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Elko seems different. He does not come across as a jump at a bunch of money guy. With the shifting nature of college football, do you want to go to a school of one 7-5 season and be on the hot seat. Schools like Texas A&M do not get it. Just throwing a bunch of money and think you will immediately be a winner and get everything you want does not work.
 
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Elko’s interview is interesting. He pretty much says that as long as we remain committed to our football program, which not only means compensation for coaches and staff, but facilities, NIL and, I believe in Duke’s case, academic support for student athletes, he’ll be happy. And I think Nina King gets it, and currently has the support of the administration.
 
And again, from the section 17 broadcast, Elko and his family loves Durham and (if I remember correctly) he has kids in high school and another on the baseball team at Richmond. They also stated his extended family LOVES coming down for games.

And I do not understand this whole big stadium BS comments that I hear. "Wouldn't you love to be at a stadium with 100k?" Duke is a smallish private school. We have a perfect size stadium.

Finally, coaches hate those over bloated fan bases with a lot of idiots. Saban HATES the majority of Alabama fans.
 
Elko’s interview is interesting. He pretty much says that as long as we remain committed to our football program, which not only means compensation for coaches and staff, but facilities, NIL and, I believe in Duke’s case, academic support for student athletes, he’ll be happy. And I think Nina King gets it, and currently has the support of the administration.
That’s what I took from it as well. Excited to see they’re upgrading the locker room, hopefully every year we’re able to do upgrades. You can tell Nina gets it
 
Perhaps Coach Elko is a guy who would only leave for 1 or 2 other jobs, such as Notre Dame. He realizes a school like Mich. State would fire him in a minute if he loses too many times to Michigan. I really think Coach E can have Duke in the top 20 regularly and occasionally get a guy like Riley Leonard and sniff the top 10. That would be spectacular in my book.
 
With Barton and Monk out, Riley has no time to do anything. He is getting no protection at all. I am really surprised with the defense. We are tackling like we did in the last few Cuttclife years!!!

OFC
 
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Duke played bad but these refs haven't called anything against Louisville. Facemask right in front of refrigerator and called holding on Duke
king you're right, refs did us no favors at all.Also, the personal foul call on us (as noted by @JohnstonCDevil ) was "bs" and a "drive killer."

I do have other concerns as well per circumstances we can control. I am aware of the injury situation, but it doesn't obscure the fact WE WERE NOT READY TO PLAY, and that's concerning in perhaps the biggest game of the season.

Totally whipped in the trenches both sides, couldn't stop the run, etc. Offensively, we were awful: Riley running for his life, dropped passes, couldn't block, no run game, etc.

1/Who scored the last Duke TD??
(Hint:He plays defense, and it was in first half of FSU game).

2/Offense better get its act together, and FAST!!

3/Defense better come out breathing fire Thursday nite vs Wake.

One bright note:Grayson Loftis, qb of the future!!!

OFC
 
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I don’t think the refs affected the outcome one bit, although it did feel like it was just extra misery. And that one unnecessary roughness on Pickett was pretty lame. We got beat in every facet of the game except punting, and it just seemed like Louisville could move the ball at will. Two of their FG’s were, I’m convinced, mercy attempts, as they were getting 4 yards per play even when we looked like we stopped them. The score definitely did not reflect how thoroughly they outplayed us. I’m hoping that our spiritless play was due to a collective hangover from the FSU loss. I agree, HTC, Loftiss looked promising in his brief cameo, and my hunch is he may have leapfrogged Henry for the backup slot, which may mean we see him Thursday. Truthfully, I was a little surprised we left Riley in when it became clear we weren’t going to have a chance and Riley was visibly limping. At 100%, he’s still our man, and I give him lots of credit for the guts he showed out there, being under siege virtually every play and yet still giving it his best. Unfortunately that effort wasn’t followed by the rest of the team. Hopefully we’ll get back on track against Wake, and then we’ll have 9 days to get healthy and ready for the Holes.
 
I don’t think the refs affected the outcome one bit, although it did feel like it was just extra misery. And that one unnecessary roughness on Pickett was pretty lame. We got beat in every facet of the game except punting, and it just seemed like Louisville could move the ball at will. Two of their FG’s were, I’m convinced, mercy attempts, as they were getting 4 yards per play even when we looked like we stopped them. The score definitely did not reflect how thoroughly they outplayed us. I’m hoping that our spiritless play was due to a collective hangover from the FSU loss. I agree, HTC, Loftiss looked promising in his brief cameo, and my hunch is he may have leapfrogged Henry for the backup slot, which may mean we see him Thursday. Truthfully, I was a little surprised we left Riley in when it became clear we weren’t going to have a chance and Riley was visibly limping. At 100%, he’s still our man, and I give him lots of credit for the guts he showed out there, being under siege virtually every play and yet still giving it his best. Unfortunately that effort wasn’t followed by the rest of the team. Hopefully we’ll get back on track against Wake, and then we’ll have 9 days to get healthy and ready for the Holes.
Excellent post @jeffrey236 agree in all facets. Good point about Loftis, think he's the no.2 man now. I know Louisville had let their guard down somewhat during Grayson's brief stint, but I think he at least LOOKS THE PART of Duke's most ACCURATE PASSER at this point. Yes, Riley included. OFC
 
Loftis didn't leapfrog Belin.

If you were listening closely when the game was out of hand (forgivable if not!), they mentioned that HB4 is dealing with an injury.
I think Belin will be a good quarterback. Wake has some issues on offense also so this should be a good game to the end. It is tougher to get up for games on the road but our guys look like they were doing a walk through.
 
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Loftis looked like he had some spirit which was missing with Belin. Of course it was a very short time to make judgments.

I'm disappointed that the offensive line, even with injuries, hasn't really moved anyone back for a few games now. That was a strength early in the season.

I'm interested to see how the team responds with the short week. I'd like to see a strong finish to the season and get 8 or 9 wins.
 
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Agree about the offensive line but to play devil's advocate:

Graham Barton and Jacob Monk are better than anybody else Duke has. It's easier to slide in one replacement when you still have your top 4-5, as Duke did against ND when Barton was out. It gets more difficult when you're missing both.

Not making excuses because they're not going to make them. But O-line depth was a primary concern coming out of fall camp for a reason.
 
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Conor, any idea if Graham will be back soon?
Unfortunately don't know. Speculating doesn't do much good. Elko will probably give an update Tuesday (not Monday this week) but as we've seen, it's more important to see who's going through warmups in the hour or two leading up to the game.
 
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Unfortunately don't know. Speculating doesn't do much good. Elko will probably give an update Tuesday (not Monday this week) but as we've seen, it's more important to see who's going through warmups in the hour or two leading up to the game.
Conor I won't ask you for a prediction this week(covering Both Teams would be quite a spot). However it's obvious you
know both programs better than anybody.

Let me ask you this, though: Given Duke's miserable OFFENSIVE TOUCHDOWN output the last two games(TOTAL OF ONE-the other was a Chandler Rivers pick six),how concerned should staff be about scoring points?? I am aware we've faced two solid all-around teams. Thanks Conor.
 
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Conor I won't ask you for a prediction this week(covering Both Teams would be quite a spot). However it's obvious you
know both programs better than anybody.

Let me ask you this, though: Given Duke's miserable OFFENSIVE TOUCHDOWN output the last two games(TOTAL OF ONE-the other was a Chandler Rivers pick six),how concerned should staff be about scoring points?? I am aware we've faced two solid all-around teams. Thanks Conor.
Wake's defense is good and it's been even better when not facing Trey Benson and Keon Coleman.

Kind of think points will be at a premium in this game for both teams. Wake's offense is in shambles of its own.

Do need to correct you -- Jaquez Moore scored on that acrobatic touchdown at FSU ... Duke's first drive, I think? Or did that get retroactively negated by a replay review? (hahahaha, I kid)
 
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Wake's defense is good and it's been even better when not facing Trey Benson and Keon Coleman.

Kind of think points will be at a premium in this game for both teams. Wake's offense is in shambles of its own.

Do need to correct you -- Jaquez Moore scored on that acrobatic touchdown at FSU ... Duke's first drive, I think? Or did that get retroactively negated by a replay review? (hahahaha, I kid)
Thanks Conor, I tend to agree about the "points at a premium" forecast for Thursday nite. Funny, I remember two Duke-Wake single digit games in Durham in the 70s. A 3-0 Duke win, and a 9-7 Wake win.

Btw, if you re-read my question, I did denote Duke's lone "OFFENSIVE TOUCHDOWN" in the FSU game. It's been a full SEVEN STRAIGHT QUARTERS w/o the Duke OFFENSE finding paydirt.

In fact since the high of the SECOND Qtr Chandler
Rivers pick six at Tallahassee, Duke has been outscored 54-3 by my count. YIKES!

OFC
 
Well that sucked... I mean sucked like I was pissed the whole weekend.

It's not the end however. Losing to the two top teams in the ACC isn't something to lose faith over. The offense is another matter entirely but surely to goodness after the past two games and everything going against us after halftime in the FSU game the law of averages dictates good things are waiting... THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING RAAAARRRRRRR
 
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Well that sucked... I mean sucked like I was pissed the whole weekend.

It's not the end however. Losing to the two tip teams in the ACC isn't something to lose faith over. The offense is another matter entirely but surely to goodness after the past two games and everything going against us after halftime in the FSU game the law of averages dictates good things are waiting... THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING RAAAARRRRRRR
Black Knight I needed your "Positive Thinking" message badly. However like yourself, outside the Cheaters losing, the Louisville beating (Let's be honest it was much worse than 23-zip the way the Cards dominated), bummed me out big-time.

Another Duke forum (I will leave nameless) was MUCH HARDER on us than we have been here. I say it with good reason, because we sucked. Team had no life, and our coaches were totally OUTCOACHED!!

In the forum I mentioned, the fans are very loyal and football educated (like here). Comments ranged from this season is spiraling downward like "a Cutcliffe team" to Grayson Loftis should start vs Wake.

I can understand the frustration, but won't adopt the Cutcliffe theory unless we lose to Wake. I DO think Loftis should start in place of the gimpy Leonard. I would rest Riley, and think Grayson can lead us to victory.

As someone mentioned, save Riley for the "Evil Empire" the following week. Will Elko buy into such a theory? I think not. Riley will play, but that's only going to aggravate the high ankle sprain, especially in such a quick turnaround. OFC
 
Hart I agree with your comments.

In no way am I going to give up on this team. The coaching is too good and the team will not give up.

However, in the back of my mind I'm thinking of the '71 team that started out by beating ranked teams and then faded as injuries and lack of depth caught up to them. The differences however are that this team is much more skilled and the coaching is much better.

I expect Coach Elko to get the team to regroup and we'll finish off strong. How that translates to wins is another story.
 
Hart I agree with your comments.

In no way am I going to give up on this team. The coaching is too good and the team will not give up.

However, in the back of my mind I'm thinking of the '71 team that started out by beating ranked teams and then faded as injuries and lack of depth caught up to them. The differences however are that this team is much more skilled and the coaching is much better.

I expect Coach Elko to get the team to regroup and we'll finish off strong. How that translates to wins is another story.
Thanks Liftee and we think alike my friend. No way I would give up!!! The '71 team has popped up in my mind, as I was a sky-high teen when we beat Stanford at their place and were ranked 14th.

You are absolutely correct: this coaching staff is much better equipped to rebound from this stretch!! We haven't had near the injuries (yet), to go south like the '71 team. OFC
 
I think Coach Elko will have us ready to play Thursday, but we badly need Barton and Monk to get healthy. We could not protect Riley at all Saturday. We need our offense to start producing so the defense doesn't stay on the field so long!! GO DUKE!!!

OFC
 
I think Coach Elko will have us ready to play Thursday, but we badly need Barton and Monk to get healthy. We could not protect Riley at all Saturday. We need our offense to start producing so the defense doesn't stay on the field so long!! GO DUKE!!!

OFC
X2, JCD!!!

OFC
 
so a nice article on 247 of 40 recruits across multiple classes they have seen in person recently.
Derrick Brown JR
2024 lb Duke commit
6'3'' 225 lbs
brown is flourishing after moving north from south carolina. he has frame flexibility as a lb, de or dline since he has the frame to add plenty of size. he is quick off the snap on the edge and he covers a lot of ground in his first 2 steps. he showed lateral quickness and an ability to change direction while pursuing on the backside.
brian dohn

to me this says we are getting a really good athlete who can put on some weight and can play DE or a pass rushing OLB.
 
so a nice article on 247 of 40 recruits across multiple classes they have seen in person recently.
Derrick Brown JR
2024 lb Duke commit
6'3'' 225 lbs
brown is flourishing after moving north from south carolina. he has frame flexibility as a lb, de or dline since he has the frame to add plenty of size. he is quick off the snap on the edge and he covers a lot of ground in his first 2 steps. he showed lateral quickness and an ability to change direction while pursuing on the backside.
brian dohn

to me this says we are getting a really good athlete who can put on some weight and can play DE or a pass rushing OLB.
Nothing like versatility!! Thanks for update surf!! OFC
 
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Understand Elko announced(presser yesterday), Riley Leonard, Jacob Monk, Graham Barton and Myles Jones are all "day to day," and "gametime decisions."Doesn't bode particularly well for Thursday nite, but who knows? All four could see action, per the relaxed injury status protocol in the ACC now. Elko is pretty savvy at playing it cool.

Henry Belin's upper body injury was discussed. Steve Wiseman(Raleigh News and Observer), notes Grayson Loftis is getting additional reps at qb in case Riley, Henry can't go(Five day turnaround makes it tough).

I think we manage to get either Monk or Barton back for Wake. I also look at us maybe holding the other three (Leonard, Jones, and one OL) out to be as healthy as possible for The Cheaters next week. OFC
 
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Idk if TE Nicky Dalmolin will play this week. I did read on one site this morning he is "questionable." OFC
 
We had the chance this year to have a very special season if we could just stay healthy!! Now the injury bug is hitting us hard!! We just need to get our boys healthy and back on the field. We still have some goals we can achieve!! Hope we can finish the season strong, so we can get a good bowl game!! GO DUKE!!!

OFC
 
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