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View Full Version : Duke football notes, 10-25-16



jimsumner
10-25-2016, 03:13 PM
What do you do with an open week?

Bryon Fields went home for a few days. Dominic McDonald went to the NC State Fair. Everybody looked at a lot of film, got a few days off and hopefully some folks got healthier.

"looing at young people, address schemes, address mistakes, get a jump start on the next opponent." According to the head coach.

Duke didn't even bother looking at the Army film until after Louisville but has spent a lot of time since then looking at the Cadets.

But, as every one acknowledged, Georgia Tech has ACC athletes and Army doesn't. Cutcliffe says they also have more versatility than Army, more weapons.

Duke has done reasonably well against GT the last couple of times out.

The keys?

According to Ben Humphries "Everyone doing their job, everyone trusting the D line to do their job, trusting the secondary to clean up the mistakes. You have to trust your eyes and read your keys and you can't miss because if you miss, they will exploit it."

Humphries calls Tech "A tackle-friendly game for me. I love playing against triple option, because we're pretty good at that around here."

David Cutcliffe says limit mistakes, minimize explosives.

Fields says first down is crucial to stopping those long, soul-sapping drives. Turn GT into a third-and-long team and you can get stops. "It starts on first down. If you can get them in second and long, then it becomes third and long. You have to be disciplined on first down to hold them down."

Two years ago, in Atlanta, Duke slowed down Tech's option game and jumped to a big lead only to see Tech start throwing the ball and coming back. Duke has spent more time in practice defending Tech's passing schemes. "We realize we have to do better in the passing game," Cutcliffe acknowledged, while lamenting the lack of time to practice everything. "You have to manage your practice schedule."

How does Duke manage the loss of Anthony Nash? Chris Taylor will start in Nash's position, with Aaron Young as the backup. Cutcliffe says Taylor "needs confidence" to maximize his talent. Sometimes overthinks things.

Duke also hopes to use its tight ends more in Nash's absence.

Keyston Fuller? He's recovered from knee surgery and is practicing without restriction. But he doesn't yet trust his knee, not uncommon in these situations. Still, a work in progress.

Place-kicking? Cutcliffe still has confidence in Reed. Says he's kicking great in practice but hurried his miss at Louisville. Cutcliffe also threw out the possibility that walk-on Will Kline might be used on long field goals. He has a range up to 60 yards.

Danny Stirt will continue to punt. Parker Boehme is the backup punter.

Richard Berg
10-25-2016, 07:20 PM
Danny Stirt will continue to punt.
Glad his injury wasn't more serious.

edit: I'm an idiot, Parker was the #1 option, who is apparently hurt after all. Not to be confused with Parker the #3 option.

jimsumner
10-25-2016, 08:57 PM
Glad his injury wasn't more serious.

edit: I'm an idiot, Parker was the #1 option, who is apparently hurt after all. Not to be confused with Parker the #3 option.

Austin Parker suffered a broken clavicle and is out for the season.

Atldukie79
10-25-2016, 09:56 PM
And I must have missed it, but whatever happened to Scott Bracey?
Hamstring injury....but is he out for the season?

jimsumner
10-25-2016, 10:00 PM
And I must have missed it, but whatever happened to Scott Bracey?
Hamstring injury...but is he out for the season?

Bracey is healthy and practicing. But he isn't likely to play this season. He played quarterback much of his high-school career, missed the fall practices and is just too far behind to justify burning a year. We're over halfway through the season and playing him now just isn't a rational allocation of resources.

But I do have hope that Fuller can make some positive contributions this season. He was a healthy redshirt last season so there is no advantage to holding him out this season. But he's also in catch-up mode.

Newton_14
10-25-2016, 10:00 PM
And I must have missed it, but whatever happened to Scott Bracey?
Hamstring injury...but is he out for the season?

You read my mind. I was thinking the exact same thing.

Any news on him Jim or Oly?

-jk
10-25-2016, 10:35 PM
<dagnabit! cross posted again!>

Bob Green
10-26-2016, 08:48 AM
Fields says first down is crucial to stopping those long, soul-sapping drives. Turn GT into a third-and-long team and you can get stops. "It starts on first down. If you can get them in second and long, then it becomes third and long. You have to be disciplined on first down to hold them down."



Stopping Tech's triple option begins with taking away the fullback (B-back?) dive. You cannot let the Yellow Jackets run up the middle for three or four yards, or they will do it repeatedly and then pitch it wide for an explosive run or throw a pass over the top. Taking away the dive enables the defense to stretch plays toward the sideline. We have the athletes at linebacker and safety to deal with GT's option but first and foremost the defensive line has to stop the dive.

What is the over/under on how many times Paul Johnson goes for it on 4th down? My point being Duke has to be ready to play four downs of defense.

budwom
10-26-2016, 02:03 PM
Stopping Tech's triple option begins with taking away the fullback (B-back?) dive. You cannot let the Yellow Jackets run up the middle for three or four yards, or they will do it repeatedly and then pitch it wide for an explosive run or throw a pass over the top. Taking away the dive enables the defense to stretch plays toward the sideline. We have the athletes at linebacker and safety to deal with GT's option but first and foremost the defensive line has to stop the dive.

What is the over/under on how many times Paul Johnson goes for it on 4th down? My point being Duke has to be ready to play four downs of defense.

Four, at least (over/under). Cut and Knowles know how to defend this, but it's up to the lads to stay disciplined and execute...glad to read Cut is focused on the Tech
passing game, because at times we've stopped the run but they make big plays thru the air...

CameronBlue
10-26-2016, 06:11 PM
Four, at least (over/under). Cut and Knowles know how to defend this, but it's up to the lads to stay disciplined and execute...glad to read Cut is focused on the Tech
passing game, because at times we've stopped the run but they make big plays thru the air...

As Duke enters the more difficult portion of the schedule I wonder if Cut will stick with the deliberate style of offense he utilized against Louisville. It worked against Louisville, Duke controlled the tempo and dominated the time of possession. Duke shifted out of its set on almost every play forcing Louisville's down-lineman to come out of their stances. It's a little bit of a mind-game that can disrupt the defense if you're not prepared for it and drains a little bit of intensity out of the defense as it anticipates the snap. Against a ball control offense like Tech's it makes sense to stick with the scheme. I'd wager Louisville's scout team ran no similar schemes in their preparation for the Duke game but that Tech will try to mimic Duke's Louisville game plan.

cato
10-26-2016, 06:32 PM
What is the over/under on how many times Paul Johnson goes for it on 4th down? My point being Duke has to be ready to play four downs of defense.

My Chargers won a game last week by stopping the Falcons on 4th and 1 at midfield on the first drive of overtime.

Since then, I've been thinking about the most exciting football plays. A key 4th down stop is high on the list.

Other candidates:

* Kick/punt return for touchdown. Always a momentum changer.

* Pick 6.

* Long run up the middle for touchdown. Usually a back breaker.

* Sack, fumble, touchdown. See Pick 6.

jimsumner
10-26-2016, 10:55 PM
My Chargers won a game last week by stopping the Falcons on 4th and 1 at midfield on the first drive of overtime.

Since then, I've been thinking about the most exciting football plays. A key 4th down stop is high on the list.

Other candidates:

* Kick/punt return for touchdown. Always a momentum changer.

* Pick 6.

* Long run up the middle for touchdown. Usually a back breaker.

* Sack, fumble, touchdown. See Pick 6.

An overtime game that ends when the defense gets a score. Hard to have a bigger turn-around than that.

budwom
10-27-2016, 07:46 AM
An overtime game that ends when the defense gets a score. Hard to have a bigger turn-around than that.

horrific memories of an OT game we lost that way to Clemson was it? 13 pts? Not exciting, horrific as I recall...

Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15
10-28-2016, 08:42 AM
My Chargers won a game last week by stopping the Falcons on 4th and 1 at midfield on the first drive of overtime.

Since then, I've been thinking about the most exciting football plays. A key 4th down stop is high on the list.

Other candidates:

* Kick/punt return for touchdown. Always a momentum changer.

* Pick 6.

* Long run up the middle for touchdown. Usually a back breaker.

* Sack, fumble, touchdown. See Pick 6.

The difference being that a 4th and short - you know how huge it is in advance for other teams. The other plays could be run of the mill incomplete passes or run for a yard. Fourth ad short, everyone has their A game on the field.

budwom
10-28-2016, 08:59 AM
One problem we've had this year on third or fourth and short is that we bring everyone up to the LOS, and if the opposing RB gets any kind of opening,
he can go all the way...

Olympic Fan
10-28-2016, 12:53 PM
horrific memories of an OT game we lost that way to Clemson was it? 13 pts? Not exciting, horrific as I recall...

You are thinking of the 1997 game at Clemson.

20-20 tie in regulation.

Clemson goes first in OT and gets a FG -- 23-20.

On Duke's try, the Devils throw a pick six and lose 29-20.

chrishoke
10-28-2016, 03:13 PM
You are thinking of the 1997 game at Clemson.

20-20 tie in regulation.

Clemson goes first in OT and gets a FG -- 23-20.

On Duke's try, the Devils throw a pick six and lose 29-20.

My memory is that Duke was up by 2 scores with 11 minutes to go. Very painful.