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View Full Version : Duke football notes 11-13-12



jimsumner
11-13-2012, 01:55 PM
Cut said Duke was eager and had great practice Sunday after some time off.

Duke able to rest and heal some with the open date. Cut specifically mentioned Anunike, Moore, Simmons and Thompson as having benefitted. Says safety situation is "wait and see." Said that with fingers crossed.

Without putting too fine a point on it, it's tough to stop Tech's option game without healthy safeties. We'll know more Thursday.

Cut said he watched the GT/UNC game on TV and his wife complained that he was getting cranky. :)

Keys to beating GT? Number one is don't give them a short field. Assignment discipline important. Cut said that some teams became so fixiated on Tech's ball-control offense that they change their offense in response. Said Duke would "be ourselves."

Duke devoted some practices in the spring and back in August to working against the option. Said scout team really embraced their role.

Cut was asked about GT's change in defensive co-ordinators. Said Tech is schematically about the same but has become more focused on fundamentals.

Not much difference between the way Duke has prepared for the two quarterbacks. But Lee is more aggressive throwing downfield.

Cut says handling a big game is an art. "It has to be fun. I don't view this as pressure. This is the most fun part of what we do."
Anxious to see if team responds that way.

Cockrell says Tech places enormous pressure on DBs. You have major run responsibilty but if you"get locked into the run, your receiver is wide open."

Everyone seemed to have watched the GT/UNC game Saturday. Sink said he was stunned to see an option team score that many points. Thought defensive breakdowns played a large role in that.

Sink and Sarmiento echoed the idea that assigment integrity is crucial against Tech. Sarmiento-"don't try to do too much."

Personal note. Aggregate scores of first two GT-Duke games under Cut. GT 76 Duke 10. Next two games. Tech 68 Duke 51. That's signficant progress. Has Duke eliminated the gap entirely?

Cut acknowledged that this was the biggest game of his tenure at Duke. I would say it's the biggest since 1994. Playing huge games in November is something that hasn't happened with Duke football with any regularity. I kinda like this way better.

OldPhiKap
11-13-2012, 02:02 PM
Cut acknowledged that this was the biggest game of his tenure at Duke. I would say it's the biggest since 1994. Playing huge games in November is something that hasn't happened with Duke football with any regularity. I kinda like this way better.

Amen! This will be a very important game for both teams, and I love the fact that our games in November have a real impact on the conference lead and bowl selections.

If you love football, you play for big games in November. Here we go!

Devil in the Blue Dress
11-13-2012, 02:05 PM
Amen! This will be a very important game for both teams, and I love the fact that our games in November have a real impact on the conference lead and bowl selections.

If you love football, you play for big games in November. Here we go!

The fact that we're having this a sort of discussion about Duke football with several football threads active in mid November... what a welcome change! ;)

mkline09
11-13-2012, 03:02 PM
The fact that we're having this a sort of discussion about Duke football with several football threads active in mid November... what a welcome change! ;)

And while basketball is getting geared up too. Love the round ball but successful football this time of year is wonderful.

OldPhiKap
11-13-2012, 03:12 PM
And while basketball is getting geared up too. Love the round ball but successful football this time of year is wonderful.

Personally, I am more concerned about this football game than an early season nonconference basketball game. And this is coming from a pretty hard-core hoops fan.


(Of course, I am not opposed to winning both -- don't get me wrong)

mkline09
11-13-2012, 03:52 PM
Personally, I am more concerned about this football game than an early season nonconference basketball game. And this is coming from a pretty hard-core hoops fan.


(Of course, I am not opposed to winning both -- don't get me wrong)

I'm right there with you. Any Duke Championship hopes do not rest on beating Kentucky in their second game of the year, where losing to Georgia Tech would making winning the Coastal nearly impossible. Want to win both but if I had a preference I want to win the game in Atlanta, oh wait. :)

jimsumner
11-13-2012, 04:01 PM
I'm right there with you. Any Duke Championship hopes do not rest on beating Kentucky in their second game of the year, where losing to Georgia Tech would making winning the Coastal nearly impossible. Want to win both but if I had a preference I want to win the game in Atlanta, oh wait. :)

Losing to Georgia Tech would make winning the Coastal completely impossible. A Tech win would finish their ACC season at 5-3, while Duke could do no better than 4-4.

BigWayne
11-13-2012, 05:35 PM
Winning against GT would be a major boost in so many ways......

1st winning season since 1994
1st big win in November in forever
chance for the Coastal Div title
likely knocking GT out of bowl eligibility, i.e. moving up the bowl order another notch

Really hoping for good things on Saturday.

Wander
11-13-2012, 06:19 PM
likely knocking GT out of bowl eligibility, i.e. moving up the bowl order another notch


I'm starting to look at this as a factor too. If we beat Georgia Tech and Miami to finish at 5-3 in the ACC and 8-4 overall, look at the results of the other ACC teams:

BC and UNC are already locked out of bowls.
Georgia Tech and Maryland almost certainly won't be bowl eligible.
Wake Forest might be bowl eligible, but they already have a 3-5 conference record, so would be below us in the order.
One of UVA/VT definitely won't be bowl eligible.
FSU is almost certainly going to a BCS bowl.

Now, there some less certain but still possible results: Clemson goes to a BCS bowl (thereby not taking an ACC slot), Miami loses to USF and isn't bowl eligible (or bans themselves), and the other one of UVA/Virginia Tech also doesn't become bowl eligible.

That just leaves NC State, who I imagine at 7-5 with a win over FSU would be picked ahead of Duke for the Chik-fil-A bowl in Atlanta (though if they lose to both Clemson and BC they'd be below us with a 3-5 ACC record). But it's realistically possible for us to get really high up in the bowl order. If we beat Georgia Tech.

DukeSean
11-14-2012, 12:24 PM
I'm starting to look at this as a factor too. If we beat Georgia Tech and Miami to finish at 5-3 in the ACC and 8-4 overall, look at the results of the other ACC teams:

BC and UNC are already locked out of bowls.
Georgia Tech and Maryland almost certainly won't be bowl eligible.
Wake Forest might be bowl eligible, but they already have a 3-5 conference record, so would be below us in the order.
One of UVA/VT definitely won't be bowl eligible.
FSU is almost certainly going to a BCS bowl.

Now, there some less certain but still possible results: Clemson goes to a BCS bowl (thereby not taking an ACC slot), Miami loses to USF and isn't bowl eligible (or bans themselves), and the other one of UVA/Virginia Tech also doesn't become bowl eligible.

That just leaves NC State, who I imagine at 7-5 with a win over FSU would be picked ahead of Duke for the Chik-fil-A bowl in Atlanta (though if they lose to both Clemson and BC they'd be below us with a 3-5 ACC record). But it's realistically possible for us to get really high up in the bowl order. If we beat Georgia Tech.

Yup. Wouldn't it be nice to stick it to PJ and knock GT out of the bowls this year?

Bob Green
11-14-2012, 12:41 PM
If we beat Georgia Tech.

That's a great ending to a solid post. The team needs to maintain the "one game at a time" attitude to ensure they take care of business in Atlanta. Georgia Tech's offense is clicking so our defense needs to be in top form with strong fundamentals and sticking to their assignment against the triple offense. On offense, we must score a lot of points to keep the pressure on, which means establishing the run to set-up the play action pass downfield, while mixing in the short passing game...in other words, we must be multidimensional. It sure is great to be discussing Duke Football in November the day after the basketball team knocks off #3 Kentucky!

Kewlswim
11-14-2012, 01:02 PM
Hello,

In 1989 I was on a plane headed back to see a friend graduate and then head to the beach with a bunch of guys and their girlfriends (now a few wives). Almost every person on the trip who was a Dukie who told me that we can't have both winning basketball and football. The argument was that football was somehow bellow the standards of the university. It sickened me. First of all, Spurrier was in the middle of showing how that wasn't true, but more than anything how "smug" people were in writing off football. It was one of those times I wanted to punch a particular guy, hadn't wanted to do that since I was at a Duke SAE party back in the day, but I digress, who kept harping on Coach K's success and that football was irrelevant.

Even more than the years Spurrier did his thing, for whatever reason, I feel football is more relevant now than then. Coach Cut is rumored on the short-list for the Tennessee job. If he were to leave think of where the football team is now and the job ahead of AD White. It might be the most important hire Duke athletics has made since Coach K was brought on board. I realize Lax coaches have come and gone (one due to a scandal that was a hoax), women's basketball coaches have come and gone (we now have one I am super bullish about), and so forth, but a football hire with the team going in such a positive trajectory, wow, it would be a big hire indeed.

So, let's enjoy the game--hope for a win and savor where we are. The program is at a crossroads, it can be more than just "competitive" going forward. It might be able to get kids who looked at Stanford, Northwestern, and Notre Dame who decided they want to play at Duke. Some parents who are just looking at a cash out at the end of their kids football tenure could care less about having a Nobel prize winner at the school, others could see that as a major selling point too.

GO DUKE!

ForkFondler
11-14-2012, 09:27 PM
Almost every person on the trip who was a Dukie who told me that we can't have both winning basketball and football.

Didn't 1994 prove they were right?

[hoping for countervailing evidence real soon]

jimsumner
11-14-2012, 09:34 PM
Didn't 1994 prove they were right?

[hoping for countervailing evidence real soon]

Duke went to the Final Four all three academic years in which Spurrier was head coach.

And 1962-63 was pretty cool.

Kewlswim
11-15-2012, 12:28 PM
Duke went to the Final Four all three academic years in which Spurrier was head coach.

And 1962-63 was pretty cool.

Hi,

Those folks never let facts get in the way of their beliefs. It was amazingly irritating. I wonder if those were folks who if Duke went to a FF and won a Natty Championship in football (I can dream can't I?) would be the FIRST ones to say, "Football and Duke, an awesome long overdue connection" or something like that. :D

GO DUKE!