Duke 37 - Tulane 7: Post-game thoughts

[Olympic Fan]

Final: Duke 37, Tulane 7

Could it have been a better night? Duke routs Tulane and the Cheaters lose to the Old Ball Coach?

Hard to find fault with Duke in the opener. The Devils were a 9.5 favorite and won by 30 ... they were really more dominant than that. They didn't really cash in on their opportunities in the first three quarters. Duke finished with 530 yards total offense -- 324 passing and 206 rushing. That's almost 100 yards more than last year against Tulane at home. The defense held Tulane to 271 total yards -- that's 120 LESS than a year ago.

And everybody in New Orleans said this Tulane team would be better this year. I hope they are right, because it means Duke is MUCH better.

Sirk was outstanding in his debut as a starter -- 27 of 40 passing for 289 yards, 2 TDs and 0 ints. He had a beautiful 29-yard TD pass called back because of holding. Sirk also rushed 15 times for 68 yards -- that's 357 yards of total offense. I'm glad Boehme got that last drive. I thought he looked very shaky early, but redeemed himself with a great 75-yard TD drive in the closing minutes with some nice runs and one beautiful throw to Chris Taylor.

Shaun Wilson was the RB star, while Rahming was the big receiver early and Barnes took over late. His final line -- 11 catches for 109 yards and 1 TD -- looks very much like a Jamison Crowder line.

Our special teams were expected to be good -- they were SPECTACULAR. Edwards had the fifth kickoff return for a TD in his career. Ryan Smith had one highlight film punt return and caught about eight other kicks flawlessly (they were kicking high and short which didn't give him much room). Ross Martin was 3-of-3 on field goals and great on kickoffs -- four for touchvacks and two to the goal line (okay, he flubbed one late, kicking it out of bounds). Will Monday averaged 42 yards a punt and every one ended up inside the 20 (actually, one was downed at the 4, one was fair caught at the 8 and on one the receiver was tackled at the 10).

I was a little surprised they didn't try to pound the middle of our line. That looked to be the gameplan when the opened with two runs up the middle for nine yards -- but on their first third down, Cash broke through to stop the runner for a loss and they seemed to give up on the run after that. Great job by the defense, although most of the pass rush was generated by the blitz. That put on corners on an island and except for one play -- when freshman Jeremy Duffie was right there, but got beat in the air -- the corners were very good -- Breon Borders was great. He's an All-ACC cover guy (BTW: his pass interference penalty was absolutely bogus).

A lot of people played and played well. I saw five true freshmen out there -- Rahming, McDuffie, Boyce (who had a late sack and another hurry), Humphreys and Price (who I thought was the best looking DE out there). Among the redshirt freshmen, I saw Taylor (with one nice catch), Ferguson, Bere and Pierre, who got to play RB late. Zach Boden also got to play -- scoring the last TD with some tough running. I saw Zach Harmon at center late -- it's possible that Sanders and McNeill were out there with the second-team line ... I just can't confirm it. Didn't see Cerenord, but he may have played.

All and all, a near perfect opener -- considering it was on the road with some young players in key positions. My only caveat is that Tulane -- better or not this year -- is almost certainly one of the three weakest teams we play this year. They are better than NCCU and maybe better than Army (maybe not). They're going to get killed next week against Georgia Tech in Atlanta.

PS I thought Tulane was going to have a great crowd. It was just a 30,000 seat stadium and it looked almost empty on TV. Can anybody at the game clarify the crowd?

PPS One final thing. I could be wrong, but I didn't see any Duke injuries -- that would be a great cherry on top of a delicious win.

[DU82]

A note on Borders interference call. He kept bumping the receiver towards the sideline. I thought it wasn't a horrible call, but somebody else thought it should have been offensive interference. (I didn't see the Tulane receiver grab Borders, and of course there was no replay for that play. Only good Tulane plays, which meant very few replays overall.)

Our impression was that we should have beaten them by fifty. A lot left on the field with a couple of missed plays.

The Tulane fans mostly cleared out at halftime, which surprised us since it was only 13-0, two scores down. The side with the press box seemed mostly full, the other side pretty empty (I'm guessing that was the side shown on TV.). The single upper deck was pretty empty too. Their student section in the far end zone was mostly full to start, but only the bNd returned for the second half.

I agree there was a good bit of swagger out on the field. Keep it up!

One down, fourteen to go!

[noladevil]

Final: Duke 37, Tulane 7

Could it have been a better night? Duke routs Tulane and the Cheaters lose to the Old Ball Coach?

Hard to find fault with Duke in the opener. The Devils were a 9.5 favorite and won by 30 ... they were really more dominant than that. They didn't really cash in on their opportunities in the first three quarters. Duke finished with 530 yards total offense -- 324 passing and 206 rushing. That's almost 100 yards more than last year against Tulane at home. The defense held Tulane to 271 total yards -- that's 120 LESS than a year ago.

And everybody in New Orleans said this Tulane team would be better this year. I hope they are right, because it means Duke is MUCH better.

Sirk was outstanding in his debut as a starter -- 27 of 40 passing for 289 yards, 2 TDs and 0 ints. He had a beautiful 29-yard TD pass called back because of holding. Sirk also rushed 15 times for 68 yards -- that's 357 yards of total offense. I'm glad Boehme got that last drive. I thought he looked very shaky early, but redeemed himself with a great 75-yard TD drive in the closing minutes with some nice runs and one beautiful throw to Chris Taylor.

Shaun Wilson was the RB star, while Rahming was the big receiver early and Barnes took over late. His final line -- 11 catches for 109 yards and 1 TD -- looks very much like a Jamison Crowder line.

Our special teams were expected to be good -- they were SPECTACULAR. Edwards had the fifth kickoff return for a TD in his career. Ryan Smith had one highlight film punt return and caught about eight other kicks flawlessly (they were kicking high and short which didn't give him much room). Ross Martin was 3-of-3 on field goals and great on kickoffs -- four for touchvacks and two to the goal line (okay, he flubbed one late, kicking it out of bounds). Will Monday averaged 42 yards a punt and every one ended up inside the 20 (actually, one was downed at the 4, one was fair caught at the 8 and on one the receiver was tackled at the 10).

I was a little surprised they didn't try to pound the middle of our line. That looked to be the gameplan when the opened with two runs up the middle for nine yards -- but on their first third down, Cash broke through to stop the runner for a loss and they seemed to give up on the run after that. Great job by the defense, although most of the pass rush was generated by the blitz. That put on corners on an island and except for one play -- when freshman Jeremy Duffie was right there, but got beat in the air -- the corners were very good -- Breon Borders was great. He's an All-ACC cover guy (BTW: his pass interference penalty was absolutely bogus).

A lot of people played and played well. I saw five true freshmen out there -- Rahming, McDuffie, Boyce (who had a late sack and another hurry), Humphreys and Price (who I thought was the best looking DE out there). Among the redshirt freshmen, I saw Taylor (with one nice catch), Ferguson, Bere and Pierre, who got to play RB late. Zach Boden also got to play -- scoring the last TD with some tough running. I saw Zach Harmon at center late -- it's possible that Sanders and McNeill were out there with the second-team line ... I just can't confirm it. Didn't see Cerenord, but he may have played.

All and all, a near perfect opener -- considering it was on the road with some young players in key positions. My only caveat is that Tulane -- better or not this year -- is almost certainly one of the three weakest teams we play this year. They are better than NCCU and maybe better than Army (maybe not). They're going to get killed next week against Georgia Tech in Atlanta.

PS I thought Tulane was going to have a great crowd. It was just a 30,000 seat stadium and it looked almost empty on TV. Can anybody at the game clarify the crowd?

PPS One final thing. I could be wrong, but I didn't see any Duke injuries -- that would be a great cherry on top of a delicious win.

I'd say the real crowd was about 13,000. The 30,000 seats is a lie - the actual number is about 24,000, and they were about half full in the first half. Combine a late start with an uninspiring first half by Tulane and probably 3/4 of the student section and 1/3 of everyone else hit the exits. Believe it or not - this is better than Tulane ever drew in the Superdome. The best parts about Tulane football now are the pre-game tailgating on the main quad and alcohol being sold in the stadium. The games themselves have very little atmosphere.

[Olympic Fan]

A note on Borders interference call. He kept bumping the receiver towards the sideline. I thought it wasn't a horrible call, but somebody else thought it should have been offensive interference. (I didn't see the Tulane receiver grab Borders, and of course there was no replay for that play. Only good Tulane plays, which meant very few replays overall.)Our impression was that we should have beaten them by fifty. A lot left on the field with a couple of missed plays.

The Tulane fans mostly cleared out at halftime, which surprised us since it was only 13-0, two scores down.

I agree there was a good bit of swagger out on the field. Keep it up!

I was watching on TV and got to see several replays in slow motion. Borders was inside the receiver and was blocking his path (which is perfectly legal for a defensive back). Finally, the receiver grabbed Borders by both shoulders and tried to pull him out of the way. Terrible call.

I agree we missed a lot of scoring opportunities in the first three quarters. We COULD have scored a lot more. But I don't think that's a terrible flaw in the first game (especially on the road) for a young team.

[dukelifer]

I was watching on TV and got to see several replays in slow motion. Borders was inside the receiver and was blocking his path (which is perfectly legal for a defensive back). Finally, the receiver grabbed Borders by both shoulders and tried to pull him out of the way. Terrible call.

I agree we missed a lot of scoring opportunities in the first three quarters. We COULD have scored a lot more. But I don't think that's a terrible flaw in the first game (especially on the road) for a young team.

Tulane is not a bad team. Local radio-heads had Duke coming home with an L because they had no idea what Sirk could do and Tulane had an experienced team coming back. I must admit- I thought this would be a rough game. But Duke and especially Sirk took control of the game and never let Tulane get confidence. Young team or old- that is how you win football games.

[JBDuke]

Thanks for the report, Olympic Fan.

My two biggest concerns before last night were QB play and our defensive front 7 - especially their ability to pressure the opposing QB. I wasn't able to watch the game, but based on the write-ups and the numbers, Sirk looked solid in all phases save the long pass. I'm not ready to put my QB concern away, but this was a really good first step in doing so.

As for the front seven, I haven't heard or read much yet about their performance. Apparently, though, we only really got to Tulane's QB when we blitzed, which is bad. On the good side, we limited Tulane's run game to a much less productive game than the one in Durham last year, which was good, although there are some indications that was as much due to inept play calling from the Tulane sideline as it was to anything Duke's defense was doing. If anyone has more insight here, I'd love to read it.

All in all, it sure sounds like this was a solid first step in what could be yet another successful Duke football season.

[loran16]

Tulane is not a bad team. Local radio-heads had Duke coming home with an L because they had no idea what Sirk could do and Tulane had an experienced team coming back. I must admit- I thought this would be a rough game. But Duke and especially Sirk took control of the game and never let Tulane get confidence. Young team or old- that is how you win football games.

Eh, they're pretty bad. 93rd best team in football last year and I doubt they've improved much.

I'm less positive than the rest of you guys, but again this was still a good game and a good learning experience. Thoughts:

Offensive Line: This started off poorly, although it played a little better in the 2nd half, presumably due to Tulane being exhausted. Sirk had a lot of pressure early on and a bunch of his runs were snuffed in the backfield because of this. The Left tackle position (I think we tried two players there tonight?) needs work. Tulane's D line was their strength the past two years, so some of this isn't surprising, but it's clearly an area of dropoff and that needs to improve quick against better competition. Obviously more experience will help here.

Sirk: A very anthony boone-like performance. Mostly satisfactory play, but with a few brain dead decisions. Remember, there were 2 passes that should've been picked as they went right through defenders' hands (one was a bomb, which was meh, the other was a horrible overthrow) - if those are picked, like they're going to be in the future, we come off less positive about Sirk. The fumble on the first drive was also off a dumb pass by Sirk, where he threw the checkdown high to a really well covered Barnes, leaving him hung out to dry.

Defense: McDuffie didn't look good obviously, although Alonzo Saxton wasn't very good either. Breon Borders was excellent as usual, so those two guys will have time to improve. I know we don't like doing this, but we should really shade a safety toward the inexperienced corners' way, just to be safe.

plenty to work on vs Central - Tulane wasn't a good team, but they were good enough to expose some holes - now we have 2 weeks basically to fix them.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Directing a read-option offense, Sirk hit 27 of 40 passes for 289 yards, rushed 15 times for 68 yards, was not sacked and did not throw an interception. Sirk converted nine of the 17 third-downs he faced as Duke racked up 530 yards to Tulane's 271.
http://www.wralsportsfan.com/sirk-leads-duke-to-dominant-victory-at-tulane-37-7/14875511/#ctfi6VGYfFDSDsqJ.99


Nice stat.
My thoughts....I thought Sirk played pretty smart throughout the game, although we were fortunate a couple of his misses did not turn into INTs. I thought his throws were really nice, and I got the feeling that the ones that were into coverage that were drops are going to turn more into completions as the season wears on.
Wilson was beautiful to watch all night.
How was it seeing our 2nd and 3rd string QBs in on the same plays? I was hoping to see at least one trick where Pierre threw the ball, but no luck. Still, was nice to see both get some action.
I noted in chat that I think this was the longest time in years that I've seen Duke play a game with only one QB. I really enjoyed it being Sirk's team, and not him having to give up the ball on different yardage situations.
Hats off to defense for a really great game, with the only breakdown being when it mattered little. (And for which Devon Edwards gave an immediate answer.)


Looking forward to our first home game, but last night was a test passed with a definitive "A"

[wilson]

Wilson was beautiful to watch all night.If I had a nickel for every time I've heard that...

[sagegrouse]

I'd say the real crowd was about 13,000. The 30,000 seats is a lie - the actual number is about 24,000, and they were about half full in the first half. Combine a late start with an uninspiring first half by Tulane and probably 3/4 of the student section and 1/3 of everyone else hit the exits. Believe it or not - this is better than Tulane ever drew in the Superdome. The best parts about Tulane football now are the pre-game tailgating on the main quad and alcohol being sold in the stadium. The games themselves have very little atmosphere.

Back in the day, when I would occasionally drop by the Sugar Bowl to watch Tulane play, there was so much drinking in the stands that many of the students left before the game. I mean, this is New Orleans; it isn't like there's nothing else to do.

[wilson]

Anybody got a link to video of DeVon Edwards' TD kickoff return? I had already gone to bed, and I'd like to see it.

[Ichabod Drain]

Anybody got a link to video of DeVon Edwards' TD kickoff return? I had already gone to bed, and I'd like to see it.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wiquJ7afoo

[sagegrouse]

Anybody got a link to video of DeVon Edwards' TD kickoff return? I had already gone to bed, and I'd like to see it.

From GoDuke.com (http://www.goduke.com/mediaPortal/player.dbml?&db_oem_id=4200&id=4364192).

[moonpie23]

great sports night for my son, sam and me.....

cocks/panthers/blue devils....

oh, and the icing......heels lose.......

awesome...

[Scorp4me]

Sirk: A very anthony boone-like performance.

Oh I disagree with this statement. Not once did I want to pull my hair out last night lol. He needs to work on his long throws, but I think it's more a matter of working on his chemistry with the receivers than anything (the only thing that reminded me of Boone). Most of his passes were crisp, didn't hang his receivers out to dry or throw them at his feet. The one really bad play was the pitch, but for a quarterback that isn't an option first quarterback to pitch with the left hand...I can forgive him. Everyone watching the game last night agreed he seemed like a combination of Renfree and Connette. A better passer than Connette, but a better runner than Renfree, not quite as good a runner as Connette, nor passer as Renfree, but better than either of the two as a result of the combination.

Someone else mentioned it was nice to see Sirk play the whole game, but don't forget that Boehme came in on first and second down before Sirk through the shuffle pass on third for the touchdown.

[fuse]

So as not to pick on any one poster, I'll just say I am tired of and frustrated by the continual put down of Anthony Boone.
Do I wish we won a bowl with him at QB? Absolutely.
I think he gave Duke all he had and deserves our respect.
Maybe we could invoke "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't put it on the internet" as a guideline. :-)

Second, to borrow from another Duke coach, let's enjoy watching Sirk run his own race. Did we get lucky on a couple possible INTs? Absolutely. Did he look in command of the offense and was he a beast? I think so.

I don't know how the season will go, and I am excited about this Duke football team and what they can do.

[uh_no]

So as not to pick on any one poster, I'll just say I am tired of and frustrated by the continual put down of Anthony Boone.

being honest about his abilities and shortcomings should be fine and acceptable....unneccesarily putting him down like loran did? bothers me as well.

[Lar77]

Final: Duke 37, Tulane 7

Could it have been a better night? Duke routs Tulane and the Cheaters lose to the Old Ball Coach?

Hard to find fault with Duke in the opener. The Devils were a 9.5 favorite and won by 30 ... they were really more dominant than that. They didn't really cash in on their opportunities in the first three quarters. Duke finished with 530 yards total offense -- 324 passing and 206 rushing. That's almost 100 yards more than last year against Tulane at home. The defense held Tulane to 271 total yards -- that's 120 LESS than a year ago.

And everybody in New Orleans said this Tulane team would be better this year. I hope they are right, because it means Duke is MUCH better.

Sirk was outstanding in his debut as a starter -- 27 of 40 passing for 289 yards, 2 TDs and 0 ints. He had a beautiful 29-yard TD pass called back because of holding. Sirk also rushed 15 times for 68 yards -- that's 357 yards of total offense. I'm glad Boehme got that last drive. I thought he looked very shaky early, but redeemed himself with a great 75-yard TD drive in the closing minutes with some nice runs and one beautiful throw to Chris Taylor.

Shaun Wilson was the RB star, while Rahming was the big receiver early and Barnes took over late. His final line -- 11 catches for 109 yards and 1 TD -- looks very much like a Jamison Crowder line.

Our special teams were expected to be good -- they were SPECTACULAR. Edwards had the fifth kickoff return for a TD in his career. Ryan Smith had one highlight film punt return and caught about eight other kicks flawlessly (they were kicking high and short which didn't give him much room). Ross Martin was 3-of-3 on field goals and great on kickoffs -- four for touchvacks and two to the goal line (okay, he flubbed one late, kicking it out of bounds). Will Monday averaged 42 yards a punt and every one ended up inside the 20 (actually, one was downed at the 4, one was fair caught at the 8 and on one the receiver was tackled at the 10).

I was a little surprised they didn't try to pound the middle of our line. That looked to be the gameplan when the opened with two runs up the middle for nine yards -- but on their first third down, Cash broke through to stop the runner for a loss and they seemed to give up on the run after that. Great job by the defense, although most of the pass rush was generated by the blitz. That put on corners on an island and except for one play -- when freshman Jeremy Duffie was right there, but got beat in the air -- the corners were very good -- Breon Borders was great. He's an All-ACC cover guy (BTW: his pass interference penalty was absolutely bogus).

A lot of people played and played well. I saw five true freshmen out there -- Rahming, McDuffie, Boyce (who had a late sack and another hurry), Humphreys and Price (who I thought was the best looking DE out there). Among the redshirt freshmen, I saw Taylor (with one nice catch), Ferguson, Bere and Pierre, who got to play RB late. Zach Boden also got to play -- scoring the last TD with some tough running. I saw Zach Harmon at center late -- it's possible that Sanders and McNeill were out there with the second-team line ... I just can't confirm it. Didn't see Cerenord, but he may have played.

All and all, a near perfect opener -- considering it was on the road with some young players in key positions. My only caveat is that Tulane -- better or not this year -- is almost certainly one of the three weakest teams we play this year. They are better than NCCU and maybe better than Army (maybe not). They're going to get killed next week against Georgia Tech in Atlanta.

PS I thought Tulane was going to have a great crowd. It was just a 30,000 seat stadium and it looked almost empty on TV. Can anybody at the game clarify the crowd?

PPS One final thing. I could be wrong, but I didn't see any Duke injuries -- that would be a great cherry on top of a delicious win.

Thanks for the summary OF.

Our team played a good controlled first game of the season. Mistakes were made but I think a lot of questions were satisfactorily answered. Tulane is not LSU, but I think we will play well when the better teams on our schedule come up. Next week against NCCU will allow our guys to work on timing and gain more experience in game conditions (McDuffie will not let someone pick the ball out from him again - just a freshman mistake).

I like Sirk. The shovel pass was terrific as was the TD that got called back. Some bad throws downfield but I expect that will improve with game experience.


I too was surprised about how few people seemed to be in the stands on the Tulane side, but it was a late game. Nice Duke presence anyway.

[JasonEvans]

Sirk: A very anthony boone-like performance. Mostly satisfactory play, but with a few brain dead decisions. Remember, there were 2 passes that should've been picked as they went right through defenders' hands (one was a bomb, which was meh, the other was a horrible overthrow) - if those are picked, like they're going to be in the future, we come off less positive about Sirk. The fumble on the first drive was also off a dumb pass by Sirk, where he threw the checkdown high to a really well covered Barnes, leaving him hung out to dry.

Don't forget the very poor pitch on the option in the 2nd half that led to Tulane recovering the fumble. Still, I thought Sirk was largely better than Boone was a year ago and, considering this was his first game at QB, I think he will continue to improve. Everyone has pointed out that Sirk seemed inaccurate on deep throws (and Duke's receivers were rarely open on long routes) but Jim Sumner told me (on the podcast) that the coaches have been raving about Sirk's deep arm. That leaves me optimistic he will improve that portion of his game too.

I suspect there may have been some jitters and inexperience that kept Sirk from having an "A" performance, but I see plenty of reasons to think he can take this team to some pretty special places this season.

-Jason "double-digit wins is very doable for this club" Evans

[Lar77]

So as not to pick on any one poster, I'll just say I am tired of and frustrated by the continual put down of Anthony Boone.
Do I wish we won a bowl with him at QB? Absolutely.
I think he gave Duke all he had and deserves our respect.
Maybe we could invoke "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't put it on the internet" as a guideline. :-)

Second, to borrow from another Duke coach, let's enjoy watching Sirk run his own race. Did we get lucky on a couple possible INTs? Absolutely. Did he look in command of the offense and was he a beast? I think so.

I don't know how the season will go, and I am excited about this Duke football team and what they can do.

I'm with you on Boone. Was he inconsistent? Yes. But he was a great leader of the past two teams. Last night, the announcers said that Duke was 18 and 3 the last 2 seasons in regular season games. We lost three postseason games - to the National Champion and 2 top ten teams (I think ASU wound up there) - and were competitive in all 3. How many teams would have liked those results?

This is a new team, but last night showed that we now have a program (new guys are stepping up and the "old" guys are showing them the way to get it done). I anticipate a good season.

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

One more thing, I learned the correct pronunciation of the school's name. It's TUlane, with the accent on the first syllable.;)

[rsvman]

A pretty impressive start to the season. I was favorably impressed by Sirk.



The only downside of hiring Cutcliffe and getting Duke football completely turned around is that I can no longer use one of my favorite "old-school Duke football" jokes. Stop me if you've heard it before.

It's an autumn Saturday in the early afternoon when a guy decked out in Blue Devil gear from head-to-toe walks into a bar, carrying his little dog, which is similarly dressed in Duke gear. The Duke football game is about to start on the bar TV.

Bartender yells to the guy from behind the bar. "Hey, we don't allow dogs in here."

Guy says, "I know you have a policy, but hear me out. My dog and I are the world's biggest Duke football fans. I've never missed watching a Duke game on TV before. We were at my apartment, ready to watch the game, and then my TV crapped out. We absolutely MUST see the game! Please!"

Bartender says, "C'mon, man. A dog in a bar? Really?"

To which the guy answers, "This is the most well behaved dog ever. I promise. He'll sit on my lap and mind his own business. He won't bother any of your customers. I promise. Please let us watch the game."

At that point the bartender caves in. "OK, come on in, I guess," he says.


The game starts. Duke gets the opening kick-off, gets a reasonable return, and has good field position. Unexpectedly, they make a few first downs and are moving the ball pretty well. They get stopped in the red zone, but they bring out their field goal kicker and put the game's first three points on the board.

As soon as the ball goes through the uprights, the dog goes completely berserk. He jumps up onto the bar, yapping and barking, jumping up and down and doing somersaults.

The bartender says, "Holy crap! That dog got really excited over the field goal! What does he do when Duke scores a touchdown?"

Dog owner says, "How should I know? I've only had him for 5 years."




R.I.P., great Duke football joke. Thank goodness that it won't be long before people won't even understand why it once really funny. I can't wait for the day when the announcers no longer have to mention that Duke used to be a really bad football team and what a turnaround it has been. Maybe in a few more years.

[duke79]

All in all, I thought a good start to the season. Not a perfect game but certainly good enough to easily beat Tulane (and the point spread by quite a wide margin). It's a little hard to tell how good Duke will really be this season because I thought Tulane was not as strong as some people had predicted. I think the score could have been more lopsided than it was with some better execution from Duke. I actually thought Sirk had a pretty good game. I'm not sure I've ever really seen him throw the ball before but I thought, for the most part, he looked good with his passes. He obviously has a strong arm with some accuracy. I'm hopeful he can successfully guide the offense.

I'm optimistic this could be a good year for Duke football !!

[subzero02]

Duke was a 9.5 point favorite at some point earlier in the week but 10 minutes before kickoff we were only favored by 6 points at several books. We crushed it last night ATS. I loved our physical play on defense. We looked really good in several stretches and came pretty close to a shut out.

[Isaac Sours]

Thanks for the report, Olympic Fan.

My two biggest concerns before last night were QB play and our defensive front 7 - especially their ability to pressure the opposing QB. I wasn't able to watch the game, but based on the write-ups and the numbers, Sirk looked solid in all phases save the long pass. I'm not ready to put my QB concern away, but this was a really good first step in doing so.

As for the front seven, I haven't heard or read much yet about their performance. Apparently, though, we only really got to Tulane's QB when we blitzed, which is bad. On the good side, we limited Tulane's run game to a much less productive game than the one in Durham last year, which was good, although there are some indications that was as much due to inept play calling from the Tulane sideline as it was to anything Duke's defense was doing. If anyone has more insight here, I'd love to read it.

All in all, it sure sounds like this was a solid first step in what could be yet another successful Duke football season.

This could have been addressed already, I apologize for redundancy if I missed it. But I think Carlos Wray got to the QB once when we just rushed the front four. I would agree, though, that we pretty much have to bring more than four if we want to regularly pressure anyone. As for the run game, there were a couple times they broke a few medium runs, but most of the times they ran between the tackles it went nowhere. Cash and the other safeties tend to do a great job backing up the run game.

[Indoor66]

The thing that impresses me the most is the tackling on defense. If we get to a man he goes down. No shoulder tackles; they go for the legs and hold on. What a change over the past few years.

[duke79]

Duke was a 9.5 point favorite at some point earlier in the week but 10 minutes before kickoff we were only favored by 6 points at several books. We crushed it last night ATS. I loved our physical play on defense. We looked really good in several stretches and came pretty close to a shut out.

Yea, I'm not a gambler but this had to be one of those situations where the oddsmakers had NO clue what the point spread should be and apparently there was not enough betting on Duke to adjust the point spread higher. One of those "market inefficiencies" that could have been profitably exploited by gambler willing to bet big on Duke.

[jimsumner]

Edwards' KOR for a score was his fourth at Duke, breaking a tie with Randy Jones for the school career mark.

Duke's advantage on special teams last night was stunning. Edwards, Martin and Monday are All-ACC caliber at their jobs, maybe All-America level and Ryan Smith looked like a keeper at PR. I remember Cut promising to upgrade Duke's special teams early in his Duke tenure and he's certainly done that. A tremendous asset.

Overall? A great opener for Duke. Sure Tulane wasn't very good last season but they returned the bulk of last year's team and expected to be much better this season. Maybe they will be.

Sure, Duke could have scored more points than they did. Duke could have hung a 50-spot on Tulane. But it was September 3rd on the road, for crying out loud.

A lot to be pleased with, a lot to improve on, a lot to work with.

[IsInTheDetails]

I made the trip to NOLA and saw the game live.

First, let me say this about the gameday experience. . .Tulane lived up to its party school reputation *before* the game. Their huge "tailgate" party on the main quad was packed and lively, included a 10-piece band, and was fueled by vast amounts of cheap beer. (Methinks they don't enforce underage drinking on campus, like, at all.) I walked through the crowd in Duke shirt/hat a couple times and was greeted by good-natured boos and ribbing, followed by high-fives and polite greetings. I entered the stadium through the swarmed student entrance, where they got a few loud "F*** Duke" chants going. But if I thought that energy would translate to the stadium, I was dead wrong. First half, the stadium was generally listless, though the mostly-full student section in the opposite endzone was pretty full and having fun. By the time the second half started, though - still just a two-score game at that point - almost all of the student section had cleared out, along with much of the rest of the stadium. It was pretty disappointing. I did like the look of the field, though.

As for this Duke team? One game against Tulane isn't much of a sample, but I walked away thinking. . .

1. Thomas Sirk looks ready. Was he perfect? No. But did he look comfortable running the offense? Absolutely. He stood tough in the pocket several times, went through his reads, and didn't shy away from throwing the ball downfield. He ran well, which we knew he could do. He threw the short ball with accuracy and strength, which was great to see, given the primacy of screen and swing passes in our offense. I saw zero 'deer in headlights' to Sirk's game.

2. As Indoor66 accurately pointed out, this team tackles. How many years did it look like we were playing touch football on defense? This has been one of the starkest improvements under Coach Cut's tenure, but this group looked even better than last year in getting to the ball and bringing the guy down, often with a swarm of defenders in on the assist. Jeremy Cash is a physical defender, and the other DBs and LBs follow his lead.

3. Our offensive line is a work in progress. We lost two great ones in Tomlinson and Cofield, and it shows, especially in the run game. We struggled for much of the game to blow open any holes, which was especially difficult the many times we sent Shaun Wilson up the middle only to be swallowed up by the big guys. (I can't even call plays right on video games, so I probably shouldn't question, but I thought it was odd how frequently we sent our speed back right up the middle. Get healthy, Jela.) In the passing game, Sirk had to move around quite a bit to avoid pressure in his dropbacks, but thankfully his ability to move (and throw on the move) are clearly his strengths. He's going to put up big rushing numbers this year, and Coach Cut may have to stay on him to run low and avoid getting popped.

4. I was concerned about our WR corps coming in, but I feel a bit better now. TJ Rahming looks uncannily like Crowder 2.0. Starting his first game as a true freshman, he caught six balls for 70 yards, and his incredible shiftiness in open space will lead to lots of yards after the catch. I think he'll break a long one to the house soon. Rahming is tiny, though, so here's hoping he can use that shiftiness to avoid big-hitting safeties. Johnell Barnes moved on from an early fumble and put up a big stat line. If his challenge is to be more consistent, he looked pretty darn consistent last night. Max McCaffery started really slow, dropping at least one catchable ball, but he got going later with some nice catches. One lingering question mark for me though is that, while our RBs were active in the passing game as usual, we had only two receptions by TEs, one each by Deaver and Schneider. I can't recall if there were more targets than that, but given that we had two TEs in on a number of plays (including passing plays), I'd have guessed they'd get more looks.

5. Cut's track record in special teams success looks to continue. We have a great kicker in Ross Martin, a great punter in Will Monday, and a great kick returner in Devon Edwards. Those guys are top-tier at their positions. Ryan Smith only got one real opportunity to return a punt, but it was a good one, including a crafty, heads-up play to keep running after he rolled over a tackler and was never down, even though 21 other players on the field stopped playing. When we get into games where overall talent differential no longer plays in our favor, special teams will continue to be a big edge.

6. Our front 6-7 (depending on where the strike safety lines up) did its job well. Tulane netted only 25 yards rushing for the entire game, and they returned three experienced RBs from last year, each of whom has 100+ yard games on his resume, along with 80% of their offensive line. It felt like we rotated a lot of players in/out in that front group throughout the game, and while I have little skill in evaluating those positions, my general impression is that the linebacker group is really fast and has a knack for getting to the ball. Cash had six tackles for the game, while Bere, Norman, and Carmichael each logged five. We registered very few tackles on the D-line (Wray led with three), consistent with what we've seen for the past few years, so we'll continue relying on the LBs/SS to stop the run game. I still think we'll get pushed around by teams with a true power running game, though I'm not sure who on our schedule fits that description.

[JasonEvans]

Last night, the announcers said that Duke was 18 and 3 the last 2 seasons in regular season games.

Not quite accurate. We were 10-2 in the regular season in 2013 and then 9-3 in the regular season last year. So our regular season record was a gaudy 19-5. It is possible the announcers misspoke and were referring to our past 21 regular season games (counting last night's win over Tulane). We started 2013 2-2 and then have won 18 of 21 since then.

-Jason "a few years ago, I think most of us would have been thrilled with Duke winning 18 games in 5 years... let alone 2" Evans

[loran16]

being honest about his abilities and shortcomings should be fine and acceptable....unneccesarily putting him down like loran did? bothers me as well.

For the record I wasn't putting Boone down. Boone was an average qb. He had pluses - above average mobility- and negatives - occasional bad iq passes. My comment was that Sirk felt very Boone like in that last night in that way.

[jimsumner]

Not quite accurate. We were 10-2 in the regular season in 2013 and then 9-3 in the regular season last year. So our regular season record was a gaudy 19-5. It is possible the announcers misspoke and were referring to our past 21 regular season games (counting last night's win over Tulane). We started 2013 2-2 and then have won 18 of 21 since then.

-Jason "a few years ago, I think most of us would have been thrilled with Duke winning 18 games in 5 years... let alone 2" Evans

I recall the announcers getting it right, i.e. Duke will be 18-3 in its last 21 regular-season games and then specifically mentioning the bowl losses and ACC Championship loss as not counting in that tally.

[Olympic Fan]

I was just looking over the final official box of the game this morning. Just a few additional observations:

-- Breon Borders was our top tackler with six tackles -- including a sack on a CB blitz. Surprisingly, he wasn't credited for a pass breakup, when I know he had several.

-- Nobody had an especially high tackle total -- which is really a sign that the defense is dominant. Tulane ran just 65 offensive plays. Three linebackers -- Carmichael, Norman and Bere -- had 5 tackles each. Holmes also had one -- that's 16 tackles on 65 plays by the linebackers. I like that ratio. On the other hand, our defensive ends combined for just two tackles and an assist -- Price and Williams had one each ... Grier assisted on a tackle for loss.

-- Duke was 10 of 19 on third down plays -- a fabulous percentage (a year ago, Georgia Tech led the nation at 58 percent). Tulane was 2 of 14.

-- Duke had four sacks (Borders and Edwards on the blitz; Wray and Boyce from the DL).

-- With three field goals and four extra points, Ross Martin entered the ACC's top 10 scorers all-time.

-- The official attendance was 25,470 ... I think that may have been a bit inflated.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Back in the day, when I would occasionally drop by the Sugar Bowl to watch Tulane play, there was so much drinking in the stands that many of the students left before the game. I mean, this is New Orleans; it isn't like there's nothing else to do.

I went to the old Sugar Bowl to watch my then Dolphins lose to the Cowboys in the January 1972 Superbowl VI. What a rickety old dump it was even then. The following year's Superbowl VII turned out much better :cool:, but I watched that game from what was then the almost new Lancaster dorm in Edens Quad as a freshman.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching last night's game on TV, even listening to Bob Harris broadcast the game thanks to the TuneIn Radio ap!

LGD! GTHc! 9F!

[revmel53]

Found myself worrying throughout the game (as I used to do before we became a decent program) that one turnover would begin domino effect that would culminate in a loss... (e.g. when Sirk pitched the ball at our RB's feet) but we aren't the same team we used to be. Still am scarred by remembrance of past teams. Observation: the holding that was called on one of Sirk's better throws (called back TD) was a bit of a stretch (if holding is supposed to help prevent a defender from having a straight shot at QB, which it did not.) Glad to have this one behind us. Will probably watch again tonight...

[Potato Head]

Tulane is not a bad team. Local radio-heads had Duke coming home with an L because they had no idea what Sirk could do and Tulane had an experienced team coming back. I must admit- I thought this would be a rough game. But Duke and especially Sirk took control of the game and never let Tulane get confidence. Young team or old- that is how you win football games.

Local radio-heads know where their bread is buttered in the preseason. UNC might be okay, and Duke could struggle!...until the games actually start and results start coming in. I didn't (and still don't, really) have any idea how good this team is, but it would have been nice to hear somebody in the national media give us some benefit of the doubt.

Also, worried about Sirk running the ball 15 times a game, especially with a backup that looked a bit shaky last night and a crazy good RB corps (even without Jela).

[budwom]

Our DT play was much improved (seemingly)...six man rotation at least...Cerenord and Ferguson both played quite a bit, both redshirt frosh...along with true frosh Boyce, soph Ramsay, Wolf and Wray.
Pending play against tougher foes, those guys look to be a solid step up from last year.

As our recruiting classes have gotten progressively better, we're seeing more and more freshmen and sophs play...and some older guys pretty much falling off the depth chart.
Some very encouraging things done last night by young players.

[dukelifer]

Local radio-heads know where their bread is buttered in the preseason. UNC might be okay, and Duke could struggle!...until the games actually start and results start coming in. I didn't (and still don't, really) have any idea how good this team is, but it would have been nice to hear somebody in the national media give us some benefit of the doubt.

Also, worried about Sirk running the ball 15 times a game, especially with a backup that looked a bit shaky last night and a crazy good RB corps (even without Jela).
I think they had too little data on Sirk and his ability to handle the pressure. I am interested to hear what they say as I am about to get in my car.

[AustinDevil]

Some thoughts on my evening in New Orleans last night:

* After attending the Chik Fil A Bowl and then UNC last fall losses, what a blast to get to see my first Duke win live and in person in more than a decade!
* I agree with those who viewed Sirk as having a more-than-solid first start, and I think he'll only get better as he settles in.
* The Duke contingent was certainly respectable; great to see the team get that support on the road. Maybe someday soon we'll send a small portion of DUMB to games like this--if we want to be a real program, that's essential.
* Looking at the pass interference call in real time, I thought it was a fair call against us, but I haven't watched replays.

[JasonEvans]

Local radio-heads know where their bread is buttered in the preseason. UNC might be okay, and Duke could struggle!...until the games actually start and results start coming in. I didn't (and still don't, really) have any idea how good this team is, but it would have been nice to hear somebody in the national media give us some benefit of the doubt.

Lets be clear, Tulane is no South Carolina. UNC faced a far tougher opponent and fared pretty well against them. South Carolina is likely one of the top 30 or so teams in the country and UNC was right with them for the entire game. Tulane is barely a top 100 team. If I was a Tarheel fan, I'd be pleased at how we looked against SC. A break or two and we have a really nice win.

Of course, that does not account for the dismissal of Duke's chances to be a factor in the ACC. I agree with you that the experts have underrated the Devils. If nothing else, our schedule makes it likely we will be in at least a mid-tier bowl unless we are far worse than most folks expect.


Also, worried about Sirk running the ball 15 times a game, especially with a backup that looked a bit shaky last night and a crazy good RB corps (even without Jela).

I don't want Sirk to get banged up, but he is so effective running the ball that I don't want us to ease up on that either. But, the real reason I felt compelled to respond was that I thought Boehme looked good on the last TD drive. He did seem to have some jitters when he came in for the goal-line package (and I disagree with us taking Sirk out there as we know he is great in that package) but I thought he seemed pretty good elsewhere. He showed nice arm strength on the pass to Taylor that turned into a 25 yard play.

Folk may forget but Boehme was a fairly well-regarded recruit coming out of high school, a 3-star recruit, as a dual-threat (running and passing) QB. He is a redshirt soph so he has been in the program for 2 full seasons already. I certainly hope Sirk is healthy all year, but I don't think our backup would be a disaster if he was forced to play more than mop-up duty.

-Jason "the RB rotation when Jela comes back is going to be sick! Looks like we really have 3 studs back there" Evans

[Bob Green]

I don't want Sirk to get banged up, but he is so effective running the ball that I don't want us to ease up on that either.

The quarterback running the ball is key to the zone-read offense. On Wilson's 29 yard run, Tulane's defensive end reacted as if Sirk had the ball which provided Wilson a seam to break through to the second level. I'm excited to see Sirk and the Stable execute the zone-read offense.

[Bob Green]

Sirk: A very anthony boone-like performance.

A big difference is Sirk is effective throwing the ball over the middle of the field. I'm a member of the camp that believes Sirk looked very good, not perfect, not even close to perfect, but very good.


plenty to work on vs Central - Tulane wasn't a good team, but they were good enough to expose some holes - now we have 2 weeks basically to fix them.

I agree with this statement wholeheartedly. The staff is going to study the game film, focus on the holes in practice and reinforce the lessons against NCCU.

[OldPhiKap]

A big difference is Sirk is effective throwing the ball over the middle of the field. I'm a member of the camp that believes Sirk looked very good, not perfect, not even close to perfect, but very good.



I want to echo this as well. Thomas led the team, on the road, for the first time. And did very well overall on the short and medium routes, as well as the backfield passing. Crisp. I am not going to get drawn into comparisons with other quarterbacks, I'll just say that I was very comfortable with his ability to execute those plays and I had a smile on my face when we were on offense.

He did throw deep into some tough coverage, once a triple-team over the middle IIRC. That's why they have film and coaches, very fixable learning moment.

Scottie Montgomery and Jim Knowles deserve major kudos. Well-designed and executed plans on both sides of the ball. And not sure who is in charge of special teams but their squads were absolutely outstanding.

[Richard Berg]

Rahming wears #3. I dig it.

Barnes was his usual hot-and-cold self. I picked him to be the new Blakeney, and so far I'm right.

Sirk is not twitchy like those guys, but he has excellent instincts to move north-south in traffic. When he has the chance to plant a couple long strides, he covers a lot of ground before you know what's happened. And he's tough (like Boone was). His feet are a real weapon that shouldn't go underutilized out of fear.

I love his delivery too. He can hit a tight slant route while evading pressure, and look totally composed in the process. He made some mistakes, but with experience, I think he can become the Real Deal, with a ceiling closer to Renfree/Lewis than Boone, though his style is notably different from any of the above.

Wilson and R Smith can really dance. So can Edwards, but he didn't have to -- nobody even came close to touching him. I do fault Smith a bit for letting some punts drop, especially the final one (which put the Boehme/Pierre package in a deeper hole than necessary). Powell was solid. McCaffrey had a few tough balls that should've been caught by a senior "hands" guy, but he'll be fine. Seems like Nash has moved behind Taylor and the other young'ns on the depth chart, which may be for the best.

All 3 TEs played well without stretching beyond their abilities. (I suspect we'll call Deaver's number more often once games tighten up and we are no longer actively experimenting with WR options).

I thought McDuffie looked bad all day, long before the 1-on-1 jump ball that led to a touchdown. The latter happens. But totally blowing tackles out on the edge (as happened in the first quarter) is not acceptable. Veal made side-stepping contact look easy for a bit there, and he is no Crowder.

Saxton wasn't much better.

I don't remember Carmichael from years past, but he seems to be in the right place at the right time. And hey, that diving INT was pretty nifty. Nice to have excess athletes coming out of our ears.

Cash was everywhere, as you'd expect. My favorite was clobbering a slant receiver in the 4th quarter. Though the announcers were going on about our regular season record, that hit actually reminded me of the 1st quarter against FSU in the title game, where our DBs laid a few guys hard on their back (before they came back to kill us).

Defensive front held their own. I'm not much of a football strategist, nor do I have the visual chops to really analyze what's happening between-the-tackles, so I can't say how much their failure to rush was fear of Wray/Wolf versus simply risking all their marbles trying to get Tanner Lee going. Either way, it did work. So there's that.

The Ajeigbe-at-LB experiment seemed to work ok, at least for 1 play.

OL is a work in progress. They opened a few notable holes, especially late, but the overall theme of the day was inconsistency. Even the trusty Skura missed some "obvious" assignments in the middle that cost momentum on early drives. If they can figure out how to play together, giving Sirk some more time to gain confidence, letting a healthy Duncan put his head down and bang, or some room for Wilson to operate...watch out!

[Jim3k]

The Ajeigbe-at-LB experiment seemed to work ok, at least for 1 play.



The Final Book linked here (https://www.nmnathletics.com//pdf9/3777006.pdf?ATCLID=210315696&SPSID=22672&SPID=1843&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=4200) (PDF) does not show that Ajeigbe played at all. I do recall the announcers saying that he had made an appearance at linebacker, but I think they were in error. Probably due to a mistake by the spotter.

I'm pretty sure if he wasn't healed and ready for offense that he would not have been sent in blind on defense.

[DU82]

The Final Book linked here (https://www.nmnathletics.com//pdf9/3777006.pdf?ATCLID=210315696&SPSID=22672&SPID=1843&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=4200) (PDF) does not show that Ajeigbe played at all. I do recall the announcers saying that he had made an appearance at linebacker, but I think they were in error. Probably due to a mistake by the spotter.

I'm pretty sure if he wasn't healed and ready for offense that he would not have been sent in blind on defense.

The PA announcer had some problems. Late, we thought he had gone home as he missed a play. Since we have some duplicate numbers, he announced the wrong guy making the tackle. I know jela Duncan "made" at least one tackle. I assume (without the roster handy) that somebody on D has Ajeigbe's number as well.

[AustinDevil]

Cash was everywhere, as you'd expect. My favorite was clobbering a slant receiver in the 4th quarter.

This was such a good hit, and very tricky to execute without getting flagged.

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

The Final Book linked here (https://www.nmnathletics.com//pdf9/3777006.pdf?ATCLID=210315696&SPSID=22672&SPID=1843&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=4200) (PDF) does not show that Ajeigbe played at all. I do recall the announcers saying that he had made an appearance at linebacker, but I think they were in error. Probably due to a mistake by the spotter.

I'm pretty sure if he wasn't healed and ready for offense that he would not have been sent in blind on defense.

Joseph dressed out but did not play.

Not only did the stadium announcer seem to drift off, sometimes the official's whistles couldn't be heard or were blown late.

[BigWayne]

Not only did the stadium announcer seem to drift off, sometimes the official's whistles couldn't be heard or were blown late.

At least there were no instances of anyone "Giving him the business."

[Potato Head]

I agree Sirk's running is a weapon that we need, I just hope we're a bit more cautious about how many hits he takes, especially early in the season. I'm sure the staff is aware of it. Ideally he'll only run a handful of times and be out of there by halftime against the Eagles.

[Pghdukie]

"Giving him the business " will forever be one of the all-time greatest calls in nfl history. If your old enough like me to remember it

[duke blue brewcrew]

A big difference is Sirk is effective throwing the ball over the middle of the field. I'm a member of the camp that believes Sirk looked very good, not perfect, not even close to perfect, but very good.


I want to echo this as well. Thomas led the team, on the road, for the first time. And did very well overall on the short and medium routes, as well as the backfield passing. Crisp. I am not going to get drawn into comparisons with other quarterbacks, I'll just say that I was very comfortable with his ability to execute those plays and I had a smile on my face when we were on offense.

He did throw deep into some tough coverage, once a triple-team over the middle IIRC. That's why they have film and coaches, very fixable learning moment.

Scottie Montgomery and Jim Knowles deserve major kudos. Well-designed and executed plans on both sides of the ball. And not sure who is in charge of special teams but their squads were absolutely outstanding.


I wanted to rewatch the game a couple of times before commeting in this thread. I agree wholeheartedly with both of these gentlemen. I thought Sirk did an awesome job for his first start, leading his team on the road. As we've all pointed out, Sirk did great with anything that wasn't a deep ball. As noted by other posters, and based on comments coming out of camp by the coaching staff, I believe Sirk's deep ball should round into form as the season progresses. I think the entire team will start to gell as they get a few games under their belts. The O-line should start to become more fluid in run blocking and pass protection schemes, the DL should grow in confidence as they gain experience as should the new and incredibly athletic LB corps. I know the Blue Devils have a lot of games to play, a lot of injuries to avoid and come back from as the season progresses. That said, based on a very small sample size, a very favorable schedule and my own gut feeling, I believe a 9-3 or 10-2 regular season is possible for Duke this year.

[Dukehky]

If we can start getting some big time D-Line recruits or some crazy diamond in the rough performances from our D-line, look out world. Our offense is always going to be there, and our dbs are the freaking cheetahs. It's not the D-line as individuals, Wray is awesome, the athletes just aren't quite on the level of other big time programs, yet...

[jimsumner]

If we can start getting some big time D-Line recruits or some crazy diamond in the rough performances from our D-line, look out world. Our offense is always going to be there, and our dbs are the freaking cheetahs. It's not the D-line as individuals, Wray is awesome, the athletes just aren't quite on the level of other big time programs, yet...

Duke played two redshirt freshmen and two true freshmen on DL in the season-opener on the road. So, it may be that Duke has the defensive linemen it needs, they just need to get some experience.

[Listen to Quants]

Duke played two redshirt freshmen and two true freshmen on DL in the season-opener on the road. So, it may be that Duke has the defensive linemen it needs, they just need to get some experience.

Freshmen are indeed likely to get better so that hope is there. I thought Wray and Wolf looked good (knowing more about how good the Tulane OL-men they faced would be interesting. Other than those two, did anybody else on the Duke DL look good?

[subzero02]

Sirk had a great game but that option pitch that led to a 2nd half fumble was abysmal. That's something that really needs to be worked on considering his running skills.

[Listen to Quants]

I wanted to rewatch the game a couple of times before commeting in this thread. I agree wholeheartedly with both of these gentlemen. I thought Sirk did an awesome job for his first start, leading his team on the road. As we've all pointed out, Sirk did great with anything that wasn't a deep ball. As noted by other posters, and based on comments coming out of camp by the coaching staff, I believe Sirk's deep ball should round into form as the season progresses. I think the entire team will start to gell as they get a few games under their belts. The O-line should start to become more fluid in run blocking and pass protection schemes, the DL should grow in confidence as they gain experience as should the new and incredibly athletic LB corps. I know the Blue Devils have a lot of games to play, a lot of injuries to avoid and come back from as the season progresses. That said, based on a very small sample size, a very favorable schedule and my own gut feeling, I believe a 9-3 or 10-2 regular season is possible for Duke this year.

I too re-watched and I too thought Sirk was really good. The read-option is such a fine weapon when the QB is a good runner, and Sirk is a good runner. I love the Duke offense playing run plays with 11 on 11 (read-option, draw, screen) rather than 10 on 11 (simple handoff). Sirks short and mid level passing was, I thought, accurate even when under pressure. A nice test.

A serious difficulty of this D was going to be getting pressure on the opponent QB with just 4 DL rushing. I don't think that will be solved this year but I really like the coaches going with a lot of blitzes, often creative (e.g., delayed, zone, with stunts). This is a choice to put the pressure on the high quality Duke DBs to cover without numbers rather than the DL to get pressure without numbers.

[nyesq83]

Thought Sirk managed the game exceedingly well. Not looking at the video, here are a couple of my (possibly inaccurate) impressions at the time they happened

Bad option pitch:

I think Sirk was shocked at how quickly the defender was on him, he had intended to run it past the scrimmage line himself to that point, and poorly tossed the ball with an incomplete and rushed motion.

The running back was also shocked and surprised and it was behind him (I think), but he should have fallen on the ball (as if it were the holy hand grenade and he was protecting the other Kingsmen), or "accidentally" pushed it out of bounds, the sideline is your friend in a busted play like that.

Pass to Barnes, high jump for reception, and fumble?

High pass into triple coverage, no wonder he had a hard time securing the ball, domino effect on this play.

Long toss to the end zone that was too far for Barnes to catch?

It was in the middle of the far left side of the end zone, not out of bounds. I believe this was a toss to a spot, not to the receiver. I think Barnes's excessive juking at the start and slow acceleration following it caused him to be be far behind where he should have been, maybe the defender impeded his progress along the way.

These are timing things at game speed, so crisp repetition in practice can help mitigate these issues.

[Richard Berg]

The corner fade is a play we ran all the time for Crowder, Blakeney, and the Killer V's before them. It's not especially high-percentage (relying on perfect timing), but I suspect the coaches like it because it's low risk: the only likely outcomes are a TD or an incompletion. We always call it with downs to spare (1st or 2nd & goal), and since it's all about ball placement rather than having to judge the position/speed of the receiver vs CB battle, the QB can let it fly quickly & consistently. By the time the ball's in the air, it's too late for safeties to contest.

I actually think Sirk under-threw it a tad. In the past, the preferred "spot" was never more than 1 stride from the far corner. Aiming for the left-middle loses some of the risk/reward benefits. Sirk needs to ignore the jockeying at the LoS and trust Barnes' speed. Placing the ball deeper into the corner is safer, even if it means adding a touch more loft, due to the angle that typical defenders would have to leap w/o landing out of bounds. (If the free safety does line up in a weird spot in anticipation, you look to the sideline and call your 2nd option).

As a Cutcliffe staple, there's a 100% chance this will be rehearsed again & again in the weeks to come. They'll get it.

[devildeac]

The corner fade is a play we ran all the time for Crowder, Blakeney, and the Killer V's before them. It's not especially high-percentage (relying on perfect timing), but I suspect the coaches like it because it's low risk: the only likely outcomes are a TD or an incompletion. We always call it with downs to spare (1st or 2nd & goal), and since it's all about ball placement rather than having to judge the position/speed of the receiver vs CB battle, the QB can let it fly quickly & consistently. By the time the ball's in the air, it's too late for safeties to contest.

I actually think Sirk under-threw it a tad. In the past, the preferred "spot" was never more than 1 stride from the far corner. Aiming for the left-middle loses some of the risk/reward benefits. Sirk needs to ignore the jockeying at the LoS and trust Barnes' speed. Placing the ball deeper into the corner is safer, even if it means adding a touch more loft, due to the angle that typical defenders would have to leap w/o landing out of bounds. (If the free safety does line up in a weird spot in anticipation, you look to the sideline and call your 2nd option).

As a Cutcliffe staple, there's a 100% chance this will be rehearsed again & again in the weeks to come. They'll get it.

I'd like this play, too, if we tried it with Reeves, Schneider or Deaver at 6-5, 6-7 and 6-5;).

[Indoor66]

Just reading the "issues" under discussion in this thread, I think that Duke Football has come a LONG way in the past few years! Ain't that fun?

[Richard Berg]

Just reading the "issues" under discussion in this thread, I think that Duke Football has come a LONG way in the past few years! Ain't that fun?
Tulane's special teams gave me multiple flashbacks to Franks-era Duke games.