Duke football notes, 12-18-12

[jimsumner]

Some position changes for the Belk Bowl.

Nink Sink to tight end.
Shaq Powell to safety
Britton Grier to defensive end
Nick Hill to safety

The Powell move might be temporary. The rest should carry over to next season.
Other position changes likely in the spring.

Brandon Braxton is practicing.

Canty and Norman doing some work at corner, in case of emergency. Cockrell and Foster start there, with Patterson as the back-up.

Kelby Brown and Braxton Deaver are doing some running. Neither will play next week, but good news for down the road.

Duke placing lots of emphasis on the difference between 7-6 and 6-7. Justin Foxx says team is all business. Duke loooking forward to the trip but considers it a business trip.

Cut describes Cincinnati as a an athletic, veteran team that plays hard and limits mistakes. Balanced offense.

Crowder is completely healthy for the first time in a while and will be back in the return game.

Cut sees big recuiting advantages to playing bowl game in Charlotte. "Love it from a recruiting impact. It's being talked about a lot [in Charlotte]. We're already getting benefits."

14 bowl practices. Cut describes practices as short but intense. Looking for quality, not quantity. Extra practices should carry over benefits to 2013 season.

The Charlotte guys are so excited they can't stand it. Except for the part where everyone they've ever known wants a ticket. Grier lives three miles from the stadium. He wins the closest to the target award.

In a somber note, linebacker coach Jim Collins lost his wife Geri, after a two-year battle with cancer.

[OldPhiKap]

Thanks for the report, and prayers for Coach Jim Collins and his family. OPK

[Dev11]

Some position changes for the Belk Bowl.

Nink Sink to tight end.
Shaq Powell to safety
Britton Grier to defensive end
Nick Hill to safety

The Powell move might be temporary. The rest should carry over to next season.
Other position changes likely in the spring.

Brandon Braxton is practicing.

Canty and Norman doing some work at corner, in case of emergency. Cockrell and Foster start there, with Patterson as the back-up.

Kelby Brown and Braxton Deaver are doing some running. Neither will play next week, but good news for down the road.

Duke placing lots of emphasis on the difference between 7-6 and 6-7. Justin Foxx says team is all business. Duke loooking forward to the trip but considers it a business trip.

Cut describes Cincinnati as a an athletic, veteran team that plays hard and limits mistakes. Balanced offense.

Crowder is completely healthy for the first time in a while and will be back in the return game.

Cut sees big recuiting advantages to playing bowl game in Charlotte. "Love it from a recruiting impact. It's being talked about a lot [in Charlotte]. We're already getting benefits."

14 bowl practices. Cut describes practices as short but intense. Looking for quality, not quantity. Extra practices should carry over benefits to 2013 season.

The Charlotte guys are so excited they can't stand it. Except for the part where everyone they've ever known wants a ticket. Grier lives three miles from the stadium. He wins the closest to the target award.

In a somber note, linebacker coach Jim Collins lost his wife Geri, after a two-year battle with cancer.

Lots of good stuff, thanks Jim!

We're so depleted in the secondary that it was inevitable we would have to move offensive guys there. It will be interesting if Powell stays there.

Selfishly, I'm upset I can't attend the bowl game, but it sounds like its location is great for recruiting and excitement among the players, as we know Cut has focused on getting in-state kids. Hopefully that huge ticket demand means our crowd will be loud, and maybe we're making new fans.

Greatest sympathy to the Collins family. Geri was on the sideline for all the games taking pictures and Jim is a great leader. He was also an assistant under Spurrier here back in the day.

[budwom]

The moves are interesting and some are a bit surprising. Sink was seeing lots of time at DT, wonder if this
indicates some optimism at that position? He may have to slim down a bit from his 285 DT weight...but last year
we didn't get a ton of blocking from our TEs, so he could help.

Hill's a good athlete...more safeties is good, but now one less young receiver. Hands may be an issue...

Is Grier big enough for DL? Listed as 6-1, 235, doesn't seem like enough height for DE or bulk for DT, but presumably Cut knows...

Braxton back at safety for Cincy would be very nice...we need all the tacklers we can muster for their ground game.

Stanford wanted Powell as a CB which is interesting, but he preferred RB....would be a nice surprise if he ended up liking defense, wonder
if CB is an option, or only safety...we sure could use another CB or two.

[nyesq83]

Thanks for the report, and prayers for Coach Jim Collins and his family. OPK

I echo these sentiments, thanks Jim Sumner for another great summary, and condolences to Coach Collins.

[Reilly]

http://www.goduke.com/mediaPortal/player.dbml?id=1150306&db_oem_id=4200

[mkline09]

A really great story coming out of the bowl is that Desmond Scott is not going to be taking his Belk Shopping spree but rather giving to the needy instead. Class act from Scott.

[Bob Green]

Sink was seeing lots of time at DT, wonder if this indicates some optimism at that position? He may have to slim down a bit from his 285 DT weight...but last year
we didn't get a ton of blocking from our TEs, so he could help.

I'm in favor of any move which bolsters the ability to successfully run the football.

[Dev11]

A really great story coming out of the bowl is that Desmond Scott is not going to be taking his Belk Shopping spree but rather giving to the needy instead. Class act from Scott.

Good for him. I'm not exactly sure why something called the 'bowl shopping spree' is ok with the NCAA (I attribute this to the general naivete of the Duke fanbase on these sorts of matters), but that's awesome that he's realized the importance of giving back. Despite not getting paid, and I do happen to think that some players should get paid, kids who get full scholarships for football, complete with food and books and apparel, get a pretty slick deal from the university.

[mkline09]

Good for him. I'm not exactly sure why something called the 'bowl shopping spree' is ok with the NCAA (I attribute this to the general naivete of the Duke fanbase on these sorts of matters), but that's awesome that he's realized the importance of giving back. Despite not getting paid, and I do happen to think that some players should get paid, kids who get full scholarships for football, complete with food and books and apparel, get a pretty slick deal from the university.

To my knowledge the shopping spree is part of the Bowl gifts that each player gets. Each bowl has certain gifts from the bowl sponsors that they give to the players. So I'm sure that it is kosher with the NCAA since they've been doing it for years.

[BlueDevil16]

Yup in other sports making the NCAA tournament or Championship will get you free stuff (backpacks, jackets, etc) that say NCAA Championships on them. Conference Championships do the same thing.

[sagegrouse]

To my knowledge the shopping spree is part of the Bowl gifts that each player gets. Each bowl has certain gifts from the bowl sponsors that they give to the players. So I'm sure that it is kosher with the NCAA since they've been doing it for years.

Maybe a century? I remember seeing the watch a Clemson player who had gone to my HS got for playing in the Sugar Bowl. Let's see.... That was Clemson - 0 vs. LSU and Billy Cannon - 7. And it was January 1, 1958. Give or take a year.

sagegrouse