Our favorite play called was " up the middle " and we usually right. Looking back on those days I feel bad sometimes because he was a Dukie and one of the best offensive lineman we ever had. Still like Coach Cut his time was up. The torch has been past and we all seem to be on board with Coach Elko. I just hope in three or four years from now still has our support . Be patient Duke football fans. OFC

Should also recall that McGee was on the Duke team that defeated Arkansas in the (Sugar or Cotton Bowl in early 60's).

 

[hart2chesson]

Should also recall that McGee was on the Duke team that defeated Arkansas in the (Sugar or Cotton Bowl in early 60's).

Great player!!! Obviously didn't translate well to sidelines, but great player nonetheless!!! OFC

 

[ConorONeill]

Story on the defensive snap counts. (free)

Really interesting and insightful stuff from Elko (at least, I thought) about how he could see things playing out, but just had to keep marching out the same defensive players who were challenged to play that many snaps.

The unspoken part here is that in the first year of a rebuilding project, this team doesn't have the depth to avoid something like Saturday. That Duke got out of it with a win and has its FCS game this week are keys moving forward.

 

[Liftee]

I was a little disappointed that the offensive line, of which so much has been written, did not dominate in the run game so that the offense could stay on the field longer.

 

[jeffrey236]

I was a little disappointed that the offensive line, of which so much has been written, did not dominate in the run game so that the offense could stay on the field longer.

Waters averaged 9.1 yds/carry, and Coleman averaged 7.5. I didn’t understand why we didn’t continue punching it. As GED said last week, if Nebraska had kept pounding it against NW, they might have won. I think they just got worn down. Conor’s right, our lack of depth started to show.

 

[surfdevil]

so we rushed for 221 yds against a big10 team. how much more can we want? to me the issue was the pass offense going slightly off and they started packing the box in the second half

 

[Liftee]

Surf, you may be correct. But the O line did not distinguish itself on those last couple plays before the field goal.

 

[jeffrey236]

Hopefully this week against A&T we’ll be able to give some of the backups on both sides of the ball some game experience that will be helpful in the not-too-distant future.

 

[jeffrey236]

BTW, has anybody noticed that Kansas is 2-0? They beat up on Tenn Tech at home (no big deal), but beat West Virginia away in OT, 55-42. They have scored 111 points in 2 games. They don’t appear to be the patsies we were looking forward to…