FB: Duke 9, Boston College 7

[loran16]

Duke opens as a 6.5 point favorite per Vegas.

Should be a fascinating game. BC is similar-ish to Northwestern in profile, all Defense no offense - per Football Outsiders' S&P+ ratings, they rank the following:

32nd Overall
121st in Offense
2nd in defense

(For Comparison, NW was 105th in O, 10th on D)

Duke by those same rankings is:
19th Overall
83rd on Offense
7th on Defense

So expect a low scoring game - special teams may be pretty big here. More in depth statistical measures will be available tomorrow.

[uh_no]

we'll see how good their defense actually is.

they gave up 3 to a 1-2 maine team who got wallopped by tulane 38-7
they beat an 0-4 howard team 76-0
they DID hold FSU to 14
but they then gave up 14 to NIU...who is actually deceent, they onlly lost by 7 to OSU

so it appears in the early going the defense is legit.

Their offense, though, is decidedly NOT legit. Their starting QB is out for the year, and they ran the ball 63 times last week (3.7ypc). Given what duke just did to GT, i imagine that number will shrink.

What does a duke win look like:
We destroy them in special teams, maybe pick up a big return and a few field goals and a TD. THey can't get anything going and punting keeps them on their own half the field all day.

What a BC win looks like:
Our surprisingly turnover prone team has more in the wrong place on the field. BC picks up some chippy points on short drives and duke can never get it close.


Basically: be patient and win the turnover battle.

[loran16]

So F/+ the combined statistical measure of Football Outsiders is out, as is the advanced statistics profile of each team of Football Study Hall.

You can find Duke here: http://www.footballstudyhall.com/pages/2015-duke-advanced-statistical-profile and BC here: http://www.footballstudyhall.com/pages/2015-boston-college-advanced-statistical-profile

Per these metrics, Duke is a 69% favorite to win against BC, with a projected score of 20.1-11.3.

[Indoor66]

So F/+ the combined statistical measure of Football Outsiders is out, as is the advanced statistics profile of each team of Football Study Hall.

You can find Duke here: http://www.footballstudyhall.com/pages/2015-duke-advanced-statistical-profile and BC here: http://www.footballstudyhall.com/pages/2015-boston-college-advanced-statistical-profile

Per these metrics, Duke is a 69% favorite to win against BC, with a projected score of 20.1-11.3.

Per that info, why play the game? Clearly it is settled science.

[loran16]

Per that info, why play the game? Clearly it is settled science.

69 percent means we still lose 3 out of 10 times!

[uh_no]

69 percent means we still lose 3 out of 10 times!

well...3.1/10 :)

[devildeac]

I'd be ecstatic with a 20-10 Duke win. Shoot, I'd be happy with a 7-3 Duke victory, considering f$u only scored 14 against BC.

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

Weather conditions may be similar to this past Saturday. Rain will be continuing throughout the week making for a wet field. Most forecasts are calling for as much as 80% chance of rain Saturday. While I don't like sitting in the rain, Duke plays well in it!

[loran16]

Weather conditions may be similar to this past Saturday. Rain will be continuing throughout the week making for a wet field. Most forecasts are calling for as much as 80% chance of rain Saturday. While I don't like sitting in the rain, Duke plays well in it!

Welp, this game could be even uglier. Good times!

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

Weather conditions may be similar to this past Saturday. Rain will be continuing throughout the week making for a wet field. Most forecasts are calling for as much as 80% chance of rain Saturday. While I don't like sitting in the rain, Duke plays well in it!
This is still a little early. I want to be hopeful that the forecasts improve.

[jjasper0729]

@stevewisemanNC
Stephen Wiseman retweeted BC Interruption
Will play at Duke Saturday without QB (out for year) and now top RB (out for year)

BC Interruption (http://www.bcinterruption.com/boston-college-football-2015-season/2015/9/28/9409573/boston-college-football-eagles-loses-running-back-jon-hilliman-to?utm_campaign=bcinterruption&utm_content=chorus&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter)

[S_West30]

-While BC certainly hasn't had a rigorous schedule to start the season, their defense should be taken seriously. Their first two games were cupcakes against Maine and perennially woeful Howard, but the level of competition has stepped up these past two weeks as they played No. 9 Florida State and a sneaky good Northern Illinois team that tied Ohio State at halftime in a game earlier this season (they did eventually lose obviously). All that being said, they lead all Division 1-A teams in total yards given up with 472, which for reference is 267 fewer yards than the number 2 team in Appalachian State. Almost half of those were given up in their 14-0 loss to Florida State in week 3, which must be noted is quite impressive to limit both speedy Dalvin Cook and dual-threat quarterback Everett Golson to under 250 yards combined.
-I'd love to see Sirk get back on track in the passing game, but again, the statistics say that this isn't his week to do so. BC also leads the country in both passing and rushing yards given up per game with 72 passing and 46 rushing respectively. Duke is going to have to grind this one out if they want a win. I look for very few points to be scored and for there to be either a defensive or special teams touchdown.
-As long as DeVon Edwards is in the backfield returning kicks Duke will have the upper hand in the return game. The less yardage needed to get into field goal range and/or the red zone for Duke will be the key to scoring points against their stingy defense.
-For defensive players not named Jeremy Cash, I look for highly touted freshman linebacker Ben Humphreys and hard-hitting junior safety Deondre Singleton to step up and make big plays when it matters most just like they did last week against Tech. Humphreys has been a great run stopper through these first four games, and while Singleton is often overshadowed by Cash, he has quietly been a great coverage safety and has repeatedly broken up long passes that would've gone for huge gains.
-This will not be a pretty game by any stretch of the imagination, especially with the weather forecast for Saturday. But if Sirk can limit his turnovers and not become completely inept in the second half like he has these past couple weeks, I think they can come out of this "trap game" still unscathed in conference play.

Go Blue Devils!

[Bob Green]

Tropical Storm Joaquin is expected to turn into Hurricane Joaquin sometime today. It appears the dangerous winds will remain off the coast:

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/storm_graphics/AT11/refresh/AL1115_PROB64_F120_sm2+gif/084150.gif

More info is available here: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

[-jk]

Duke is offering a new game: Tropical Roulette (http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=210378682) with BC ticket prices!


Tropical Storm Joaquin may or may not land over Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium on 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, but that is not going to stop Duke fans from having some fun the next three days. Introducing Tropical Roulette, where the forecast will determine your general admission ticket price for Duke Football vs. Boston College.

This could be fun!

-jk

[devildeac]

Duke is offering a new game: Tropical Roulette (http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=210378682) with BC ticket prices!



This could be fun!

-jk

That's awesome but I'm gonna call shenanigans on this one;). They're basing it on the Duke Athletics forecast. Right now, Weather Channel has a 100% chance of rain for Friday and Saturday. Yea, yea, yea, I know it changes hourly. Against GT, we had hourly forecasts of 6%/0%/0%/30% for noon/1/2/3 PM that afternoon. There was non-stop light to moderate rain until just after 3 PM that day. It was still (mostly) fun but my jeans and waterproof jacket are still drying out in my garage:o.

It'd be even more interesting if the discount matched the actual prediction, but then they might be giving tickets away. (Wait, I've read that idea somewhere before:rolleyes:.)

Now, if only they sold beer...

[OldPhiKap]

That's awesome but I'm gonna call shenanigans on this one;). They're basing it on the Duke Athletics forecast. Right now, Weather Channel has a 100% chance of rain for Friday and Saturday. Yea, yea, yea, I know it changes hourly. Against GT, we had hourly forecasts of 6%/0%/0%/30% for noon/1/2/3 PM that afternoon. There was non-stop light to moderate rain until just after 3 PM that day. It was still (mostly) fun but my jeans and waterproof jacket are still drying out in my garage:o.

It'd be even more interesting if the discount matched the actual prediction, but then they might be giving tickets away. (Wait, I've read that idea somewhere before:rolleyes:.)

Now, if only they sold beer...

"whatever it takes"

I don't know how to solve the attendance issue (although craft beer -- even a larger producer like Sierra Nevada -- would help tremendously). But glad they are trying.

[duke blue brewcrew]

That's awesome but I'm gonna call shenanigans on this one;). They're basing it on the Duke Athletics forecast. Right now, Weather Channel has a 100% chance of rain for Friday and Saturday. Yea, yea, yea, I know it changes hourly. Against GT, we had hourly forecasts of 6%/0%/0%/30% for noon/1/2/3 PM that afternoon. There was non-stop light to moderate rain until just after 3 PM that day. It was still (mostly) fun but my jeans and waterproof jacket are still drying out in my garage:o.

It'd be even more interesting if the discount matched the actual prediction, but then they might be giving tickets away. (Wait, I've read that idea somewhere before:rolleyes:.)

Now, if only they sold beer...

And what would the Devildeac Wally Wade beer menu look like?

[uh_no]

And what would the Devildeac Wally Wade beer menu look like?

lonerider sweet josie
fullsteam bourbon barrel aged working man's lunch
foothils hoppyum
triangle belgian golden ale
deep river 4042
white street scottish
weihenstephaner hefeweissen
not your father's rootbeer

[devildeac]

And what would the Devildeac Wally Wade beer menu look like?


lonerider sweet josie
fullsteam bourbon barrel aged working man's lunch
foothils hoppyum
triangle belgian golden ale
deep river 4042
white street scottish
weihenstephaner hefeweissen
not your father's rootbeer


Very good list but I'd probably keep it all local and invite every Triangle brewer (? 30-35 now, might be more) to send a "keg" or two of their choice to our mythical "Duke Beer Garden". Heck, invite every NC brewer (might be up to around 120 now) to the show and the first 25-30 responders got their beer featured at WW home games.

Alas, I think they'll be another smallish crowd at WW this Saturday due to the forecast. Hopefully, they'll be treated to a 10-3 Duke victory (or something like that).

[tux]

"whatever it takes"

I don't know how to solve the attendance issue (although craft beer -- even a larger producer like Sierra Nevada -- would help tremendously). But glad they are trying.

Not that we need more discussion on attendance, but in watching some highlights of last weekend's UNCheat game, I would say Duke attendance-wise did much better than the Holes. Attendance is down everywhere, and the rain hurts. But I thought the soggy crowd in WW looked about like what it would have 5 years ago in nice weather --- and the crowd (and students) were loud and into the game. Of course, I would love for Duke to fill every seat, but Duke is trending in the right direction, just slowly...

[duke blue brewcrew]

I'd be ecstatic with a 20-10 Duke win. Shoot, I'd be happy with a 7-3 Duke victory, considering f$u only scored 14 against BC.

Any score that results in a W for Duke gets my vote!

[uh_no]

Very good list but I'd probably keep it all local and invite every Triangle brewer (? 30-35 now, might be more) to send a "keg" or two of their choice to our mythical "Duke Beer Garden". Heck, invite every NC brewer (might be up to around 120 now) to the show and the first 25-30 responders got their beer featured at WW home games.

Alas, I think they'll be another smallish crowd at WW this Saturday due to the forecast. Hopefully, they'll be treated to a 10-3 Duke victory (or something like that).

but it is pretty local! except for the rootbeer. and weihenstephaner is local as well....local to the entire world.

[killerleft]

"whatever it takes"

I don't know how to solve the attendance issue (although craft beer -- even a larger producer like Sierra Nevada -- would help tremendously). But glad they are trying.

Agreed. I hope some folks will give it a try Saturday.

Wear some good boots, grab a poncho (preferably a real one and not a Sears poncho) and join us. $12.50 is almost guaranteed.:)

[Jarhead]

After some effort. I have found the Duke-BC game on local television. It will be shown on Fox Sports Carolinas at 6:00 AM on Sunday morning. At 3:30 PM on Saturday afternoon, Kentucky at Rice will be shown locally. This is according to the Time Warner schedule for the Central Carolina area. Blackout? Looks like it.

Unless I can set up my Samsung TV to stream the game live from ESPN3, I am doomed to watch it on my computer screen. Mrs Jarhead and I live in a pretty nice retirement community at which our internet access is via a campus wide wi-fi network. It cannot be used for streaming via my computer, but my Samsung can handle if I knew how.

[nyesq83]

I am going to attend thanks to my $15 Homecoming ticket and overwhelming shame for not being there the last two weeks.

Hope there are no thunderstorms/lightning as I am bringing a new Duke flag with a telescoping aluminum flagpole, if I can smuggle them in!

[killerleft]

I am going to attend thanks to my $15 Homecoming ticket and overwhelming shame for not being there the last two weeks.

Hope there are no thunderstorms/lightning as I am bringing a new Duke flag with a telescoping aluminum flagpole, if I can smuggle them in!

All you need is an inside guy and you can toss it over/slide it through the chain-link fence somewhere kinda out of the way:)

[duke blue brewcrew]

lonerider sweet josie
fullsteam bourbon barrel aged working man's lunch
foothils hoppyum
triangle belgian golden ale
deep river 4042
white street scottish
weihenstephaner hefeweissen
not your father's rootbeer


Very good list but I'd probably keep it all local and invite every Triangle brewer (? 30-35 now, might be more) to send a "keg" or two of their choice to our mythical "Duke Beer Garden". Heck, invite every NC brewer (might be up to around 120 now) to the show and the first 25-30 responders got their beer featured at WW home games.

Alas, I think they'll be another smallish crowd at WW this Saturday due to the forecast. Hopefully, they'll be treated to a 10-3 Duke victory (or something like that).

I like both directions there. I love supporting local breweries. Living in Atlanta, there are some great ones to support here as well. I would add Rogue Hazelnut (or even better, John-John Hazelnut), Rogue Dead Guy, Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan, Abita Amber, Abita Turbo Dog, Innis and Gunn Scottish Ale, & for taste buds that enjoy the liter side, Stella...notice any trends w/ that list? :)

[uh_no]

I like both directions there. I love supporting local breweries. Living in Atlanta, there are some great ones to support here as well. I would add Rogue Hazelnut (or even better, John-John Hazelnut), Rogue Dead Guy, Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan, Abita Amber, Abita Turbo Dog, Innis and Gunn Scottish Ale, & for taste buds that enjoy the liter side, Stella...notice any trends w/ that list? :)

Innis and Gunn is excellent...though Andy Gator is my Abita go to when i can get it!

[ChillinDuke]

Tropical Storm Joaquin is expected to turn into Hurricane Joaquin sometime today. It appears the dangerous winds will remain off the coast:

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/storm_graphics/AT11/refresh/AL1115_PROB64_F120_sm2+gif/084150.gif

More info is available here: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

I love this concept!

Talk about a creative way to try to drum up attendance. I'm sure it exists elsewhere, but this is the first I've heard of this sort of concept. I like it.

- Chillin

[jimsumner]

With a wet field and two dominant defenses, I expect Duke to win the safety battle and pull out a 4-2 victory.

Jeremy Cash will establish an NCAA record with 37 tackles.

You read it here first.

[budwom]

The Weather Channel has gone into an orgiastic lather over Joaquin and the many possibilities he presents.
Right now the various models differ widely, so one one really has a clue where he'll end up, though it's clear with or
without Joaquin, there is going to be a lot of rain in Durham this weekend.

Having said that, one of the models, the U.S. one, calls for Joaquin to make a beeline for Durham, dropping 12-18 inches of rain this weekend.
Might need to pack a snorkel in my carryon....too preliminary to panic, but this could get interesting. I hear Coach Cut might have the team practice in the
pool tomorrow.

[jimsumner]

Hey, my Monday is wide open.

[Olympic Fan]

The Weather Channel has gone into an orgiastic lather over Joaquin and the many possibilities he presents.
Right now the various models differ widely, so one one really has a clue where he'll end up, though it's clear with or
without Joaquin, there is going to be a lot of rain in Durham this weekend.

Having said that, one of the models, the U.S. one, calls for Joaquin to make a beeline for Durham, dropping 12-18 inches of rain this weekend.
Might need to pack a snorkel in my carryon....too preliminary to panic, but this could get interesting. I hear Coach Cut might have the team practice in the
pool tomorrow.

Hey, let's not go into panic mode here. The current forecast for Saturday is a 90 percent chance of rain with 1/2 inch of rain expected:

http://www.weather.com/weather/5day/l/USNC0192:1:US

There are models that show Hurricane Joaquin passing over or close to Durham -- but that will be well after Saturday's game. the current Hurricane track has Joaquin about even with Jacksonville, Fla., by noon Saturday. It doesn't get to North Carolina -- either through North Carolina or (as most models show) just off the coast until well into Sunday.

I'm interested in the odds for the game. The Vegas odds opened with Duke favored by 6 1/2 ... and have stayed steady. But what's really fascinating is the over/under it started at 36 1/2 and has gone UP to 37.

I think that's crazy. Factor in the following factors:

-- Boston College has the No. 1 defensive in the country ... and it will be matched against an offense that has sputtered the last two weeks.

-- Duke has the No. 10 defense in the country ... and it will be matched against an offense that has been crippled by injuries and is the worst in the ACC.

-- Even without the Hurricane, weather conditions are expected to be miserable Saturday in Durham.

To me, all that adds up to an over/under in single digits (unless we burn them badly on special teams ... BTW, their kicker is hurting).

[devildeac]

With a wet field and two dominant defenses, I expect Duke to win the safety battle and pull out a 4-2 victory.

Jeremy Cash will establish an NCAA record with 37 tackles.

You read it here first.

I wish to subscribe to this gentleman's Duke football (and basketball) notes/updates. ;)

[devildeac]

The Weather Channel has gone into an orgiastic lather over Joaquin and the many possibilities he presents.
Right now the various models differ widely, so one one really has a clue where he'll end up, though it's clear with or
without Joaquin, there is going to be a lot of rain in Durham this weekend.

Having said that, one of the models, the U.S. one, calls for Joaquin to make a beeline for Durham, dropping 12-18 inches of rain this weekend.
Might need to pack a snorkel in my carryon....too preliminary to panic, but this could get interesting. I hear Coach Cut might have the team practice in the
pool tomorrow.

Did Cut finally get that full-sized football pool practice facility?:rolleyes:

[devildeac]

Hey, let's not go into panic mode here. The current forecast for Saturday is a 90 percent chance of rain with 1/2 inch of rain expected:

http://www.weather.com/weather/5day/l/USNC0192:1:US

There are models that show Hurricane Joaquin passing over or close to Durham -- but that will be well after Saturday's game. the current Hurricane track has Joaquin about even with Jacksonville, Fla., by noon Saturday. It doesn't get to North Carolina -- either through North Carolina or (as most models show) just off the coast until well into Sunday.

I'm interested in the odds for the game. The Vegas odds opened with Duke favored by 6 1/2 ... and have stayed steady. But what's really fascinating is the over/under it started at 36 1/2 and has gone UP to 37.

I think that's crazy. Factor in the following factors:

-- Boston College has the No. 1 defensive in the country ... and it will be matched against an offense that has sputtered the last two weeks.

-- Duke has the No. 10 defense in the country ... and it will be matched against an offense that has been crippled by injuries and is the worst in the ACC.

-- Even without the Hurricane, weather conditions are expected to be miserable Saturday in Durham.

To me, all that adds up to an over/under in single digits (unless we burn them badly on special teams ... BTW, their kicker is hurting).

Mr. Sumner's 4-2 scenario is looking even more likely now.;)

Wonder if Cut has a swimmer-eligible play?

[budwom]

Hey, let's not go into panic mode here. The current forecast for Saturday is a 90 percent chance of rain with 1/2 inch of rain expected:

http://www.weather.com/weather/5day/l/USNC0192:1:US

There are models that show Hurricane Joaquin passing over or close to Durham -- but that will be well after Saturday's game. the current Hurricane track has Joaquin about even with Jacksonville, Fla., by noon Saturday. It doesn't get to North Carolina -- either through North Carolina or (as most models show) just off the coast until well into Sunday.

I'm interested in the odds for the game. The Vegas odds opened with Duke favored by 6 1/2 ... and have stayed steady. But what's really fascinating is the over/under it started at 36 1/2 and has gone UP to 37.

I think that's crazy. Factor in the following factors:

-- Boston College has the No. 1 defensive in the country ... and it will be matched against an offense that has sputtered the last two weeks.

-- Duke has the No. 10 defense in the country ... and it will be matched against an offense that has been crippled by injuries and is the worst in the ACC.

-- Even without the Hurricane, weather conditions are expected to be miserable Saturday in Durham.

To me, all that adds up to an over/under in single digits (unless we burn them badly on special teams ... BTW, their kicker is hurting).

I can almost always count on you to not read what I post. Having said there's no need to panic, I'll take your advice not to panic.
FWIW, I posted this much more as a weather geek post....just because there's LOTS of uncertainty, and I only pointed out ONE model of many.

[Pghdukie]

A moray eel of a RB to slither his way thru the BC defense would seem appropriate!

[devildeac]

The Weather Channel has gone into an orgiastic lather over Joaquin and the many possibilities he presents.
Right now the various models differ widely, so one one really has a clue where he'll end up, though it's clear with or
without Joaquin, there is going to be a lot of rain in Durham this weekend.

Having said that, one of the models, the U.S. one, calls for Joaquin to make a beeline for Durham, dropping 12-18 inches of rain this weekend.
Might need to pack a snorkel in my carryon....too preliminary to panic, but this could get interesting. I hear Coach Cut might have the team practice in the
pool tomorrow.

This may not be the case of budwom and too many Heady Toppers as one of the forecasts on the Weather Channel at 5 PM today had estimates of 5-8" of rain for central NC through Sunday with the Triangle being in an area with the possibility of 8-12". :eek:

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

This may not be the case of budwom and too many Heady Toppers as one of the forecasts on the Weather Channel at 5 PM today had estimates of 5-8" of rain for central NC through Sunday with the Triangle being in an area with the possibility of 8-12". :eek:
The folks at Duke who are responsible for putting up the tents in Blue Devil Alley have sent out an email summarizing the current weather forecasts, highlighting that safety is a high priority. Those who use the tents for their tailgate parties are asked to reply regarding whether they plan to have a tailgate party Saturday.... a first during the regular season.

[BigWayne]

The Weather Channel has gone into an orgiastic lather over Joaquin and the many possibilities he presents.
Right now the various models differ widely, so one one really has a clue where he'll end up, though it's clear with or
without Joaquin, there is going to be a lot of rain in Durham this weekend.

Having said that, one of the models, the U.S. one, calls for Joaquin to make a beeline for Durham, dropping 12-18 inches of rain this weekend.
Might need to pack a snorkel in my carryon....too preliminary to panic, but this could get interesting. I hear Coach Cut might have the team practice in the
pool tomorrow.

As OF stated, Joaquin will probably not be crossing the border until at least Sunday making it a non-event for the game. Regular old weather is probably going to make it wet anyway.

TWC goes into an orgiastic lather over any tropical storm that might allow them to send some guy out to stand in wind and rain for the camera. This one is in a very unpredictable mode right now which is even better as it allows them to speculate wildly without needing to be held accountable. They will also always choose to promote the path of most destruction to increase ratings.

I expect that about mid-day on Friday is when the models will stabilize on this one and they will be able to make a decent prediction on where it is headed. In the meantime, it's a bad time to be in the Bahamas.

[NSDukeFan]

I wish to subscribe to this gentleman's Duke football (and basketball) notes/updates. ;)

That's one of the major reasons I am on this board.

[BigWayne]

After some effort. I have found the Duke-BC game on local television. It will be shown on Fox Sports Carolinas at 6:00 AM on Sunday morning. At 3:30 PM on Saturday afternoon, Kentucky at Rice will be shown locally. This is according to the Time Warner schedule for the Central Carolina area. Blackout? Looks like it.

Unless I can set up my Samsung TV to stream the game live from ESPN3, I am doomed to watch it on my computer screen. Mrs Jarhead and I live in a pretty nice retirement community at which our internet access is via a campus wide wi-fi network. It cannot be used for streaming via my computer, but my Samsung can handle if I knew how.

Check your TV on Saturday. The game might show up. The Fox Sports South listing for TWC in your area is listing WKU/Rice on both channels 38 and 318. In Charlotte, TWC shows BC/Duke on FSS on channel 40 and WKU/Rice on channel 318. So your listing might be in error that it shows both channels with the same game.

[Olympic Fan]

Check your TV on Saturday. The game might show up. The Fox Sports South listing for TWC in your area is listing WKU/Rice on both channels 38 and 318. In Charlotte, TWC shows BC/Duke on FSS on channel 40 and WKU/Rice on channel 318. So your listing might be in error that it shows both channels with the same game.

This is good advice -- according to the ACC, the Duke-BC game is on Fox Sports South and Fox Sports Carolina. There is no blackout. If you have TWC, you should have the game live.

BTW: Listening to WRAL weather tonight at 11 p.m. and the latest forecast is light and scattered rain for the Triangle Saturday. They said that we'll be between systems Saturday after heavy rain Friday and Friday night and the impact of the approaching Hurricane on Sunday into Monday.

[Faison1]

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/13777644/duke-blue-devils-selling-discounted-tickets-based-rain-forecast-percentages

Over/Under on 25,000 showing up?

Kinda sad the article mentioned only 20,000 watched Duke beat GT. Was attendance already discussed in the Georgia Tech thread?

[uh_no]

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/13777644/duke-blue-devils-selling-discounted-tickets-based-rain-forecast-percentages

Over/Under on 25,000 showing up?

Kinda sad the article mentioned only 20,000 watched Duke beat GT. Was attendance already discussed in the Georgia Tech thread?

it was cold, raining, and miserable.

except for the football part. that was good.

doubt there were even 20k there.

[Bob Green]

BTW: Listening to WRAL weather tonight at 11 p.m. and the latest forecast is light and scattered rain for the Triangle Saturday. They said that we'll be between systems Saturday after heavy rain Friday and Friday night and the impact of the approaching Hurricane on Sunday into Monday.

This is great news. I'm not concerned about sitting in the rain to watch the game, but driving to and from Durham in heavy rain is concerning.


doubt there were even 20k there.

There wasn't, I walked around at halftime and counted.

[jjasper0729]

This is good advice -- according to the ACC, the Duke-BC game is on Fox Sports South and Fox Sports Carolina. There is no blackout. If you have TWC, you should have the game live.

BTW: Listening to WRAL weather tonight at 11 p.m. and the latest forecast is light and scattered rain for the Triangle Saturday. They said that we'll be between systems Saturday after heavy rain Friday and Friday night and the impact of the approaching Hurricane on Sunday into Monday.

Watched htat last night as well trying to gauge things. Have to watch the next couple of nights to see what's going on as I can't exactly venture out to a game with a 4 month old boy if the weather is going to be rainy and cold. Hoping we can get there though.

[Indoor66]

My best read, at this point, is that SunSports will carry the game in South Florida. No certainty, just an educated guess. I hope the weather cooperates and the storm swings East out of the Bahamas.

[left_hook_lacey]

The Weather Channel has gone into an orgiastic lather

Don't they always? And local weather is just as bad. I live in the coastal plains region, and it's always funny to me when the weather anchors sound disappointed when a storm that was supposed to pound us misses us completely and fails to make their career relevant in this day and age of online weather reports and radar.

"So it doesn't look like at this point we will see any major wind or precipitation from this storm system" (sounding sad and delfated that they didn't get to go out to the pier with a raincoat and get a shot of themselves braving the elements)

But then they remember they're not supposed to WANT us to get pounded by a storm...

"But that's a good thing. We really dodged a bullet here." (Trying to find silver linings)

[jimsumner]

The Weather Channel gets a lot of drive-by viewings. People spend a couple of minutes getting their local update and then forget about it.

Unless.

There's a hurricane approaching.

Or a series of bad thunderstorms.

Or an outbreak of tornadoes.

Or a blizzard.

Then people stay and sit a spell.

Which drives ratings.

Which drives ad revenue.

Which drives salaries.

The same for local news. I've had people who work at local TV stations who tell me that ratings skyrocket when there's bad/dangerous weather in the mix.

Now, obviously nobody makes any of this stuff up and I can look out my window and see that it's wet and there really is a Cat-3 hurricane headed in this general direction. And it's better to be over-prepared than under-prepared.

All that said, I don't think it's unfair or over cynical to suggest that TWC and local weather have an incentive to keep people coming back that goes beyond being prepared/informed.

Not to mention that some weather folks are just bad-weather junkies. Raleigh station WRAL has a veteran weather man whose eyes light up when something bad is on the horizon. Full Def-Con-4 mode. He loves this stuff.

[Henderson]

Dang, I'm more curious about the 3 inches of rain currently forecast for today and Friday than the half-inch forecast for Saturday. If that holds up, it's possible that nothing that falls on Saturday will drain or soak in. Meaning the possibility of standing water and mud. I guess we'll see a test of the new field's drainage engineering. Those guys do a great job with that stuff, but it's likely gonna be sloppy with a small crowd. Airowe says bet the under.

[Olympic Fan]

Just to update, according to the weather channel at noon today:

Up to one inch of rain in Durham Thursday, 1-2 inches during the day Friday, 1/2 inch Friday night ... then just 1/4 inch now predicted for Saturday. The monsoon won't arrive until Sunday afternoon -- if the Hurricane heads our way (or even passes slightly east of us).

More and more sounds like gametime will be wet and uncomfortable (high temps 69), but not cataclysmic.

Durham may very well get hammered and the precautions posted on the front page are justified for those in the Triangle area ... but the bad stuff isn't going to arrive until well AFTER the game Saturday. The game itself should be very similar to the Georgia Tech conditions.

[wilson]

...some weather folks are just bad-weather junkies. Raleigh station WRAL has a veteran weather man whose eyes light up when something bad is on the horizon. Full Def-Con-4 mode. He loves this stuff.The late, great EarlJam is quite the weather junkie too.

[devildeac]

The late, great EarlJam is quite the weather junkie too.

The late?

[Bob Green]

The team will wear Blue - Black - Blue uniforms:

5542

[OldPhiKap]

The late?

Well, at least "overdue" by now.

[wilson]

The late?


Well, at least "overdue" by now."Late" in DBR terms. In non-interweb life, Earl O'the Jammeth is still kicking.

[devildeac]

"Late" in DBR terms. In non-interweb life, Earl O'the Jammeth is still kicking.

Whew, good to hear. These days, one never knows. My Meal Jar is still intact;).

I still think it'll be a real low scoring affair on Saturday.

[BigWayne]

Dang, I'm more curious about the 3 inches of rain currently forecast for today and Friday than the half-inch forecast for Saturday. If that holds up, it's possible that nothing that falls on Saturday will drain or soak in. Meaning the possibility of standing water and mud. I guess we'll see a test of the new field's drainage engineering. Those guys do a great job with that stuff, but it's likely gonna be sloppy with a small crowd. Airowe says bet the under.
Duke claims it won't be a problem:

A new irrigation and drainage system will put nearly a mile of plastic pipes under the ground with gravel and then a mixture of sand and soil, with 70 percent sand and 30 percent soil, on top. The field was then sprigged with nearly 1,200 sprigs to the bushel, a high concentration to allow for a thick surface. The field will also have a new 12-inch crown, with lasers used to ensure an even crown. The drainage system, hooked into a new main sewer line, will be able to take up to nine inches an hour of rain or water away from the field's playing surface.

[sagegrouse]

Duke claims it won't be a problem:

A new irrigation and drainage system will put nearly a mile of plastic pipes under the ground with gravel and then a mixture of sand and soil, with 70 percent sand and 30 percent soil, on top. The field was then sprigged with nearly 1,200 sprigs to the bushel, a high concentration to allow for a thick surface. The field will also have a new 12-inch crown, with lasers used to ensure an even crown. The drainage system, hooked into a new main sewer line, will be able to take up to nine inches an hour of rain or water away from the field's playing surface.

This super-confident statement almost guarantees a flood of biblical scale!

[Olympic Fan]

Latest weather news (11 p.m. Thursday) is good ... or at least getting better.

First, the hurricane is curving East into the Atlantic -- even the most pessimistic track takes it well out into the Atlantic -- no where near North Carolina. And the current track has it well off the coast of Florida at 8 pm Saturday, so even if it did make a left turn, it wouldn't be near us until long after the game is over.

Second, the heavy rain we are expected to get is projected to fall from tonight to late Friday night or early Saturday morning. Only light rain Saturday (but the area will be very wet).

Overall, the Triangle is expected to get around three inches of rain in the next five days -- but only about 1/4 to 1/2 an inch Saturday. So no major problems.

PS The heaviest rain for this system -- up to 20 inches over the next five days, is expected to fall in a band that stretches northwest from Columbia, SC -- right over Clemson, SC. I hope the ESPN GameDay crew has a covered set ... and the Clemson-Notre Dame Saturday night could get the kind of deluge that many feared we'd see Saturday in Durham.

[BigWayne]

This super-confident statement almost guarantees a flood of biblical scale!

Well it is a system that can take care of rain OR water. Speaking of which, did you see the videos of James Madison Univ. this week?

[Bob Green]

The weather map looks okay this morning. Most of the rain appears to be West and South of Durham with the front moving Northwest.

http://www.wral.com/live_dualdoppler5000_radar/1068935/

I'll be headed out the door and North Carolina bound in a few minutes.

[DukeDevil]

This super-confident statement almost guarantees a flood of biblical scale!
I do recall the commentators saying that the field drained impressively well the last time we had a lot of rain prior to the game. I imagine field construction technology has come a long way these days, and it sounds like they really put a lot of thought into making sure it can drain extremely well.

On a side note: I would highly support Jeremy Cash yelling "JOAQUIIIIIIIIN" every time he runs down their QB (ie: from The Book of Life for those who've seen it).

[uh_no]

game day. rip em up, tear em up

[Olympic Fan]

It's time to stop worrying about the weather (unpleasant, but not nothing worse than last week) and start worrying about the BC defense.

THAT is our problem today, not the light and scattered rain.

We need to win the turnover battle (something we have not done yet this year -- we were even with NCCU and had a minus-one TO margin against Tulane, Northwestern and Georgia Tech) -- and win the kicking game (we've done that every game except Northwestern, when it really cost us).

Do those two things and I think we're okay. Screw up either of those areas and we could be in real trouble.

[devildeac]

Line on the game today was Duke favored by 7. I'm not sure if that's the over/under also considering the Duke and BC defenses:rolleyes:.

[Mabdul Doobakus]

I'll be following this game on an airplane this afternoon. Hopefully there's a chat going. Calling a 6-5 win for Duke with probably a record setting pace for checkdowns, tackles for losses, and--everyone's favorite--punts. Should be a good one.

As always in a tight game, turnovers and special teams are likely to have a huge impact. We've been sloppy this season so far with the turnovers, and special teams have been a mixed bag. This afternoon would be a great time to get it together.

[killerleft]

If the mighty Haw stays below the bridge on I-85 North, three of us will join the core group of fans that can be counted on to back the Blue Devils at Wally Wade. May the spirit move a lot more of us to get to the game, especially the students!

Go Duke!!

[left_hook_lacey]

A BC offense that wasn't very good to begin with and now without its starting QB and starting RB? I'm surprised we're not favored by more than 6.5-7 points.

Oh well, guess I'll take the over....again. Will they never learn?

[peloton]

game day. rip em up, tear em up

...give 'em hell, Duke!! I predict that today will be Braxton Deaver's coming out (again) party. Let's go Devils...pummel the Panthers!

[mattman91]

Chat?

[riverside6]

Live stats and play analysis for Duke/Boston College...

http://www.scacchoops.com/boston-college-at-duke-football-live-stats-10032015

[DukeDevil]

Is chat going to be on?

[duke09hms]

So still early in the game but Sirk looking a lot better in the pass game

[Mabdul Doobakus]

Just following along on an airplane, but 6.8 yards per attempt is a huge improvement.

[duke09hms]

Just following along on an airplane, but 6.8 yards per attempt is a huge improvement.

Has hit several long completions of 15+ in the air.

[duke09hms]

BC having success running the ball on us

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

BC not having success on replays.

BC coach had some pretty choice words for the officials on that no-TD call. It was close. I'll take it.

[duke09hms]

Wow sometimes it's good to be lucky. 50-50 BC TD pass gets reviewed and call stands, incomplete. Then BC flubs the FG snap. Bend but don't break!!

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Chat?

Seems not

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Latest weather news (11 p.m. Thursday) is good ... or at least getting better.

First, the hurricane is curving East into the Atlantic -- even the most pessimistic track takes it well out into the Atlantic -- no where near North Carolina. And the current track has it well off the coast of Florida at 8 pm Saturday, so even if it did make a left turn, it wouldn't be near us until long after the game is over.

Second, the heavy rain we are expected to get is projected to fall from tonight to late Friday night or early Saturday morning. Only light rain Saturday (but the area will be very wet).

Overall, the Triangle is expected to get around three inches of rain in the next five days -- but only about 1/4 to 1/2 an inch Saturday. So no major problems.

PS The heaviest rain for this system -- up to 20 inches over the next five days, is expected to fall in a band that stretches northwest from Columbia, SC -- right over Clemson, SC. I hope the ESPN GameDay crew has a covered set ... and the Clemson-Notre Dame Saturday night could get the kind of deluge that many feared we'd see Saturday in Durham.

Plenty of water here in Western NC.

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

Ross Martin for President!

[duke09hms]

Damnnnnnn Martin with a 53yd FG! Ties career long.

Set up by a 29yd. Pass from Sirk to Rahming. No yds after catch :)

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

In lieu of chat, following along on Gamecast... impressed with three field goals on a presumably poor surface.

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

In lieu of chat, following along on Gamecast... impressed with three field goals on a presumably poor surface.
The field looks great. Not much slipping and sliding going on.

[Zeb]

It is weird to see shots of the stadium being expanded and the stands appear 20% full.

That said, go Duke! They are playing great and making the most of their luck.

[juise]

Very fortunate on that play in the end zone, but we'll take it. After what The DB play I witnessed in my college years, seeing 0 passing yards in a half is almost unbelievable.

[75Crazie]

The field looks great. Not much slipping and sliding going on.
I am gobsmacked at the seemingly pristine condition of the field after one half of play, given what I've heard about the amount of rain that's fallen there the past couple of weeks. The field architects and workers deserve a commendation.

[duke09hms]

Barnes redemption!!!!!

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

Well that was awful.

[duke09hms]

Well that was awful.

Yea shoulda just ran Sirk

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

Ugh. 3 and outs piling up this half.

[duke09hms]

Yeah looks like it's back on our defense to save us

[75Crazie]

BC with all the momentum right now, but still no points.

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

Second half play calling leaving a lot to be desired.

[TKG]

2-11 on third downs.
34 yards rushing.

Tough to watch.

[grossbus]

Throwing to the sideline didn't work so we tried it again?



Our db's can't cover. That was awful.

[duke09hms]

Is that breon borders? Been burned twice on long pass plays already

[75Crazie]

Offense needs to get untracked, and right now, or this will be a loss.

[duke09hms]

Can we have cutcliffe take over play calling from Scottie?

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

I just don't understand that goal line series. 1st and goal at the 1. You put Sirk under center and cram it in. Don't run from the frickin shotgun. Grrrrrrr.

[ChrisP]

Not getting points after they fumbled the punt is going to come back to haunt us, I fear. A FG would have put us up 2 scores. Why not go for 3 there? Lots of head scratching coaching decisions thus far this season.

[duke09hms]

Ok we need to use alllllll the play clock now

[Wander]

Not getting points after they fumbled the punt is going to come back to haunt us, I fear. A FG would have put us up 2 scores. Why not go for 3 there? Lots of head scratching coaching decisions thus far this season.

No, I think it was the right decision. We were already up 2 scores - the difference was between 12-0 and 9-0. I think it's worth the risk to change it from a 2 possession game to a 3 possession game, even against a defense as good as BC's. Obviously, it didn't work out this time.

[mattman91]

Would have went for the 51 yard FG there. Martin has been money.

[duke09hms]

No, I think it was the right decision. We were already up 2 scores - the difference was between 12-0 and 9-0. I think it's worth the risk to change it from a 2 possession game to a 3 possession game, even against a defense as good as BC's. Obviously, it didn't work out this time.

Right decision but terrible play calls. Really not happy with scotties play calling these last 2 yrs. breaking in a new OC is not what we need

[CDu]

No, I think it was the right decision. We were already up 2 scores - the difference was between 12-0 and 9-0. I think it's worth the risk to change it from a 2 possession game to a 3 possession game, even against a defense as good as BC's. Obviously, it didn't work out this time.

Just to be clear, a TD there fldoesn't make it a 3-possession game (unless we got a 2-pt conversion). That said, I am ok with the call, just bad playcalling.

[ChrisP]

I disagree about not going for the FG. When you're playing against a top defense, you take the points when you get the chance. I know we were moving it some against BC in the first but...look at what we've done in the 2nd. Offense has been anemic this half.

Sirk needs to settle down a bit, too.

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

This play calling is absolutely absurd.

[grossbus]

You would hope the the play caller would realize we can't get yardage up the middle when they expect it.

[duke09hms]

Prefer not to run it from the shotgun up the center 2 out of 3 plays too.

Why not try to use the whole play clock when protecting a lead.

[mattman91]

This play calling is absolutely absurd.

Did we hire Mike Shula this week?

[duke09hms]

Did we hire Mike Shula this week?

Nope same play calling from the last 2 weeks

[ChrisP]

SMH at play calling on that 3rd and short

[grossbus]

Defense wearing down?

[duke09hms]

Defense wearing down?

Looks like it. BC grinding first downs with sensible playcalling

[mattman91]

Defense wearing down?

BC finally establishing a passing game.

[Mabdul Doobakus]

Didn't have a chance to say it at the time and haven't actually seen a minute of the game, but I didn't like passing up three points on that 4th and goal. You get those the and BC needs two TDs to go ahead and you can go back ahead with just a field goal.

[arnie]

SMH at play calling on that 3rd and short

Better hope BC doesn't score here - doubt Duke puts more points on board

[ChrisP]

Didn't have a chance to say it at the time and haven't actually seen a minute of the game, but I didn't like passing up three points on that 4th and goal. You get those the and BC needs two TDs to go ahead and you can go back ahead with just a field goal.

What he said!

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

Better hope BC doesn't score here - doubt Duke puts more points on board
Well if they score, maybe we'll stop running up the middle.

[duke09hms]

Huge 3rd down coming up. If we don't hold them for little or no yds, looks like a 10-9 loss for us.

[Mabdul Doobakus]

This team puts such a ridiculous load on the defense.

[TKG]

Well if they score, maybe we'll stop running up the middle.

Was there a change to the Offensive Coordinator?

[duke09hms]

Watch our OC call us to a 3 and out.

[TKG]

What is the over/under on the number of passes called on this crucial possession?

[duke09hms]

I was at the last bc game in Boston and BC lost it on a missed 30yder as time expired. Duke win 20-19 hahaha. Go Duke! Cmon offense.

[ChrisP]

Dodged a huge bullet there! Whew. Defense playing well overall. Need offense to step up!

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

Was there a change to the Offensive Coordinator?
And the answer is... No.

[mattman91]

This is sad.

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

Wow. Just, wow.

[duke09hms]

Omg what is wrong with our playcalling. Did the entire defense hit on scottie montgomerys daughter or something?

[TKG]

Watch our OC call us to a 3 and out.

You must have inside information.

[Mabdul Doobakus]

This offense has got to be historically bad.

[Zeb]

Why oh why did we not call three runs with 3:30 left in the game?

[mattman91]

Big hit!

[ChrisP]

Geez, if we'd had a running play on 2nd either we would have burned some valuable clock or else forced them to take another TO. Awful punt too. Wth is going on????

[TKG]

Scottie bailed out by BC

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

Love our defense. Thank you guys.

[CDu]

Well, at least we are still in thr discussion for trendy sleeper status for the playoff. [end sarcasm]

[duke09hms]

Well, at least we are still in thr discussion for trendy sleeper status for the playoff. [end sarcasm]

Maybe if we move Montgomery back to WR coach ...

[Faison1]

I'm only able to track the game on ESPN Live Stats.....judging by the numbers, this is really, really ugly

What in the world??? Is it raining hard?

[TKG]

I love our guys but our offense is just horrid.

[duke09hms]

I'm only able to track the game on ESPN Live Stats.....judging by the numbers, this is really, really ugly

What in the world??? Is it raining hard?

Nope not really and Brooks Field is holding up amazingly under the weather.

[Mabdul Doobakus]

Gonna be a strange season.

[Wander]

I agree with most of the sentiment here that our offense needs to improve a lot if we want to compete for the ACC championship and that our playcalling leaves something to be desired at times, but I wouldn't be that discouraged. FSU only scored 14 on them (the half yard we missed on 4th and goal is the difference between us scoring the most points on BC of their 5 opponents this season). BC's defense, even though the stats are inflated by weak opponents, really is very good.

[duke09hms]

I agree with most of the sentiment here that our offense needs to improve a lot if we want to compete for the ACC championship and that our playcalling leaves something to be desired at time, but I wouldn't be that discouraged. FSU only scored 14 on them. BC's defense, even though the stats are inflated by weak opponents, really is very good.

Yeah we can all see that but it's the consistently shooting ourselves in the foot that makes no sense. When going up against a top D, why make it harder than it has to be?!

[Pghdukie]

I made comments before the season about installing turf so close to the season. I am humbled. The field conditions I thought were outstanding amid all the rain. Kudos to grounds crew ! Can ground vamp up the offense as well ?

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

Yeah we can all see that but it's the consistently shooting ourselves in the foot that makes no sense. When going up against a top D, why make it harder than it has to be?!
Exactly. For example, Sirk is 240 lbs. Slam the damn ball in from under center. Don't turn 1yd line plays into 5yd line plays against a defense like that when they know you're running. Even if it takes him three QB sneaks, he's gonna get it. Sheesh.

[wsb3]

Exactly. For example, Sirk is 240 lbs. Slam the damn ball in from under center. Don't turn 1yd line plays into 5yd line plays against a defense like that when they know you're running. Even if it takes him three QB sneaks, he's gonna get it. Sheesh.


You make a great point about turning a one yard play into a five yard play..Might be the only time in my life I wanted a team I wanted to win to kick the field goal in that situation..I did not have the confidence that they would make one yard when they failed to on the previous three attempts. But I certainly understand going for it & I am not going to be critical of the play call. If we go up 16-0 the way the D was playing I thought it was ball game..

The biggest play of the game I thought was the second down at the end & the hit knocked their QB out of the game because they were moving the ball & they had momentum. I knew he had to come out for one play & was glad to see him not come back on the field for fourth down..

Whew.. What an escape.

[grossbus]

I intensely dislike the (our) bubble (is burst) screen.

[Atldukie79]

I think we can say that BC's defense is outstanding.
Our play book seems very slim at this point. Few misdirection plays or reverses. Screen passes were snuffed.

Most interesting were the decisions not to attempt FGs from the one yd line and the possible 51 yd attempt...that after Martin had made a 54 yarder earlier. 15 points would have been a lot less nerve wracking than 9 at the end.

The 4th and goal attempt for a TD I understand, but that was followed by some long offensive plays by BC that flipped the field.

However, a 4-1 with a great shot at 5-1 looks pretty sweet.
And Pitt and UNC are starting to look like our competition in the Coastal!

[Tripping William]

Well, at least we are still in thr discussion for trendy sleeper status for the playoff. [end sarcasm]

We escaped about like tOSU did .... :cool:

[Potato Head]

I don't know a lot about football tactics but it felt like we were stubbornly trying to run the ball down the middle the whole game without mixing it up at all, and got dominated as a result. Maybe some running outside the tackles with Wilson or even a reverse to someone like Rahming might have opened up the middle a bit.

Also, Sirk's arm looked pretty good for a good chunk of this game, and while it would be nice if he could put all together for four quarters, I think there's enough there to be optimistic about.

[grossbus]

Every time we ran it up the middle, they seemed to have someone unblocked.

[FerryFor50]

Pretty cool tidbit about Ross Martin in the Laura Keeley recap:

http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/acc/duke/duke-now/article37659234.html

As for the offense, it looked way better than it did against GT. Sirk was actually throwing a bit downfield. And if Rahming doesn't whiff on that deep TD (right through the arms), we aren't complaining as much about the offense.

I was disappointed that the O got more conservative in the 2nd half, but I suspect it was by design to try to shorten the game. BC has a solid defense and a horrid offense. Why risk making a mistake that results in easy points for the offense?

Duke won the field position battle most of the day until Monday shanked one and Flutie threw TD. It was ugly, but it was a win. I expect the offense will look much better against Army.

[uh_no]

Pretty cool tidbit about Ross Martin in the Laura Keeley recap:

http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/acc/duke/duke-now/article37659234.html

As for the offense, it looked way better than it did against GT. Sirk was actually throwing a bit downfield. And if Rahming doesn't whiff on that deep TD (right through the arms), we aren't complaining as much about the offense.

I was disappointed that the O got more conservative in the 2nd half, but I suspect it was by design to try to shorten the game. BC has a solid defense and a horrid offense. Why risk making a mistake that results in easy points for the offense?

Duke won the field position battle most of the day until Monday shanked one and Flutie threw TD. It was ugly, but it was a win. I expect the offense will look much better against Army.

It's like the prevent offense! and it almost worked!

[duke09hms]

Pretty cool tidbit about Ross Martin in the Laura Keeley recap:

http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/acc/duke/duke-now/article37659234.html

I was disappointed that the O got more conservative in the 2nd half, but I suspect it was by design to try to shorten the game. BC has a solid defense and a horrid offense. Why risk making a mistake that results in easy points for the offense?

Duke won the field position battle most of the day until Monday shanked one and Flutie threw TD. It was ugly, but it was a win. I expect the offense will look much better against Army.

Sure but if we're trying to be conservative on offense and kill the game let's do it right. Why run plays with 25 secs on the clock. Or call pass plays with 3:30 left. Our 3-and-outs could take at least 2 mins that way instead of 30 seconds.

Crushing army's defense will tell us nothing. Just based on how both teams are doing at this point in time, I'd figure UNC are favorites to win the coastal.

[FerryFor50]

It's like the prevent offense! and it almost worked!

It did work - it prevented offense :) (and helped win the game)

[Olympic Fan]

Just a couple of notes:

-- For all the criticism of the offense, Duke did gain 228 total yards against the BC defense -- that's the most BC has given up in five games. Florida State only managed 217 yards against the Eagles. And we actually gained 239 total yards -- we lost 11 team yards on kneel down plays (one at the end of the half and three at the end of the game). And while we didn't get a touchdown, we did score more offensive points than Florida State (their offense put up just seven points against BC).

-- I thought Thomas Sirk has his best passing game (against a real opponent). He was 18-of-36 for 195 yards ... meaning he actually averaged almost 11 yards a completion. He also had three throws that drew pass interference penalties -- hence we gained 240 yards in the passing game. Sirk also had at least three balls dropped, including a perfect throw to Rahming in the corner of the end zone that should have been a TD. He's still not there yet, but I saw real progress today against a GREAT pass defense (FSU got 119 yards in the air against them).

-- We did win the kicking game -- Martin was perfect on three FGs, including a 53-yarder into the wind ... they botched two makeable field goals. Monday punted very well for three quarters, helping us win the field position battle. Going into the fourth quarter, he had five kicks for a 49.6 yard average and just 10 yards in returns. But early in the fourth, he punted from the BC 34 and had a poor punt out of bounds at the 14 -- still better than a touchback. A little later, he punted from the BC 43 and again trying to avoid a touchvack, mis-hit it out of bounds at the 24. Finally, needing a boomer from the Duke 25, he had his worst kick of the year -- just 25 yards to set the Eagles up at midfield.

-- For the second week in a row, Jeremy Cash made what I consider a game-saving defensive play at the end. A week ago, he forced Justin Thomas into the fumble that ended the last Georgia Tech threat. This time he made an amazing play with BC just out of range for the game-winning field goal. The Eagles had it second and 3 at the Duke 43 after Monday's short punt. On the second down play, Flutie scrambled to his right -- he had a step on the pursuing defensive tackle and seemed certain to get the first down inside the 40. But Cash reacted quickly and hit Flutie like a ton of bricks at the 42. It was like he ran into a wall -- he stopped that quickly. On replay, I looked but a perfectly legal hit -- Cash led with his shoulder and hit Flutie in the chest. It not only forced a third and 2 situation, it knocked Flutie out of the game ... and the kid Smith came in and was clearly flustered, making two bad throws to end the last BC threat.

Pay attention to Mr. Cash -- we are seeing a great player having a great senior season. We won't see anything like it again for a long time.

-- Brilliant defensive strategy by Jim Knowles. He knew that BC would come out and try and overpower Duke up front with a huge offensive line, two huge TEs and a huge FB in front of a large running back. Knowles opened the game with four defensive tackles starting -- and with DE Kyler Brown returning to his old LB position. We didn't have to run that set but about one-third of the game, but it did force BC out of its big package.

All in all, a great, gutty win. I know it wasn't pretty, but for the second week in a row, Duke found a way ... now a game they definitely should win at Army, then we get a week off to prepare for the trip to Virginia Tech. Nothing is guaranteed, but this team is in great shape going forward.

--

[Faison1]

Dare I ask about attendance?

Or, at this point, is the subject better left for dead?

On a bright note, I'm still waiting to hear when the statue of Cutcliffe in the pavilion entrance of the stadium goes up. That guy is amazing....a Godsend...a once in a lifetime gift to Duke Football. My respect for him grows like the kudzu in Georgia. We should pin a permanent "thank you" thread for him.

How lucky is Duke Athletics????

[brevity]

No one asked, but I figured I'd evaluate Duke's chances of entering the Top 25. On the surface it seems unlikely, but if you look closer you'll see it's... still unlikely, but more borderline than you'd think.

In the AP poll, 7 teams lost, but four were in the Top 10 and won't fall out of the rankings. The other three were #19 Wisconsin (lost to #30 Iowa, now 5-0), #21 Mississippi State (lost to #14 Texas A&M), and #23 West Virginia (lost to #15 Oklahoma). That leaves 3 openings.

Here are the teams that also received votes in last week's poll:

26. Toledo: won, now 4-0
27. Oregon: about to win, will be 3-2
28. Arizona: lost, now 3-2
29. Boise State: won, now 4-1
30. Iowa: won (see above), now 5-0
31. Texas Tech: lost, now 3-2
32. Duke: won, now 4-1
33. Temple: won, now 4-0
34. Miami: lost, now 3-1
35. Kansas State: lost, now 3-1
36. Memphis: won, now 5-0
37. NC State: lost, now 4-1
38. Navy: won, now 4-0
39. Minnesota: lost, now 3-2
40. BYU: won, now 3-2
41. Tennessee: lost, now 2-3

Iowa is in. The rest is unclear because of Oregon, who is still ranked in the Coaches' Poll. I would guess two of Toledo, Oregon, and Boise State will be ranked. Toledo is undefeated, just missed being ranked last week, and has that win at Arkansas. Boise State would be undefeated but for that freaky loss to BYU.

These things aren't really linear, but Duke should still be one of the 2 or 3 top vote-getters among unranked teams. So, #27 or #28. They'll be joined by the least popular of Toledo/Oregon/Boise State, the fallen Wisconsin/Mississippi State/West Virginia, and a trio of undefeated AAC teams in Temple/Memphis/Navy.

[Bob Green]

The wind was a factor yesterday. Monday's poor 4th quarter punts were affected by the wind. I was surprised we couldn't achieve any success running the ball. I predicted we would utilize a two running back set a lot in this game, reality is we did not, I was wrong, which is no big surprise. Sirk successfully threw the ball down the field so that is a development to be optimistic about. There were several dropped passes so his passing stats could have been much better. He is a work in progress and yesterday we saw progress. On the 4th and goal, I would have kicked the field goal to go up 12-0. In a low scoring game, it is prudent to take points when you can get them. Coach Cutcliffe decided to go for the knockout.

Bottom line - Boston College defense is legit. So while our offense has seemed to struggle mightily, it must be taken into consideration we have faced a couple of solid defenses in BC and Northwestern.

Bottom line #2 - we won! We are 4-1 and 2-0 in the ACC.

[budwom]

Just a couple of notes:

-- For all the criticism of the offense, Duke did gain 228 total yards against the BC defense -- that's the most BC has given up in five games. Florida State only managed 217 yards against the Eagles. And we actually gained 239 total yards -- we lost 11 team yards on kneel down plays (one at the end of the half and three at the end of the game). And while we didn't get a touchdown, we did score more offensive points than Florida State (their offense put up just seven points against BC).

-- I thought Thomas Sirk has his best passing game (against a real opponent). He was 18-of-36 for 195 yards ... meaning he actually averaged almost 11 yards a completion. He also had three throws that drew pass interference penalties -- hence we gained 240 yards in the passing game. Sirk also had at least three balls dropped, including a perfect throw to Rahming in the corner of the end zone that should have been a TD. He's still not there yet, but I saw real progress today against a GREAT pass defense (FSU got 119 yards in the air against them).

-- We did win the kicking game -- Martin was perfect on three FGs, including a 53-yarder into the wind ... they botched two makeable field goals. Monday punted very well for three quarters, helping us win the field position battle. Going into the fourth quarter, he had five kicks for a 49.6 yard average and just 10 yards in returns. But early in the fourth, he punted from the BC 34 and had a poor punt out of bounds at the 14 -- still better than a touchback. A little later, he punted from the BC 43 and again trying to avoid a touchvack, mis-hit it out of bounds at the 24. Finally, needing a boomer from the Duke 25, he had his worst kick of the year -- just 25 yards to set the Eagles up at midfield.

-- For the second week in a row, Jeremy Cash made what I consider a game-saving defensive play at the end. A week ago, he forced Justin Thomas into the fumble that ended the last Georgia Tech threat. This time he made an amazing play with BC just out of range for the game-winning field goal. The Eagles had it second and 3 at the Duke 43 after Monday's short punt. On the second down play, Flutie scrambled to his right -- he had a step on the pursuing defensive tackle and seemed certain to get the first down inside the 40. But Cash reacted quickly and hit Flutie like a ton of bricks at the 42. It was like he ran into a wall -- he stopped that quickly. On replay, I looked but a perfectly legal hit -- Cash led with his shoulder and hit Flutie in the chest. It not only forced a third and 2 situation, it knocked Flutie out of the game ... and the kid Smith came in and was clearly flustered, making two bad throws to end the last BC threat.

Pay attention to Mr. Cash -- we are seeing a great player having a great senior season. We won't see anything like it again for a long time.

-- Brilliant defensive strategy by Jim Knowles. He knew that BC would come out and try and overpower Duke up front with a huge offensive line, two huge TEs and a huge FB in front of a large running back. Knowles opened the game with four defensive tackles starting -- and with DE Kyler Brown returning to his old LB position. We didn't have to run that set but about one-third of the game, but it did force BC out of its big package.

All in all, a great, gutty win. I know it wasn't pretty, but for the second week in a row, Duke found a way ... now a game they definitely should win at Army, then we get a week off to prepare for the trip to Virginia Tech. Nothing is guaranteed, but this team is in great shape going forward.

--

Many good points. Painful at times to watch our offense, but the BC defense is one of the very best I've seen in recent years, those guys are tough.
I liked the fact we looked downfield more, eschewed the passes to the flat....Rahming looks likes he's beginning to emerge.
Cash knocking Flutie out was, to me, the key....I feared they'd get good field position with him at QB. He got crushed.
Opportunity knocks this week vs. a decent (they gave PSU a battle yesterday) Army team....offense should be able to get a lot more done...we should be substantial favorites, and hopefully Sirk
and the offense continue to evolve.
Looks like the Va. Tech game will be yet another defensive struggle...with 100 yards vs Pitt yesterday, their offense was just dreadful.

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

Many good points. Painful at times to watch our offense, but the BC defense is one of the very best I've seen in recent years, those guys are tough.
I liked the fact we looked downfield more, eschewed the passes to the flat....Rahming looks likes he's beginning to emerge.
Cash knocking Flutie out was, to me, the key....I feared they'd get good field position with him at QB. He got crushed.
Opportunity knocks this week vs. a decent (they gave PSU a battle yesterday) Army team....offense should be able to get a lot more done...we should be substantial favorites, and hopefully Sirk
and the offense continue to evolve.
Looks like the Va. Tech game will be yet another defensive struggle...with 100 yards vs Pitt yesterday, their offense was just dreadful.
Sirk certainly has plenty of room for improvement, but I'm hoping the play calling continues to evolve. I'm tired of the continuous sideways passing... Demaryius Thomas ain't on that field. And how about a little variety in the run game? We have potent weapons. Scottie need to unleash them a bit. Yesterday's second half play calling was atrocious and played right into BC's hands. We got lucky.

[ramdevil]

Adding my two cents:
Attendance by students was great considering the conditions - looked to me that there were 3x as many students as last week.

Duke had no turnovers - fantastic improvement over last week.

Sirk looked much better this week than last week. I counted at least 4 passes that should have been completions - and maybe 1 or 2 more that would were catch-able.

Duke's offensive line was getting pushed back by BC on most runs.

Agree that Cash's hit on Flutie was the play of the game. It kept BC from a first down. Flutie was playing with confidence - when he was in BC moved the ball very well - so when he had to stop playing, it was a huge loss for BC. Overall, we thought Cash was quiet in the first half, but in the second half he was active - and they had him playing everywhere.



Best part: the team looked and acted confident and excited all through the 4th quarter as BC was making their push to win. The fans were on their feet - I don't know if it was loud on the field, but we were definitely trying to make noise. So many games in the past I remember cheering the team on as they tried to hold a lead, only to leave WW depressed. Not this week, and not last week. Go Duke, and Go Duke Football!

[devildeac]

Just for grins (yea, yea, I know it's still waaay early in the season):


2015 Atlantic Coast Conference - Coastal Standings:

Duke
4-1
2-0
cheaters
4-1
1-0
Pittsburgh
3-1
1-0
Miami (FL)
3-1
0-0
Georgia Tech
2-3
0-2
Virginia Tech
2-3
0-1
Virginia
1-3
0-0

Damn you, GT. You had a 21-0 lead and lost the freaking game!:mad:

[uh_no]

Dare I ask about attendance?

Or, at this point, is the subject better left for dead?


attendance in iffy weather is a crapshoot. not only was it miserable against GT, which will likely drive people away from combing back to a crappy situation a second week in a row, but they were hyping up the weather.

They had the whole promotion about the deals based on chance of rain, and this storm was so ridiculously hyped, that people were scared away weather the whether was ended up being bad or not. I was inside all afternoon, but it didn't end up being THAT bad out, but people already weren't coming.

Further, 4 home games in a row will also drive people away. it's just a lot of time to give to be at games.

That said, if we come back with 2 more wins at 6-1, people will be there for a big game vs miami, and if we were to come back 8-1 after winning at UNC, the place would be packed for pitt i imagine, especially since if we were to go undefeated through then, a win at pitt would put us 6-0 in conference, which, having already beat all the important coastal foes, would almost assuredly clinch the division.

I don't expect all that though.

[budwom]

FWIW, the present Sagarin ratings (getting a tad more meaningful this time of year) would have us favored vs everyone on our remaining schedule except for unc, and we're barely behind them.
Having said that, I think the Miami and unc games are apt to be tough unless we get our offense ramped up, which is, of course, possible.

Best chances for remaining wins (to me) are Army, Wake and Va.
VT and Pitt should be defensive slogs. We should be very competitive.
Miami and unc should require more horsepower....but hardly unwinnable games...

[Olympic Fan]

FWIW, the present Sagarin ratings (getting a tad more meaningful this time of year) would have us favored vs everyone on our remaining schedule except for unc, and we're barely behind them.
Having said that, I think the Miami and unc games are apt to be tough unless we get our offense ramped up, which is, of course, possible.

Best chances for remaining wins (to me) are Army, Wake and Va.
VT and Pitt should be defensive slogs. We should be very competitive.
Miami and unc should require more horsepower....but hardly unwinnable games...

I'd prefer to focus on Army at the moment -- definitely a game Duke should win.

I know that they played Penn State tough Saturday, but a couple of reasons that's not a huge concern:

-- The game was played in miserable conditions
-- Penn State, playing without it's top two RBs, fumbled eight times (I think they lost three)
-- Duke is a LOT better than this Penn State team

That said, this week's game is not a lock, but it's close to that -- if we play anywhere close to our normal game, we win easily. This Army team is not good -- 1-4 with losses to Fordham, Wake Forest, UConn and now Penn State ... their one win was over Eastern Michigan.

Get to 5-1 and during the open week, we can speculate about the rest of the schedule.

[Olympic Fan]

No one asked, but I figured I'd evaluate Duke's chances of entering the Top 25. On the surface it seems unlikely, but if you look closer you'll see it's... still unlikely, but more borderline than you'd think.

In the AP poll, 7 teams lost, but four were in the Top 10 and won't fall out of the rankings. The other three were #19 Wisconsin (lost to #30 Iowa, now 5-0), #21 Mississippi State (lost to #14 Texas A&M), and #23 West Virginia (lost to #15 Oklahoma). That leaves 3 openings.

Here are the teams that also received votes in last week's poll:

26. Toledo: won, now 4-0
27. Oregon: about to win, will be 3-2
28. Arizona: lost, now 3-2
29. Boise State: won, now 4-1
30. Iowa: won (see above), now 5-0
31. Texas Tech: lost, now 3-2
32. Duke: won, now 4-1
33. Temple: won, now 4-0
34. Miami: lost, now 3-1
35. Kansas State: lost, now 3-1
36. Memphis: won, now 5-0
37. NC State: lost, now 4-1
38. Navy: won, now 4-0
39. Minnesota: lost, now 3-2
40. BYU: won, now 3-2
41. Tennessee: lost, now 2-3

Iowa is in. The rest is unclear because of Oregon, who is still ranked in the Coaches' Poll. I would guess two of Toledo, Oregon, and Boise State will be ranked. Toledo is undefeated, just missed being ranked last week, and has that win at Arkansas. Boise State would be undefeated but for that freaky loss to BYU.

These things aren't really linear, but Duke should still be one of the 2 or 3 top vote-getters among unranked teams. So, #27 or #28. They'll be joined by the least popular of Toledo/Oregon/Boise State, the fallen Wisconsin/Mississippi State/West Virginia, and a trio of undefeated AAC teams in Temple/Memphis/Navy.

Good guess ... the coaches poll is out and Duke is No. 27 -- nine votes behind No. 25 Memphis. Thats close enough that with a win at Army and a few bottom20-25 losses, we should sneak in next week. Still waiting on the AP poll, but I expect it will be similar:

http://espn.go.com/college-football/rankings

[budwom]

I think Army threw one pass yesterday. They have a good running game, but not as good as GT's. We should be able to stop them quite well.

On the other side of the ball, I think this is a good game for our passing game to break out. I'll be surprised and disappointed if we
don't succeed throwing the ball down the field quite a bit.

[MattC09]

Sure but if we're trying to be conservative on offense and kill the game let's do it right. Why run plays with 25 secs on the clock. Or call pass plays with 3:30 left. Our 3-and-outs could take at least 2 mins that way instead of 30 seconds.

Crushing army's defense will tell us nothing. Just based on how both teams are doing at this point in time, I'd figure UNC are favorites to win the coastal.


Our clock management has been noticeably bad the last two games. On our penultimate drive yesterday, Duke threw on second down when BC had one timeout left. If Duke had run the ball, it would have forced BC to use its last timeout and then allowed Duke to run time off the clock. We were also snapping the ball well before the play clock expired late in both games. Both instances could have cost us the game. Clock management shouldn't be that difficult and should be a strength, but it certainly hasn't been so far.

[nyesq83]

Temp was in low 60's but it really felt warmer, even with the minimal "wind chill."

The day was a mixed bag of weather, with occasional brief drizzles, followed by brief, squalling fatter drops of rain for five minutes or less.

Three or four times the sun broke through the clouds, only to be followed by more light or drizzly rain.

Wind came mostly out of the north, and the curvature of the new building on the west side seemed to accelerate the wind speed.

At no time did I feel cold and may hands and feet were warm game-long.

While it was breezy and the sun came out, I put up my new Duke flag, Devil Head in the corner with blue and white stripes, and that thing was snapping in the breeze on the southwest end of the stadium.

Then it rained and I tucked it away haha.

Sirk missed on maybe three or more passes where he threw behind the receivers. Some improvement.

Timing between QB and the corps needs more work.

One thing: when sitting on the west side of the stadium, I cheer as loud as I can - so the people in front of me can hear it, but - most important - so the players on the sideline hear it - if the active players on the field can hear it, that is a bonus.

We were a smallish crowd, but a loud crowd. Go Duke!

[Sixthman]

Sirk certainly has plenty of room for improvement, but I'm hoping the play calling continues to evolve. I'm tired of the continuous sideways passing... Demaryius Thomas ain't on that field. And how about a little variety in the run game? We have potent weapons. Scottie need to unleash them a bit. Yesterday's second half play calling was atrocious and played right into BC's hands. We got lucky.

Completely agree with this. Offensive play calling was strikingly repetitive, predictable, and ineffective. This was not a case of playing conservatively -- it was taking the offense out of the game. Of all the things Coach Cut has brought to Duke football it has been the attitude of wanting players to make plays, not simply tske the game as it comes to you that has made the most striking difference. Jeremy Cash is the best playmaker at Duke, on either side of the ball in more than a generation. Against Tech and BC we have seen the emergence of more play makers on defense, and it is exciting to watch. At the same time, a trend has developed in offense over the last three weeks in which the second half play calling has left very few opportunities for our offense to make plays. IMHO this cost us the game against NW and it could have done so against BC. Remember, everything else could have been the same and we would have lost had BC made either of two makeable field goals. Duke did not stop those field goals, BC just missed. It was the failure of our offense to do anything in the second half which made this a possibility.

[wilson]

Good guess ... the coaches poll is out and Duke is No. 27 -- nine votes behind No. 25 Memphis. Thats close enough that with a win at Army and a few bottom20-25 losses, we should sneak in next week. Still waiting on the AP poll, but I expect it will be similar:

http://espn.go.com/college-football/rankings27th in the AP Poll too: http://collegefootball.ap.org/poll

[Bob Green]

Is it play calling or execution, or a combination of the two? One play stands out in my mind. In the 4th quarter, Sirk threw an incompletion over the middle when the receiver was double covered. On the play, Johnell Barnes was wide open downfield on the left, there was not a defender within 15 yards of Barnes. It would have been an easy throw and catch with Barnes walking into the end zone for a touchdown, but Sirk locked in on the receiver over the middle and never saw Barnes.

[Sixthman]

Is it play calling or execution, or a combination of the two? One play stands out in my mind. In the 4th quarter, Sirk threw an incompletion over the middle when the receiver was double covered. On the play, Johnell Barnes was wide open downfield on the left, there was not a defender within 15 yards of Barnes. It would have been an easy throw and catch with Barnes walking into the end zone for a touchdown, but Sirk locked in on the receiver over the middle and never saw Barnes.

Bob, I think it's play calling. As an an example, in the first half of the tech game, we ran the read option pretty effectively, however, we had a turnover on an exchange. In the second half, no read option, just straight runs, and not very effective. Against BC we showed a lot of read option in the first half, and it looked like the reads were not very good. I thought, however, that it was a read option look with no actual read, in effect a straight run with a fake. If I am wrong, Sirk has really regressed on his reads, because many were horrible.

[Papa John]

FWIW, the present Sagarin ratings (getting a tad more meaningful this time of year) would have us favored vs everyone on our remaining schedule except for unc, and we're barely behind them.
Having said that, I think the Miami and unc games are apt to be tough unless we get our offense ramped up, which is, of course, possible.

Best chances for remaining wins (to me) are Army, Wake and Va.
VT and Pitt should be defensive slogs. We should be very competitive.
Miami and unc should require more horsepower....but hardly unwinnable games...

At the moment it looks like UNC and Pitt represent our toughest remaining hurdles... VaTech is already licking its wounds with two more losable games against NCState and at Miami on the slate before we come to town...

As for Miami—it will be interesting to see how they react to the Cincy loss... The 'Fire Golden' buzzards are already circling, so it becomes a question of whether the team rallies around their coach or begins to mail it in... Previous trends point to the latter, and given they have FSU (at FSU), VaTech, and Clemson prior to us they could be in full meltdown mode by the time they visit, so I like the way that game sets up...

I fully expect UNC to thrash Wake and UVa, so let's hope that Pitt hands them a loss prior to our matchup... Pitt has UVa before visits to a GaTech team in free-fall right now and a feisty Syracuse team before that UNC game, but then they have a matchup against Notre Dame the week prior to our visit—and, make no mistake, they despise ND so will bring full intensity to that game, which might leave them emotionally drained for our game the following week so that's another one that lines up nicely for us...

[Bob Green]

Bob, I think it's play calling.

I think it is both. Duke was certainly focused on playing the field position game, in the 4th quarter, nursing a slim lead, and was doing okay until the atrocious punt by Monday. One point in defense of Monday, Duke was playing into a significant wind and the punt was severely affected by that wind. However, on the play I mentioned above, the offense would have scored a touchdown IF Sirk saw Barnes wide open on the left. There was nothing wrong with the play call, it was execution.

[uh_no]

I think it is both. Duke was certainly focused on playing the field position game, in the 4th quarter, nursing a slim lead, and was doing okay until the atrocious punt by Monday. One point in defense of Monday, Duke was playing into a significant wind and the punt was severely affected by that wind. However, on the play I mentioned above, the offense would have scored a touchdown IF Sirk saw Barnes wide open on the left. There was nothing wrong with the play call, it was execution.

There are certainly execution issues, but I'm still not sure the playcalling has put us in the best position to win games. Take a look at the regression of boone in his last two years. did he suddenly become worse? maybe, and obviously the personnel changed around him some, but we went from scoring gobs and gobs to having major issues moving the ball, less a game here and there.

This year we seem to suffer from the same issues....we have a stable of phenomenal running backs, a dual threat quarterback, a pretty good receiving/TE corps, and we do squat. We did squat against NW, aside from pretty much one good drive, squat against GT, and then squat this week against BC. The last 3 quarters have been especially atrocious...it's like we surprise them for the first 15, then they adjust and we bang our heads against the wall for the rest of the game. Thank god our defense has been stellar, and our special teams has largely been very good, or we could very well be 2-3 wondering how we'll make a bowl. Somehow we've managed to winspite of that.

THe clock management under cut has largely been bad as far as I can remember. I don't know who's in charge of it, but it's simply bad. I see far too many games where the opposition has 1-2 more possessions than they should because we snap the ball with 20-25 seconds left even with the lead.

I remember several game examples:
UNC 3 years ago: if we had been running the clock, UNC wouldn't have had time to come all the way down for the go ahead score. of course we were then lucky that we made it back for the game winner.....so i guess hindsight is 20-20 on that one....but IMO it shoudn't have even come to that

UNC 2 years ago: we won on an interception at their place. If we had been running the clock in the fourth quarter WHILE LEADING, that posession doesn't happen, and we don't need a lucky pick to keep them out of FG range

GT last week: we probably could have run 4-5 minutes extra off the clock. Maybe the argument is that playing quick results in a more efficient offense....but given the number of 3-outs, that's clearly not working if it IS the logic. we gotta be burning clock. Further, on the last TD, we shouldn't have scored. laying down means we can burn out the clock and don't need the fumble to end the game. I'm never going to blame a player with open field from scoring, but something that made me pull my hair out.

Bc this week: same deal as GT. when you're up in those close games and not moving the ball well, you really have to decrease possessions...and we didn't.

I'm sure if we look back we can find many other examples.

[Bob Green]

There are certainly execution issues, but I'm still not sure the playcalling has put us in the best position to win games.

I'm not disagreeing with you, simply stating it is tunnel vision to zero in on play calling as the root of all evil.

[PDDuke85]

Home from Durham into the greater Charleston, SC area, safe, sound and wet! A thought or two. Of late, and despite the lack of technique on some punts, Will Monday has been kicking the ball very well. Late in the game yesterday, on his last punt, it appeared to me Will took 4-5 steps to the right before attempting a rugby style punt. The result of course was not good. Why?

Nice to see some balls thrown down field to the tight ends. There were a few nice slant route passes as well. I'm still looking for the next version of Connor Vernon/Jameison Crowder to catch those 15-20 yard passes across the middle. Lastly, looking to see our running play book open to see something different than straight up the middle. I'm pretty certain the play calling is influenced by many factors. The graduation of Laken and Takoby must be two of those factors?

Finally, I salute those who were part of a smallish but vocal crowd in less than great weather the past 2 weeks. A nice, dry living room comes in a distant second to being at these games in person.

Beat Army!

[Billy Dat]

-- For the second week in a row, Jeremy Cash made what I consider a game-saving defensive play at the end. A week ago, he forced Justin Thomas into the fumble that ended the last Georgia Tech threat. This time he made an amazing play with BC just out of range for the game-winning field goal. The Eagles had it second and 3 at the Duke 43 after Monday's short punt. On the second down play, Flutie scrambled to his right -- he had a step on the pursuing defensive tackle and seemed certain to get the first down inside the 40. But Cash reacted quickly and hit Flutie like a ton of bricks at the 42. It was like he ran into a wall -- he stopped that quickly. On replay, I looked but a perfectly legal hit -- Cash led with his shoulder and hit Flutie in the chest. It not only forced a third and 2 situation, it knocked Flutie out of the game ... and the kid Smith came in and was clearly flustered, making two bad throws to end the last BC threat.

Pay attention to Mr. Cash -- we are seeing a great player having a great senior season. We won't see anything like it again for a long time.


THIS

Plus Martin's kicking and somehow getting the better end of both of those BC challenges where our catch was ruled good and their TD was ruled no good. Winning those two challenges was some kind of miracle.

[Richard Berg]

Some points I haven't seen echoed yet:

* What happened to the Connette Package? Nico Pierre is supposed to be a great runner.

* Really bad day for Lucas Patrick. 2 false starts, a whiffed block that led directly to a 3rd down sack, and then an injury that forced him to the locker room. Hope the big guy is ok.

* Uncharacteristic performance from the corners. Saxton, who I criticized heavily in the first two games, came up with huge plays to save the TD (with some help from the refs), break up an important 3rd down pass in crunch time, and hurry the QB a couple times. Borders, who has been one of the most reliable defensive anchors the last few years (second only to Cash), gave up two long completions against the worst pass offense in the conference. I'm still mystified how he missed the tackle that let BC trot into the endzone from midfield -- he was closing on the guy easily, no need to dive. Maybe he slipped?

[Olympic Fan]

Some points I haven't seen echoed yet:

* What happened to the Connette Package? Nico Pierre is supposed to be a great runner.

* Really bad day for Lucas Patrick. 2 false starts, a whiffed block that led directly to a 3rd down sack, and then an injury that forced him to the locker room. Hope the big guy is ok.

* Uncharacteristic performance from the corners. Saxton, who I criticized heavily in the first two games, came up with huge plays to save the TD (with some help from the refs), break up an important 3rd down pass in crunch time, and hurry the QB a couple times. Borders, who has been one of the most reliable defensive anchors the last few years (second only to Cash), gave up two long completions against the worst pass offense in the conference. I'm still mystified how he missed the tackle that let BC trot into the endzone from midfield -- he was closing on the guy easily, no need to dive. Maybe he slipped?

Just to make clear ... although Patrick was helped off the field (just before we got stuffed at the goal line), he returned to the game and played the entire fourth quarter.

Agree on Borders ... before the BC game, I would have argued (and did) that he ranked with VPI's Fuller as the best cover corner in the ACC. He had a terrible day, beat on the 33-yard pass out of the end zone and the 66 yard TD pass. I was watching a replay of the game and BC ran the same deep post in the first half that later went for the TD -- and Borders was beaten even worse on the play ... luckily, the QB missed the receiver by 10 yards. I don't know what was up with him.

[devildeac]

BC still the #1 defense in FBS but we did make their avg YPG "skyrocket" to 140, up from 118, IIRC:rolleyes:.

ACC has 1, 3 (NCSU), 4 (Pitt) and 9 (Duke).

http://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/current/team/22

[Olympic Fan]

BC still the #1 defense in FBS but we did make their avg YPG "skyrocket" to 140, up from 118, IIRC:rolleyes:.

ACC has 1, 3 (NCSU), 4 (Pitt) and 9 (Duke).

http://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/current/team/22

And considering that our next two opponents boast two of the worst offenses in college football -- Army (No. 93 nationally in total offense) and Virginia Tech (No. 84) -- we should stay in the top 10 for a long time.

We won't face a quality offense until Miami *(No. 27 nationally) comes to Durham on Halloween.

BTW: Duke is No. 9 nationally in total yards ... but in the more important category of scoring defense, Duke is No. 5 nationally.

[Bob Green]

Duke is #5 in Scoring Defense at 10.6 points per game:

http://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/current/team/28

Northwestern is #1 and Boston College is #3.

[devildeac]

And considering that our next two opponents boast two of the worst offenses in college football -- Army (No. 93 nationally in total offense) and Virginia Tech (No. 84) -- we should stay in the top 10 for a long time.

We won't face a quality offense until Miami *(No. 27 nationally) comes to Durham on Halloween.

BTW: Duke is No. 9 nationally in total yards ... but in the more important category of scoring defense, Duke is No. 5 nationally.

Let's hope/pray that we can hold the Cadets and the Turkeys to about the same amount of yardage that Pitt did on Saturday to VT, allowing less points, of course.

I'd bet it's been a loooong time since we were a top 10 defensive team.

And I hope we provide Miami with a lot of tricks and very few treats on October 31;).

[sagegrouse]

Duke is #5 in Scoring Defense at 10.6 points per game:

http://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/current/team/28

Northwestern is #1 and Boston College is #3.

Bob, you will note that we are doing our part to keep them at the top of the rankings, scoring ten against Northwestern and nine against Boston College.

Kindly,
sage
'Good to see you and your family this weekend!'

[jimsumner]

Folks, Florida State had 15 first downs and 215 total yards against Boston College.

Yes, that Florida State. Their offense scored seven points against BC. Their defense posted a second TD.

This was a really good defense Duke played Saturday. Really, really good.

[uh_no]

Folks, Florida State had 15 first downs and 215 total yards against Boston College.

Yes, that Florida State. Their offense scored seven points against BC. Their defense posted a second TD.

This was a really good defense Duke played Saturday. Really, really good.

to be fair, FSU isn't near the team they've been the past few years. They haven't beaten anyone worthwhile yet, and none of their wins have been especially impressive.

They could turn around, yes, and it's great that we did better than FSU, but it may turn out to be a lower bar this year than it may seem at this point.

[wilson]

They could turn around, yes, and it's great that we did better than FSU, but it may turn out to be a lower bar this year than it may seem at this point....but what kind of world is this where we'll even deign to consider that Florida State might not be high enough a bar by which to measure our football program?

[Thurber Whyte]

BTW: Duke is No. 9 nationally in total yards ... but in the more important category of scoring defense, Duke is No. 5 nationally.


This was a really good defense Duke played Saturday. Really, really good.

Those defensive stats mean a whole lot more when you consider that Duke has lost the time of possession battle in the last three games. The easier way to limit scoring and yards by the other team is to keep the ball out of its hands. Our offense has not been able to do that enough. That also means that the defense is not getting enough rest. To get those stats, our defense had to be a brick wall and sustain that level of performance for a long period of time.

As for that offense, it had its own hands full contending with two of the other top 10 defenses in both categories and I thought it looked better this week so I am not overly concerned.

[devildeac]

...but what kind of world is this where we'll even deign to consider that Florida State might not be high enough a bar by which to measure our football program?

Two words: crab legs

;)