jimsumner
11-01-2016, 03:24 PM
Duke football notes, 11-1-16
DeVon Edwards has been named one of 12 recipients of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete award. The 12 recipients are finalists for the NFF William Campbell Award as the nation's top football scholar-athlete.
Duke linebacker David Helton won the Campbell Award in 2014.
Everybody said the right things about the GT loss. Cut says he's been around long enough to tell if a team has lost focus or energy and this team has not. Says you can't tell in the meeting room, you have to tell on the practice field. Said Duke had great practices Sunday and today.
VT?
They have a new coach, Justin Fuente. Cutcliffe downplays the significance of this for a variety of reasons. Duke played-and-defeated Memphis twice when Fuente was head coach there, so there's some familiarity both ways. Everybody is pretty deep into the season, so there's lots of film and Bud Foster is still in charge of the VT defense and he's hardly an unknown.
Cutcliffe said he had one sleepless night worrying about VT tight end Bucky Hodges and another sleepless night worrying about VT WR Isaiah Ford.
They're pretty good.
As is QB Jerod Evans. Big, good runner, strong arm.
Duke running back? Shaun Wilson is the guy with everyone else in a "stable" behind him. Joe Ajeigbe has the most experience but Cut implicitly declined to place him above former walk-on Zach Boden, former quarterback Nico Pierre and former safety Quay Mann as parts of the back-up stable.
Cut says ball-security and not missing assignments will determine PT behind Wilson.
I asked center Austin Davis if any of the latter three had made a case in practice for playing time and his response was positive but so generic that I'm sure if it means anything.
So, look for Shaun Wilson to be busy this month. Really busy.
Duke's tight ends had 12 catches against Georgia Tech, six by Daniel Helm and three each by Erich Schneider and Davis Koppenhaver.
Cutcliffe said this was a response to the mounting injury list at wide receiver and we should expect to see it continue.
Schneider says "We had some plays designed for us [the tight ends] because we knew that there would be holes open for us downfield and it worked out for us that way. . . . Hopefully, we'll continue that trend and finish up drives that way."
With Sirk, Edwards and now Duncan down, D.T. A.J. Wolf is the only one of the four captains still standing. So, lots of gallows humor about Wolf sleeping with the lights on or sitting with his back to a wall.
Wolf is a vocal sort and says he embraces his leadership responsibilities.
"Not a good feeling but I'm going to do my best to hold the torch and keep it going. Guys don't have to be honorary captains to step up and you don't have to be a senior and guys are stepping up."
Much praise for ACC Rookie of the Week Daniel Jones.
Jones said the completions to the tight ends last week were a result of how GT was defending which is great but I'm not sure he makes those same reads six weeks ago.
"It wasn't so much the game plan as what was working for us. They stepped up and made some big plays for us. I think we've had good chemistry throughout the season and it was just a matter of what the defense was doing."
Cut said Jones completed 30 of 33 passes in practice this morning.
Hopefully, that's not a reflection of Duke's pass defense.
Jones says his role as a leader is continuing to grow and that's something he's cognizant of. Sirk continues to mentor Jones and Sirk had a great game against VT last season. Jones says he expects the QB run to be a big part of the game plan against the Hokies.
Cut says he and Jamison Crowder text every week. Cut says he's not surprised by Crowder's NFL success. "He's that guy."
The three injured captains are all still active in the program, attending every practice, every meeting. "They're all in. They could have checked out but they didn't."
Edwards and Duncan will rehab at Duke. Cut says he'll talk to folks he knows in the NFL about the best timeline for these guys to continue their careers in the pros. But it starts at Duke.
With the obvious exception of Duncan, Duke came through the Tech game with no major injuries. Everybody on the defense practiced this morning with no restrictions, not always a given after playing Chop Block U.
DeVon Edwards has been named one of 12 recipients of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete award. The 12 recipients are finalists for the NFF William Campbell Award as the nation's top football scholar-athlete.
Duke linebacker David Helton won the Campbell Award in 2014.
Everybody said the right things about the GT loss. Cut says he's been around long enough to tell if a team has lost focus or energy and this team has not. Says you can't tell in the meeting room, you have to tell on the practice field. Said Duke had great practices Sunday and today.
VT?
They have a new coach, Justin Fuente. Cutcliffe downplays the significance of this for a variety of reasons. Duke played-and-defeated Memphis twice when Fuente was head coach there, so there's some familiarity both ways. Everybody is pretty deep into the season, so there's lots of film and Bud Foster is still in charge of the VT defense and he's hardly an unknown.
Cutcliffe said he had one sleepless night worrying about VT tight end Bucky Hodges and another sleepless night worrying about VT WR Isaiah Ford.
They're pretty good.
As is QB Jerod Evans. Big, good runner, strong arm.
Duke running back? Shaun Wilson is the guy with everyone else in a "stable" behind him. Joe Ajeigbe has the most experience but Cut implicitly declined to place him above former walk-on Zach Boden, former quarterback Nico Pierre and former safety Quay Mann as parts of the back-up stable.
Cut says ball-security and not missing assignments will determine PT behind Wilson.
I asked center Austin Davis if any of the latter three had made a case in practice for playing time and his response was positive but so generic that I'm sure if it means anything.
So, look for Shaun Wilson to be busy this month. Really busy.
Duke's tight ends had 12 catches against Georgia Tech, six by Daniel Helm and three each by Erich Schneider and Davis Koppenhaver.
Cutcliffe said this was a response to the mounting injury list at wide receiver and we should expect to see it continue.
Schneider says "We had some plays designed for us [the tight ends] because we knew that there would be holes open for us downfield and it worked out for us that way. . . . Hopefully, we'll continue that trend and finish up drives that way."
With Sirk, Edwards and now Duncan down, D.T. A.J. Wolf is the only one of the four captains still standing. So, lots of gallows humor about Wolf sleeping with the lights on or sitting with his back to a wall.
Wolf is a vocal sort and says he embraces his leadership responsibilities.
"Not a good feeling but I'm going to do my best to hold the torch and keep it going. Guys don't have to be honorary captains to step up and you don't have to be a senior and guys are stepping up."
Much praise for ACC Rookie of the Week Daniel Jones.
Jones said the completions to the tight ends last week were a result of how GT was defending which is great but I'm not sure he makes those same reads six weeks ago.
"It wasn't so much the game plan as what was working for us. They stepped up and made some big plays for us. I think we've had good chemistry throughout the season and it was just a matter of what the defense was doing."
Cut said Jones completed 30 of 33 passes in practice this morning.
Hopefully, that's not a reflection of Duke's pass defense.
Jones says his role as a leader is continuing to grow and that's something he's cognizant of. Sirk continues to mentor Jones and Sirk had a great game against VT last season. Jones says he expects the QB run to be a big part of the game plan against the Hokies.
Cut says he and Jamison Crowder text every week. Cut says he's not surprised by Crowder's NFL success. "He's that guy."
The three injured captains are all still active in the program, attending every practice, every meeting. "They're all in. They could have checked out but they didn't."
Edwards and Duncan will rehab at Duke. Cut says he'll talk to folks he knows in the NFL about the best timeline for these guys to continue their careers in the pros. But it starts at Duke.
With the obvious exception of Duncan, Duke came through the Tech game with no major injuries. Everybody on the defense practiced this morning with no restrictions, not always a given after playing Chop Block U.