Maryland 21, Duke 16 - PostGame Thread

[loran16]

You know we lost this game. It might've been our best chance to win a game yet this year....and yet, this was a positive step for this team.

Positives:

The Defense - Wow, what an improvement. Maryland had only 2 TDs on Offense, and one shouldn't have happened if not for a dumb penalty. The Team isn't shutting anyone down, and that's to be expected, but it held Maryland to PLENTY of punts this week. In fact Maryland punted on its first 4 possessions. Pretty damn good guys, keep it up.

Snyderwine - 3 Attempted, 3 Made. No Heart Attacks.

Negatives:

Finishing Drives: The team had 4 great drives to start the game....and went FG, FG, FG, and INT. Can't do that guys. Gotta put 6 on the board at least 50% of the time.

3rd Quarter Play: This team can't seem to come out fresh out at half. It's disturbing for a team who plays for a coach who preaches CONDITIONING, CONDITIONING, CONDITIONING. Our 3rd Quarter Offense was simply pathetic...again.

Punt Return D: Yeah, one TD, but it made the difference and changed the game entirely. Seriously, this was a guy known for these things...you cannot let it happen.

Roughing the Kicker by Egboh. Nuff Said. Changed the momentum of the game.

Dangerous passes by Renfree - I'm least worried about this one...First Year Starting QB, Sky is not falling guys.

------------------------
All in All, not a good game, but certainly room for optimism.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Without seeing it, I can't complain about the calls...but I can say that it sounded like the defense stepped up. I know they did in the first half. Take away one bad special teams play (punt return) and the turnovers (again) and Duke wins. In chat we gave the D lot's of guff, but honestly they did well and it was good to see. Now if the offense can just hold on to the ball....

[Devilsfan]

It shows we have terrific coaches. After Bama (which is doing the same thing to mighty Florida) and Army (don't know what happened there) that was some improvement. Be careful of what you wish for. Some of the worst coaching in the history of football occurred at the end of the Tenn LSU game. Cut will get it done!

[Richard Berg]

Roughing the Kicker by Egboh. Nuff Said. Changed the momentum of the game.
Yup, this is the play that really screwed up the 2nd quarter. Not sure why the announcers harped on the goal-line INT so much. This one cost us at least 4 points; the INT cost us 3 at most. Not to mention the emotional change from what appeared like another string of consecutive defensive stands (for the first time all year!), to a sudden 1st-and-goal situation.


Dangerous passes by Renfree - I'm least worried about this one...First Year Starting QB, Sky is not falling guys.
True, I'm not worried about Renfree in the slightest. After 3 pretty miserable quarters, down 2 TDs, 4th & 19, he nails Varner 35 yards downfield with swarming defense on both sides of the pass. Nerves of steel.

However, I'm a little worried about the OL. They looked fantastic for about 25 minutes, as they have (off & on) for much of this season. The latter part of the game, however, the QB pocket was a really scary place to be.

[devildeac]

Agree with most of the above but I thought it was a roughing the passer (minor detail, still a stupid play).

And how the &^%$ can we take a delay penalty with 2 TO left, IIRC, with the ball, 1st and 10 on the md 33 with about 2:00 left in the game. ?????

[devildeac]

Yup, this is the play that really screwed up the 2nd quarter. Not sure why the announcers harped on the goal-line INT so much. This one cost us at least 4 points; the INT cost us 3 at most. Not to mention the emotional change from what appeared like another string of consecutive defensive stands (for the first time all year!), to a sudden 1st-and-goal situation.


True, I'm not worried about Renfree in the slightest. After 3 pretty miserable quarters, down 2 TDs, 4th & 19, he nails Varner 35 yards downfield with swarming defense on both sides of the pass. Nerves of steel.

However, I'm a little worried about the OL. They looked fantastic for about 25 minutes, as they have (off & on) for much of this season. The latter part of the game, however, the QB pocket was a really scary place to be.

Some of the problems with the OL sounded like md was blitzing on many plays and Scott and/or Renfree did a nice job to prevent/avoid at least a couple more sacks.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Some of the worst coaching in the history of football occurred at the end of the Tenn LSU game.
Holy #(&$ wow! That was mind boggling awesome! And what you said about Alabama-Florida...guess who scored more touchdowns and points against the Tide? Answer... It wasn't Florida.

[-bdbd]

Agree with most of the above but I thought it was a roughing the passer (minor detail, still a stupid play).

And how the &^%$ can we take a delay penalty with 2 TO left, IIRC, with the ball, 1st and 10 on the md 33 with about 2:00 left in the game. ?????

I was at the game tonight and have a few loose thoughts...

First, agree with devilceac and a couple others here: The roughing the passer play was just inexcusable on 3rd and 11 from around the 27. MD QB was throwing the ball away, so WHY RISK IT?! Just not smart. And MD would be kicking a long FG attempt (45 yds). It affected momentum tremendously after they then scored 7.

But there were several big plays that hurt us. Recall Cut said in an interview this week, something to the effect of "We're not playing that bad a D, but those occassional big plays we give up are killing us." Point proven. MD's game was made on just a few big plays.

The 2nd Quarter goal-line interception was right in front of us, sitting 15 rows up. Not a smart play by Renfree, at 3rd and 10 on their 20. It wasn't even close to the receiver - as my friend said "He threw it to the opne man, just unfortunately that wide-open man was wearing red..." If he throws it away, Duke probably gets a FG there and we're up 12-0 with all of the momentum... maybe they don't march down the field for the first TD.

Overall I didn't think Renfree had a very good game. Many passes weren't even close. He might have been affected by the pressure - lots of stunts and blitzes (and fake blitzes). They seemed to rattle him. Of course 6 sacks don't help!

We gotta convert in the redzone. We just seemed to lose compsure there.

Both the O and the D lines seemed to tire in the 3rd and much of the 4th Qtr.

The reffing in this game just sucked. There were several horribly bad spots (like missing where a player landed by 2-3 yards!). We'd moved at halftime and were in the Duke section in the 2nd half, and the 4th down reception pass for 30 yards had the WR landing in the endzone - even the MD scoreboard replay showed that - but somehow the replay official brings it back like 3 yards outside the 1... Arrgh!

Side note: the scoreboard operator for MD was, um, "interesting." NONE of the controversial/close calls favoring MD were ever replayed on the 2 jumbo-trons, but ALL of those favoring Duke were replayed (and then invariably bemoaned loudly by the home crowd) - has a way of intimidating refs. Also, I really thought it sucked that - is this legal?? - they very frequently played the extremely loud piped-in hard-rock music while the Duke O was on the field. They would cut it off just a moment before the snap, probably technically staying legal, but obviously attempting to prevent any audibles or play calling by the QB at the line.).

The MD students - 'sat in their area in the first half - were bretty borish. Lots of obviously-practiced vulgar cheers. LOTS of very drunk students, and several big fights broke out between MD students in the stands. BTW, was surprised to see a lot of the upper decks only half full...seems like expectations are down, even for a 4-1 team (that said, MD is not as good as 4-1 indicates, and they're about to lose several games sgsinst upper-tier ACC teams).

Finally, we got pretty lucky on some critical plays. So while you want to say "Darn, if we'd just caught that last pass...", just remenber that we were big-time lucky on some critical long passes and easily coulda lost by a bunch more. And on that last play, the WR had it hit his hands - possibly after being tipped - but could have easily caught it and then we're 2:00 and 20 yards from cellebrating!


All-in-all, a really fun game to watch. Good ebbs and flows. Many big plays. (Just one too few!!!)


;)

[Udaman]

I'm sorry....but we lost this game on our first drive. We get down to the 2 yard line, then can't run it in, then miss a pass.....and Coach.....kicks a 20 yard field goal. That - is embarassing. We aren't playing for a bowl. We aren't ranked in the top 10 and need to play conservatively to start. We are Duke - a really, bad team with a very small history of winning over the past 5 years. In that situation.....YOU GO FOR THE TOUCHDOWN. YOU PLAY TO WIN.

Even if we miss it, Maryland has it at their 2, which means odds are we get it back with good field position....but even if we don't, you've sent a message to our players and theirs - that we are playing to win. That when we get a chance, we want to put points on the board. I'm sorry, but that was a gutless call by our coach.

As the U.S. Men's Hockey team said way back when (Herb Brooks) - "you don't have enough talent to win on talent alone." Neither do we. We have to go for it when we get the chance. After we kicked the field goal, I said..."We're going to lose this game." and I bet about 20 of our players thought the same thing.

Disappointing. But not unexpected. Meet the new boss - same as the old boss.

[SupaDave]

I'm sorry....but we lost this game on our first drive. We get down to the 2 yard line, then can't run it in, then miss a pass.....and Coach.....kicks a 20 yard field goal. That - is embarassing. We aren't playing for a bowl. We aren't ranked in the top 10 and need to play conservatively to start. We are Duke - a really, bad team with a very small history of winning over the past 5 years. In that situation.....YOU GO FOR THE TOUCHDOWN. YOU PLAY TO WIN.

VERY few coaches would agree with this philosophy on the first drive of ANY game. There's usually a HUGE momentum swing when a team doesn't convert a 4 down opportunity. You'd hate for your team to feel like they are in a hole before the game has even developed.

[Udaman]

I completely disagree with you. In fact, I think most coaches in that situation would absolutely go for it....especially the coach of a team desperate for a win. It's not like we were on the 8 yard line....it was the 2. We do a run and don't make it and Maryland has terrible field position.

In fact, early in the game is exactly when you should do it....if you don't make it, the score is still 0-0. No biggie at all.

I'll stand by my statement. This was a bad, bad decision by our coaches, and I think had we gone for it...we win the game.

[DevilHorns]

Watched the whole game.

Sometimes I think Duke is playing more to not lose than to win. The entire first half (outside of the last 5 minutes) may have been the most dominant I have ever seen Duke play in regards to controlling the game on both the offensive and defensive fronts. And we had 9 points to show for it. We definitely should have gone for it instead of hitting that 20 yard chip shot on the first drive. We're in enemy territory. It's early. If you don't get it, fine, they're stuck deep and the defense has to step up. But show some confidence from the top. Show some energy. Our team seems to have been gutted since the Bama game. After a big defensive play, I seriously see a handful of high-fives if that, and thats it. No exuberant enthusiasm, no energy. It's obvious from the team demeanor on the field.

Cut doesn't show that much emotion, and thats fine, a lot of head coaches don't. However, I do expect him and the coaches to get the team pumped up for the game. To find hope when the season seems to be faltering. He needs to do that. A few high energy plays may lead to a few less mistackles, a few less dropped passes, etc.

I understand its a hard job to boost morale when things appear to be heading in the wrong direction, but that is what we need most. We need a collective team energy boost.

I remember the energy boost the team had when Roof took over for Franks. As we all know that promise was short-lived over the course of seasons but its just an example of what can happen if our team starts to believe, especially in the short run and in close games. We have the talent to win games against Army, MD, and Wake. I'm not sure if our team truly knows that, and kicking short field-goals early in the game in hostile territory does not show much faith in our team, IMO.

[Bob Green]

I'm sorry....but we lost this game on our first drive. We get down to the 2 yard line, then can't run it in, then miss a pass.....and Coach.....kicks a 20 yard field goal. That - is embarassing. We aren't playing for a bowl. We aren't ranked in the top 10 and need to play conservatively to start. We are Duke - a really, bad team with a very small history of winning over the past 5 years. In that situation.....YOU GO FOR THE TOUCHDOWN. YOU PLAY TO WIN.

I disagree. Yes touchdowns in the red zone instead of three field goals would've been nice, but we were in great shape when the score was 9-0 with us back in the red zone threatening to score again. If Renfree doesn't throw the interception, we go up 12-0 or 16-0.

It was turnovers and big plays which cost us the game, not Coach Cutcliffe's decision to kick a field goal on the first drive. He made the right decision, kick the ball and put three points on the scoreboard.

[Richard Berg]

VERY few coaches would agree with this philosophy on the first drive of ANY game. There's usually a HUGE momentum swing when a team doesn't convert a 4 down opportunity. You'd hate for your team to feel like they are in a hole before the game has even developed.

Agree with SupaDave here. 3-0 was the first time we'd held a lead since sometime in the early 2nd half vs Wake, three weeks ago. It sure felt nice to me. I can only imagine what it felt like on the gridiron. Without those vibes, there's a very good chance we never even get the 9-0 + red zone opportunity. Just look at how much worse we competed at the OL/DL line of scrimmage after the momentum shifted in UMD's favor.

[ChemGod]

I completely disagree with you. In fact, I think most coaches in that situation would absolutely go for it....especially the coach of a team desperate for a win. It's not like we were on the 8 yard line....it was the 2. We do a run and don't make it and Maryland has terrible field position.

In fact, early in the game is exactly when you should do it....if you don't make it, the score is still 0-0. No biggie at all.

I'll stand by my statement. This was a bad, bad decision by our coaches, and I think had we gone for it...we win the game.

Then let us all be grateful you are not coaching the mens football team, because clearly you have no idea what you are talking about. There are virtually NO mens D1 coaches that would do that. You score first....period. There is almost never a reason NOT to put points on the board and then rationalize why the miss was OK.

That is a biggie.

[SharkD]

After watching Coach Cut's assessment of the game "highlights" on the football show, I feel as though the defense has improved, substantially. That said, they're still young and prone to errors in judgement.

Our veteran defensive players seem to be over-reaching, and therefore making dumb mistakes, Egboh's egregiously ill-timed roughing the passer being a prime example. My guess is that they're so close to being over the hump that they can taste it and it's driving them nuts.

On offense, Renfree looks unsure. His talent is undeniable, his confidence, not so much. Maybe it's the still somewhat-porous OL, which is steadily improving, but still allowed too many Terps to get a hand on Renfree. Maybe it's a combination of him sitting out the spring and two key receivers who spent most of the fall practice in black jerseys. Connette looks good, but he's not ready for primetime, at least not as a starter.

Snead, Scott and Thompson all seem to be up to speed and playing extremely well, as is Austin Kelly. Josh Trezvant stepped it up, but Helfet hasn't yet lived up to his billing, at least as far as I've seen. (Maybe I've missed his big plays.)

Kicking and kick receiving look solid, though kick defense has been leaving some large gaps in spots throughout the year, which finally caught up to us.

----

It's been a rough first half of the season, even more so, given the heightened expectations, but given the youth and inexperience of the starters, it wasn't outside the realm of possibility.

I don't think that Coach Cut has a motivation/passion/vibe issue -- listening to him speak nearly convinced me that I should try-out for the team (as a 31 year old employee) and he managed to convince my wife, at a nursing conference, to become a bigger booster of Duke football than she is of her alma mater, located 8 miles away.

I think the bye-week will prove beneficial -- to reduce the mental pressure, allow the team to look at things from a less myopic perspective and allow the coaches some time to work on holistic issues, rather than having to split that with preparing for the next opponent.

And no, you don't march down the field and go for it on 4th and goal on the first possession. It reeks of desperation. Besides, had we gone for it, and failed, the final Duke drive would have possibly been moot -- with us down 8, rather than 5.

Either way, coulda/woulda/shoulda is irrelevant - we lost the game, the only thing that matter is learning from what we did wrong and getting better. Next play.

[Acymetric]

I think going for it on 4th and goal from the 1 makes a lot of sense in pretty much any situation. Think about it...you don't get it where do you put the other team? pinned on the one. Even if its coming off of a big goal line stand no team wants to be put in that situation. And then of course if you do make it...

[Richard Berg]

I think going for it on 4th and goal from the 1 makes a lot of sense in pretty much any situation. Think about it...you don't get it where do you put the other team? pinned on the one. Even if its coming off of a big goal line stand no team wants to be put in that situation. And then of course if you do make it...
Those aren't the only two possible outcomes...