Cutcliffe On Renfree: We are going to "cut that Cat Loose"

[Newton_14]

Coach Cutcliffe came on 620 The Buzz this morning and talked about the Stanford game, and the upcoming BC game. He spoke a bit on Renfree. One promising quote was that "We are going to cut that cat loose and let him play Football. I hope that means letting Sean finish drives in the redzone! Also spoke on the kicking and Will's injury.

Good stuff.




Here is the link to the audio for the interview. About 16 minutes.
http://www.wralsportsfan.com/duke/audio/10123617/

[mkline09]

Coach Cutcliffe came on 620 The Buzz this morning and talked about the Stanford game, and the upcoming BC game. He spoke a bit on Renfree. One promising quote was that "We are going to cut that cat loose and let him play Football. I hope that means letting Sean finish drives in the redzone! Also spoke on the kicking and Will's injury.

Good stuff.




Here is the link to the audio for the interview. About 16 minutes.
http://www.wralsportsfan.com/duke/audio/10123617/

I've been to both games and it is so frustrating to see Renfree drive the offense, when clicking, down the field into the Redzone and as soon as they get there, out he comes and in comes Connette for two straight fake handoff/keep plays that result in a third and goal where Renfree comes in and has to pass. Jim Young, from the ACC Sports Journal summed it up best . http://www.accsports.com/blogs/jim-young/2011091210996/second-thoughts-on-the-acc-weekend-sept-12.php

[duke79]

I've been to both games and it is so frustrating to see Renfree drive the offense, when clicking, down the field into the Redzone and as soon as they get there, out he comes and in comes Connette for two straight fake handoff/keep plays that result in a third and goal where Renfree comes in and has to pass. Jim Young, from the ACC Sports Journal summed it up best . http://www.accsports.com/blogs/jim-young/2011091210996/second-thoughts-on-the-acc-weekend-sept-12.php

Yea, as far as I could see, this strategy makes NO sense. I'm not sure what the coaches are thinking. It seems like the team loses whatever momemtum it has when Renfree is removed.

[budwom]

I'm not sure that's I've ever seen such an experienced coach stick with such an inane strategy for such a long period of time. I know that fans always think they know best,
but in this case, they're clearly right. Time after time after time Renfree has the offense clicking, rampaging down the field, and then Connette comes in and everyone in the
stadium knows to expect a running play. It's been killing us for two years now (yeah, I know, it has worked on occasion, but it's clearly running out of gas).

It's not that Renfree is immobile....we have a number of good play fake plays where he rolls out and hits a variety of receivers. In short, there's no reason
why we can't fashion a competent offense in the red zone. With Connette now injured, it's time that becomes a reality.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

I'm not sure that's I've ever seen such an experienced coach stick with such an inane strategy for such a long period of time. I know that fans always think they know best,
but in this case, they're clearly right. Time after time after time Renfree has the offense clicking, rampaging down the field, and then Connette comes in and everyone in the
stadium knows to expect a running play. It's been killing us for two years now (yeah, I know, it has worked on occasion, but it's clearly running out of gas).

It's not that Renfree is immobile....we have a number of good play fake plays where he rolls out and hits a variety of receivers. In short, there's no reason
why we can't fashion a competent offense in the red zone. With Connette now injured, it's time that becomes a reality.
Last year Cut told us that Renfree is a good runner, and actually has good speed in the open field. We saw that a time or two last season as confirmation, too. Of course, we really don't want him to do that too often and get injured again.

[jv001]

I'm not sure that's I've ever seen such an experienced coach stick with such an inane strategy for such a long period of time. I know that fans always think they know best,
but in this case, they're clearly right. Time after time after time Renfree has the offense clicking, rampaging down the field, and then Connette comes in and everyone in the
stadium knows to expect a running play. It's been killing us for two years now (yeah, I know, it has worked on occasion, but it's clearly running out of gas).

It's not that Renfree is immobile....we have a number of good play fake plays where he rolls out and hits a variety of receivers. In short, there's no reason
why we can't fashion a competent offense in the red zone. With Connette now injured, it's time that becomes a reality.

Sort of like how Tony Larussa bats the pitcher 8th in some of his lineups. He drives me crazy with some of his stubborn moves. I look for the Connette package to get little play even after he returns from his injury. GoDuke!

[6th Man]

I'm almost to the point now where I am wondering if Cutcliffe promised Connette that he would get a certain amount of snaps if he came to Duke. This may be waaaay off base and probably is, but it is about the only way I could see a coach justifying it at this point. There is an article in the Winston-Salem Journal today and it states that Duke is 117th in the nation in red zone offense. That stat surprises nobody I am sure, but it sure indicates you need to stop doing what you are currently doing.

I go back to the B.C. game last year and Duke could have won that game. They were driving downfield with very little time and a TD would have won the game. Renfree leads Duke to first and goal, and in trots Connette. He had run Connette several times against B.C.'s much bigger and stronger defensive line and lost yards everytime. I was just amazed. Of course it ultimately ended up with Renfree getting a pass batted down on 4th down, but usually Renfree gets one crack at a pass in the endzone.

Anyway, I've complained enough about the Connette package. Just needed to vent one more time.

[budwom]

I'm almost to the point now where I am wondering if Cutcliffe promised Connette that he would get a certain amount of snaps if he came to Duke. This may be waaaay off base and probably is, but it is about the only way I could see a coach justifying it at this point. There is an article in the Winston-Salem Journal today and it states that Duke is 117th in the nation in red zone offense. That stat surprises nobody I am sure, but it sure indicates you need to stop doing what you are currently doing.

I go back to the B.C. game last year and Duke could have won that game. They were driving downfield with very little time and a TD would have won the game. Renfree leads Duke to first and goal, and in trots Connette. He had run Connette several times against B.C.'s much bigger and stronger defensive line and lost yards everytime. I was just amazed. Of course it ultimately ended up with Renfree getting a pass batted down on 4th down, but usually Renfree gets one crack at a pass in the endzone.

Anyway, I've complained enough about the Connette package. Just needed to vent one more time.

Yup, the BC game last year was a perfect example.
Part of the problem is that early last year, against lesser opponents, the strategy worked. I'm pretty sure some teams didn't even notice when Cutcliffe made the switch, as the players' numbers look almost identical from a distance, 18 vs 19. But I was at the Miami game when we tried it again, and my pals and I quickly guessed that a well coached team like Miami MUST have noticed this tendency in the films. Sure enough, we tried it and fooled no one. And we've fooled few people since then (it worked vs. Richmond, but that's the worst team on our schedule).

[CameronBornAndBred]

I'm almost to the point now where I am wondering if Cutcliffe promised Connette that he would get a certain amount of snaps if he came to Duke. This may be waaaay off base and probably is, but it is about the only way I could see a coach justifying it at this point.
I'm looking for the article without success, but Cutcliffe made it clear in the preseason that he would be using 2 and possibly 3 QB's. (And by now of course we know he has used all 3.) I would love to see a game when one QB plays every series, 1st quarter to 4th quarter, with another QB only brought in due to injury. It hasn't happened in a while. I wonder if it affects the QB competition knowing that regardless of who starts, you will see playing time anyways, and probably with a chance for a touchdown.

[OldPhiKap]

I'm looking for the article without success, but Cutcliffe made it clear in the preseason that he would be using 2 and possibly 3 QB's. (And by now of course we know he has used all 3.) I would love to see a game when one QB plays every series, 1st quarter to 4th quarter, with another QB only brought in due to injury. It hasn't happened in a while. I wonder if it affects the QB competition knowing that regardless of who starts, you will see playing time anyways, and probably with a chance for a touchdown.

Or perhaps bring in a QB for the first series after the half to throw something different at them after their half-time adjustments.

[Bob Green]

It's not that Renfree is immobile....we have a number of good play fake plays where he rolls out and hits a variety of receivers. In short, there's no reason why we can't fashion a competent offense in the red zone.

BINGO! I really desire to see Renfree roll out in the Red Zone and throw the ball. We must solve our Red Zone Woes and we must solve them sooner not later.

[hudlow]

It would have to be a big confidence builder for Renfree and the entire offense to know he's going to be "cut loose" and to know that if he engineers a good drive, he'll get his chance at scoring some points.

I believe we're going to see some very good things come from this new game plan.

GO DUKE!

hud

[Genedoc]

Questions that may frustrate only me:

Renfree is an elite recruit, top 10 in his class QB, red shirt junior that's been in the system for three years. Why wasn't he "cut loose" long before the third game of the season?!? Why was he handcuffed in game #1 vs. Richmond?!?

[B-well]

We don't have a big power back - maybe some plays could be designed with Connette in the backfield behind Renfree.

[budwom]

We don't have a big power back - maybe some plays could be designed with Connette in the backfield behind Renfree.

But I'd say that Juwan Thompson has shown he's a tougher back than we've had in a long time. He's one piece of the puzzle. If you roll out, you can throw to guys out of the backfield, tight ends, everyone.
Every team that plays football has plays precisely for the red zone. With a top QB, lots of good wideouts and several good tight ends, we shouldn't be struggling to find a way to score.

[gep]

also... by rolling out, you give yourself a chance to run, too, with space opening up and receivers covered.

[jafarr1]

I understood the Connette strategy last year. Our offensive line wasn't able to generate any push anywhere on the field, let alone the red zone. Renfree's knee wasn't 100%. It was a necessary evil and a reasonable strategy to try (except in the BC game, where it was obvious after one quarter that BC's linebackers were going to blow up the plays every time).

This year, though, we're supposed to have an improved offensive line, and Renfree's knee is better. Also, I would have hoped that if we were going to continue with the strategy that we would have had Connette pass the ball more than twice in two games.

Seems to be a moot point at the moment, given Connette's injury.

[Greg_Newton]

We don't have a big power back - maybe some plays could be designed with Connette in the backfield behind Renfree.

I've actually wondered about this too. I'm a huge fan of Juwan, but I'd rather take him out for a play than Renfree. If we're so high on Connette as a runner, seems like we could conjure up some plays that could have a RB pass element to them. It's not like Connette will be a QB at the next level anyway.

Regardless, looking forward to Saturday (for some reason). I wonder if we'll start seeing some 2-tailback formations or something to give Sean some extra protection; we can't cut him loose if he's got half a second to release the ball.

[Newton_14]

I've actually wondered about this too. I'm a huge fan of Juwan, but I'd rather take him out for a play than Renfree. If we're so high on Connette as a runner, seems like we could conjure up some plays that could have a RB pass element to them. It's not like Connette will be a QB at the next level anyway.

Regardless, looking forward to Saturday (for some reason). I wonder if we'll start seeing some 2-tailback formations or something to give Sean some extra protection; we can't cut him loose if he's got half a second to release the ball.

I do agree that not having a power running game hurts us in the Red Zone offense, (which you would think would lead to more passing), but I have to wonder, if the fact that just about all of our receivers are short, factors into the Connette strategy. It is the only logical reason I can think of.

I love our receivers, but given their height, the corner fade route is not really a viable option, nor is a crossing route across the back of the endzone where you have to throw over the top of the linebackers. Given those restraints, there has to be a clear lane between Renfree and the receivers, and in a short field, those lanes close quickly. Not impossible for sure, but definitely more difficult. Cooper would likely be the biggest and best target, and as other's have mentioned, rolling Renfree out of the pocket, where he can tuck and run if no lanes open up for a pass would seem a smart thing to do..

Having Connette as the tailback or fullback in those situations would make an interesting set, and at least make the defense wonder if Renfree was going to pass or handoff to Connette.

[formerdukeathlete]

I've actually wondered about this too. I'm a huge fan of Juwan, but I'd rather take him out for a play than Renfree. If we're so high on Connette as a runner, seems like we could conjure up some plays that could have a RB pass element to them. It's not like Connette will be a QB at the next level anyway.

Regardless, looking forward to Saturday (for some reason). I wonder if we'll start seeing some 2-tailback formations or something to give Sean some extra protection; we can't cut him loose if he's got half a second to release the ball.

Cutcliffe has in the past said that Connette will play in the NFL. Could it have been some hype, sure it could have been. But, I would not base a lot of what you expect from Connette on what he has been put in the game for to date. In the spring game, in scrimmages, he has run through the play book. He was impressive enough to have some good write ups in high school. He may be the smartest QB on our squad. Cutcliffe saw, here was a kid who runs like a fullback. Re recruiting, if you google scout's evaluation, he was very close to an elite 11 QB. But, he narrowed his college choices early on to Stanford and Duke. We got him. I suggest we not relegate him to a non QB position just yet. He is bonafide as tall as Tim Tebow. He has a better arm. He is smarter. Well, we could go on.

[killerleft]

I do agree that not having a power running game hurts us in the Red Zone offense, (which you would think would lead to more passing), but I have to wonder, if the fact that just about all of our receivers are short, factors into the Connette strategy. It is the only logical reason I can think of.

I love our receivers, but given their height, the corner fade route is not really a viable option, nor is a crossing route across the back of the endzone where you have to throw over the top of the linebackers. Given those restraints, there has to be a clear lane between Renfree and the receivers, and in a short field, those lanes close quickly. Not impossible for sure, but definitely more difficult. Cooper would likely be the biggest and best target, and as other's have mentioned, rolling Renfree out of the pocket, where he can tuck and run if no lanes open up for a pass would seem a smart thing to do..

Having Connette as the tailback or fullback in those situations would make an interesting set, and at least make the defense wonder if Renfree was going to pass or handoff to Connette.

I don't know if I like the idea of Connette as a running back, but on a pitch out he would have the option to still pass the ball.

[Greg_Newton]

He is bonafide as tall as Tim Tebow. He has a better arm. He is smarter.

:eek:

We've got a running QB on our roster that is Tebow's size except smarter and with a better arm, yet he's gone 11-24 passing in 14 career games?

I'll be very pleasantly surprised if he turns into an NFL QB, but those are some pretty strong words.

[throatybeard]

I guess, in DBR parlance, Connette is the new Curt Dukes.

[killerleft]

:eek:

We've got a running QB on our roster that is Tebow's size except smarter and with a better arm, yet he's gone 11-24 passing in 14 career games?

I'll be very pleasantly surprised if he turns into an NFL QB, but those are some pretty strong words.

Tall is enough, or didn't you know?

[OldPhiKap]

Tall is enough, or didn't you know?

Depends if you're measuring in bricks, or cinder blocks.

[devildeac]

Depends if you're measuring in bricks, or cinder blocks.

That would be the 2012 recruiting thread. This is the QB thread where they get measured by the "Lewis standard of measurement."(jk)
(interesting note: these new smilies are so distorted on my tablet at work that it refuses to recognize/enter them but no problems with my laptop or PC at home)

[Wander]

Tall is enough, or didn't you know?

Oh god. I had largely erased the Lewis/Asack argument from memory until this.

[throatybeard]

Tall is enough, or didn't you know?

Asack is too tall to be kicking off. He should be playing QB.

It seems like Asack has been at Duke since the Clinton administration.

[Duvall]

:eek:

We've got a running QB on our roster that is Tebow's size except smarter and with a better arm, yet he's gone 11-24 passing in 14 career games?

I'll be very pleasantly surprised if he turns into an NFL QB, but those are some pretty strong words.

To be fair, it would also be a surprise if Tim Tebow turned into an NFL QB.

[CDu]

:eek:

We've got a running QB on our roster that is Tebow's size except smarter and with a better arm, yet he's gone 11-24 passing in 14 career games?

I'll be very pleasantly surprised if he turns into an NFL QB, but those are some pretty strong words.

To be fair, Connette could be all of the things mentioned (definitely not saying that he is) and still not expected to be an NFL QB. Having a better arm (I assume the poster meant "stronger" arm) and being smarter doesn't encompass the entirity of a QB's skill set. Connette could very possibly have a stronger arm than Tebow (Tebow's arm strength is one of the big questions as to whether or not he'll succeed in the NFL), and he may very well be smarter in terms of book smarts (I have no idea about this), but academic skill isn't a necessity for a QB or any other athlete.

In addition, Connette isn't quite Tebow's size. He may or may not be as tall as Tebow, but he's 10-15 pounds lighter. And he's almost certainly not as strong as Tebow. And while he's a good runner, he's probably not as tough or as punishing or as talented a runner as Tebow.

[throatybeard]

To be fair, it would also be a surprise if Tim Tebow turned into an NFL QB.

Also, he's not as tall as Kyle Orton.

[uh_no]

Also, he's not as tall as Kyle Orton.

does Z have any football eligibility left?

[CameronBornAndBred]

does Z have any football eligibility left?
No, but his beard can play for a year.

[cspan37421]

Well, I, for one, welcome the coach's apparent decision to stop holding back our starting quarterback.

Seriously, though, what a strange thing to say. What really could it mean? That the QB wants to call his own plays? That he wants to stay in the game for red zone possessions? Is there anyone else that is being held back, whose efforts are in reserve for a rainy day?

[killerleft]

Well, I, for one, welcome the coach's apparent decision to stop holding back our starting quarterback.

Seriously, though, what a strange thing to say. What really could it mean? That the QB wants to call his own plays? That he wants to stay in the game for red zone possessions? Is there anyone else that is being held back, whose efforts are in reserve for a rainy day?

Ha! My first reaction, too. Perhaps we'll know after the weekend. Maybe Sean has been given the OK to finally use his superpowers!

[cspan37421]

Maybe Sean has been given the OK to finally use his superpowers!

The situation seems ripe for an Onion Sports headline, doesn't it?