yeah our offense has been the issue the last 2 years. i blame roper 70% and cut 30%. we seem to make some really bad play calls several times a game.i have never gotten over the Pitt game last year when we had the lead and just had to kill the clock and threw 3 straight incomplete passes and only burned 13 seconds and left them with all their timeouts. of course they drove the length of the field and won. the jump pass is just indefensible. i think that roper runs what cut wants. when cut said we didnt have a system problem i kinda threw up a little. we should be 6-2 this year with better offense. frustrating
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- Thread starter surfdevil
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The loss to the cheaters was pivotable. Are we gonna rise above it and finish as strong as possible or will we nose dive. I feel we win vs. Cuse but I feel it has to be by substantial margin. OFC
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Sky I am just hoping the Cheaters loss doesnt devastate us to a losing streak like the infamous Miami loss in '15. I could see this team maybe winning 2, possibly 3 more OR LOSING OUT to finish 4-8....Surf was right on the nose: We should be 6-2 no question! OFC
Cut simply hasnt kept up with the times Surf. Of course hes always been owned by Pitt, but Pitt and most other Coastal teams have stepped it up in terms of coaching staffs, facilities, recruiting last 4 years. The teams Cut was having some success beating have largely turned the tables on us.
He refuses to adapt, and we continue largely running up the middle and throwing boundary passes rather than cross routes. Pitt loss and UNC loss both inexcusable IMHO.
Defense largely played NOT TO LOSE last possession by Pitt and Pickett drove em 75 yards in one minute against the softest pass prevent I have ever seen. As you say, UNC play call at finish inexcusable. Cut didnt even adjust after UNC called time out to adjust after reading our formation.
Seriously concerned about direction of program after we extended Cut's contract thru '23. We need a Steve Spurrier type calling plays as our off. coordinator, and Cut should leave him alone to call his own game!
The losses to the Cheats and Pitt still stick in my craw. Then I notice the immense improvement that Baylor and Wake have made. Is the only difference between Duke and them the 2 bonehead calls, or is it systemic? Why do we not keep pace with them (forgetting the embarrassing beatdown by Wake last year)? I have no answers except possibly fear of change.
As I have said before, we should be 6-2 overall, and leading coastal at 4-1. Pitt and The Cheats were both GIFTED w/huge dark blue bows on top.
Baylor and Wake both fairly short turnaround timelines too as you mentioned, and we should not have FALLEN BEHIND either one. I would say "bonehead calls" have a lot to do with it. Our OC Zac Roper is so pitiful, he couldnt get a first rd NFL QB pick on any ALL-ACC team ever....Obviously the Carolina play at the finish may live on as the worse call in ACC FOOTBALL HISTORY.Other teams caught on to Roper a long time ago with his steady diet of handoffs up middle and passes to the boundary...
"Systemic?" I would say so in the sense of Cut hiring and promoting assts largely from WITHIN the program...For instance Zac Roper coached special teams, and was promoted to OC with no previous experience.
Saturday will be a gut check to see if this team has collected itself at all from losing 3 of the last 4. Notre Dame is definitely beatable or could just as easily blow us out....
OFC
I also believe we can beat ND. Forget the last game and go forward and pull hard for Duke and just as hard against unc cheater u. OFC
so ethan wright decommits today. i am not sure he will be the last. kids and coaches are noticing how bad our offensive schemes are.
You know, I think Cutt knows how bad our offensive schemes are. That is why he tried to insert a Ga Tech-type triple option into the offense. Problem with that offense is that it requires a different blocking technique and different types of players. Notice how Tech is now largely unsuccessful going to a more current offense with players who are not suited to it. If, as Cutt said, there is no problem with the scheme, why try something so radical as the triple option, which, by the way has not worked for us at all? No way to evaluate our D, given that they have to spend so much time on the field because of the ineffective O.
the problem is that the offensive schemes we run are dictated by cutt. everybody gets mad at the oc, but he is doing exactly what cutt wants. going back to a triple option scheme is not the answer. if we want to recruit better players then we we need to open up the playbook and run some exiting plays. handing off the ball up the middle every time sux. jump pass at the goalline sux. there is no imagination going on with the offense right now and that is on cutt. will cutt be willing to make the changes needed is the million dollar question. his history says no. this is exactly what happened at ole miss and why he got canned. i like cutt and really do admire what he has done for duke football BUT we are on a steady and quick decline and i question if he is willing to make changes.
Just out of curiosity, I looked at the recruiting classes for Wake and Baylor for 2018 and 2019. While Baylor has a couple more 4 stars, it also has more 2 stars. We have out-recruited Wake both years, and again this year. While these rankings are not definitive, to me they suggest that Duke's performance may not necessarily be a talent problem. Both Wake and Baylor have more wide-open offenses. So I am with you, Surf. Our unimaginative, totally predictable offense appears to be the root of our problems. Could be we are playing down to Q's limited capabilities.
i like our talent level. our low end players these days are 3 star kids. of course i want us to get 4-5 each 4 star kids every year to fill out the roster. i personally think our defense is a notch or two above what we normally have.had in the past. we are actually getting DT sized kids thanks to albert. no more trying to grow lbs into DE or DE into DT. we are getting the right sized kids now. so why are we now trying the 3-3-6 defense so much? we are finally getting big kids so lets keep them off the field? do you realize we had the number 6 pick in the draft last year and the 3 years he played QB for us we never had a winning conference record? i think this answers if are playing down for Q. we have been so bad on O for several years now that i find it hard to watch. i still do but like the announcers i can pretty much call the plays we run. with that being the case, i think that the opposing defensive coordinators have it easy when they get in to duke week prep. hmmm, they only run between the tackles. check. bubble screens. check. no crossing patterns on throws. check.
i think that we have the talent to compete with most of the ACC (clemson hell no) but right now we are on the low end of scheming.
No way to know how good our D could be because by the second half they have already been on the field way to long. D has kept us in the game for a half. They need help. Q gives away who he is going to throw to, and opposing DB's have an easy time reading him. That is why they are almost always in position. Q does not seem to be able to accurately throw mid-range slants in any event.
I went to a high school game Friday night and seen a quarterback throw for 400 yards first half. Let's open it up we have nothing to lose.
Cut deserves a lot of credit for bringing our program from the absolute dregs to respectability, which I also call mediocrity. We can be satisfied with that....fighting for a bowl bid every year….or not. However , it would take a huge commitment on the part of the University, the Athletic Department, and the supporters to go to the next level. Hiring a highly regarded and respected coach would seem to be the best first step, but the purse strings would have to get very loose to attract such a person. Next comes improving facilities, and a real innovative marketing strategy to get even our local fans to become excited.
We'll see what happens. I'll live, no matter what.
OFC
We'll see what happens. I'll live, no matter what.
OFC
What you do not recognize is that if what we have been putting on the field for the last 2 or 3 weeks is going to continue into the future, we are going to continue to get worse. Which means huge recruiting difficulties and even fewer (if that is possible) fans at games. Wake found a good coach without paying a Saban-level salary. So have other schools. I am not saying Cutt needs to go, just that he needs to be open to change when things do not work.
OFC
Nope, not hardly. Facilities are good. We would not have to pay 5MM for a replacement for Cutt. I agree only that Cutt has done a lot of good for the program. Changes in staff, changes in schemes, are badly needed IMHO. I am worried that Players and Fans are losing faith in him. Only he can restore it.
OFC
Three quotes from your previous post have me bewildered:
"We are continuing to get worse"
"huge recruiting difficulties"
"I'm not saying Cutt needs to go"
Isn't there a disconnect here? As far as Wake Forest is concerned, is that what we (you} aspire to? Really? More mediocrity?
OFC
Keep reading them. You will figure it out. Don't aspire to be Wake, just reflecting on the fact that they have better results with less talent. OFC
Did we not just spend $70 million on upgrading facilities? Why continue to upgrade when stands are half full? Even when we are winning. I'm not sure what the answer is.
Did anyone actually expect this year's team to be an improvement over last considering all we lost? We are about where I expected to be record wise. Expected more from the defense though. Our recruiting has improved but it's not that good yet.
Did anyone actually expect this year's team to be an improvement over last considering all we lost? We are about where I expected to be record wise. Expected more from the defense though. Our recruiting has improved but it's not that good yet.
One of the problems is these home games where Duke just lies down and doesn't put up a fight. Wake last year, ND and Syracuse this year. I don't get the consistent poor effort at home unless the team gets demoralized by playing in front of nobody or just opponent's fans. If that is the case, they didn't do a good job of judging where they were going to school.
Add the Virginia game this year to that. I remember us going 8 - 3 a few years ago.
Neither did I. Even for all Daniel Jones talents, we were 0-9 vs UVA, VA TECH AND PITT during his tenure....Coaching is sinking even faster now...
OFC
I see other than the 15 we have graduating we also have 6 underclassmen either quitting football or becoming grad transfers. AJ Reed is one of them.
yeah the six who are leaving are kind of a mixed bag
antone williams rjr S a career back up
scott bracey rjr WR never reached potential
javon jackson rjr S good special teamer/ back up
damani neal rsoph S this one hurts me. one of the first guys off the bench.
a j reed rjr K great comeback year but dont forget his replacement grey shirted this year so already working out with team
liam smith rjr OL another kid who never lived up to billing.
my worry is are we in with enough kids to fill these spots?
antone williams rjr S a career back up
scott bracey rjr WR never reached potential
javon jackson rjr S good special teamer/ back up
damani neal rsoph S this one hurts me. one of the first guys off the bench.
a j reed rjr K great comeback year but dont forget his replacement grey shirted this year so already working out with team
liam smith rjr OL another kid who never lived up to billing.
my worry is are we in with enough kids to fill these spots?
Not a big concern for me. Almost irrelevant. We could bring in 5 4-stars, and it would not make much difference as long as there are no changes in the staff.
also see where elijah deveaux RB is now the 7th player to walk as a senior. this now gives us 5 more schollies to fill.
Just remember, some of us have been Duke Football fans long enough to say at times we would have been doing back flips over 4 wins.
just to bring this thread back towards the top
duke finished 11th in the acc with 154 missed tackles.
that is 12.83 per game.
only worse than us were bc, nc state and fsu
my only defense of this is that i think our tackling got much worse late in games due to our offensive offense (lol)
as was pointed out on another board, we had 10 D players that had more snaps than the most played clemson D player
lack of depth? lack of development? to me this is an issue that the D coaches must answer next year.
these are college kids. they cant be great if they are playing way way to many snaps
duke finished 11th in the acc with 154 missed tackles.
that is 12.83 per game.
only worse than us were bc, nc state and fsu
my only defense of this is that i think our tackling got much worse late in games due to our offensive offense (lol)
as was pointed out on another board, we had 10 D players that had more snaps than the most played clemson D player
lack of depth? lack of development? to me this is an issue that the D coaches must answer next year.
these are college kids. they cant be great if they are playing way way to many snaps
I'd like to see Coach Cut active on the transfer portal bringing some guys in. What a perfect sales pitch: play at a prestigious school in a P5 conference, get immediate playing time.
