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View Full Version : Duke football notes, 9-12-17



jimsumner
09-12-2017, 02:43 PM
Be honest. When it was announced five or so years ago that Duke would be hosting Baylor in the 2017 season, how many of you imagined Duke would be a two-touchdown favorite?

I didn't raise my hand.

And it's not because Duke is reminding anyone of the '72 Dolphins. A host of off-field issues have Baylor in a downward spiral right now.

Of course, none of the Duke players has noticed any of this and hopefully there's an element of truth in all this, football being football and 20-year-olds being 20-year olds. Don't look past anyone.

Cut deftly side-swiped an attempt to get him to address any of Baylor's ethical issues and concentrated on the football team coming to Wade this Saturday. He says they are playing lots of young players but have lots of talent and are getting better. He says they're the fastest team Duke has faced so far.

Cut concentrated on the speed of the wide-outs, who he said had track speed. Baylor started grad-transfer Anu Solomon at QB its first two games but is switching to sophomore Zach Smith this week. Cut describes Smith as an accurate, strong-armed pro-style QB.

New Baylor coach Matt Ruhle was at Temple last year so Cut spent all summer looking at 2016 Temple game film and he and his staff have been looking at 2016 Zach Smith game film. So, an interesting combination of approaches.

Cut says Duke will mix coverages and try to give Baylor different looks. He says Duke's DBs will have to "be smart, be technique-conscious," and the defensive line has to pressure Smith. Smith is not known for his mobility.

Duke spent a lot of time Sunday and today working on special teams. Duke not pleased with Parker's punting last week, especially the touch back on the pooch punt and a number of youngsters missed assignments. "We have some young people who need to play better." He says that Austin Parker has field-goal range to over 50 yards but he (Cut, not Parker) is not a fan of long field goals.

Shaun Wilson continues to be "banged up" with "nagging injuries." Did not practice Sunday but did have a good practice today. A delicate balancing act.

Scott Bracey had the best practice today he has had in some time.

Brittain Brown had several runs today that caught Cut's attention. In a good way.

Cut really pleased with backup QB Quentin Harris and wants to find ways to get him on the field more often. Said that Harris is competing harder for PT than any backup QB he's had at Duke and that Harris has improved more from spring to now than anyone else on the team.

After the NW game, Cut said that Duke had made a commitment to being more physical, on both sides of the ball. I talked to several players about that and the feeling was that it started in practice. Alonzo Saxton said the coaches told the team not to regard to scout team as their teammates but to go after them hard.

DE Tre Hornbuckle says Duke is trying to be more aggressive, more proactive. "I try to attack the line of scrimmage every play, doing my assignment one hundred miles an hour, running to the ball on every play. Good things happen when the defensive line makes plays on the opposite line, when we make plays in the backfield."

Speaking of defensive ends, neither Terrell Lucas nor Chidi Okonya is listed on the injury reports. But both were banged up during the fall pre-season and are working their way back.

devildeac
09-12-2017, 02:48 PM
Another great report. Thanks again for taking the time to post.

OZZIE4DUKE
09-12-2017, 02:59 PM
Thanks Jim! Great info. LGD GTHc!

budwom
09-12-2017, 03:19 PM
The pooch punt was a perfect example of why coaches often say "easy does it." Often when a punter tries to get off a huge kick, something goes awry (see Saturday's kicks). And yet the pooch kick, done with a nice easy motion, went much farther than was intended.

regarding Harris, this was the first time I saw him, and I was pleasantly surprised by his speed and general running ability...

Highlander
09-12-2017, 04:52 PM
Have been following Austin Parker since he was the QB at my wife's HS a couple of years ago. Very small school in NC that went to the semi-finals of the state playoffs before falling, barely, to the eventual champion. His dad punted in the NFL for the Broncos for a season. I hope he gets the punts back on track and is successful.

http://www.nfl.com/player/darenparker/2502400/careerstats

Bob Green
09-12-2017, 07:02 PM
Thanks for these reports each week, Jim!




Shaun Wilson continues to be "banged up" with "nagging injuries." Did not practice Sunday but did have a good practice today. A delicate balancing act.

Scott Bracey had the best practice today he has had in some time.

Brittain Brown had several runs today that caught Cut's attention. In a good way.



The team needs Wilson and Bracey healthy. "Nagging injuries" are a concern with the bye week a long ways away. Brown and Deon Jackson have looked good but I want to see Wilson and his breakaway speed get lots of touches. Brown seemed to struggle, against Northwestern, catching the ball out of the backfield.

Question for Jim Sumner: Did Coach Cutcliffe have any comments on Aaron Young? He followed up his standout NCCU performance with three catches for 43 yards against Northwestern but I am 99% certain all three catches were in the 1st Half and I did not notice Young on the field during the 2nd Half. I find that strange as Young looked good catching the ball.

jimsumner
09-12-2017, 07:10 PM
Thanks for these reports each week, Jim!



The team needs Wilson and Bracey healthy. "Nagging injuries" are a concern with the bye week a long ways away. Brown and Deon Jackson have looked good but I want to see Wilson and his breakaway speed get lots of touches. Brown seemed to struggle, against Northwestern, catching the ball out of the backfield.

Question for Jim Sumner: Did Coach Cutcliffe have any comments on Aaron Young? He followed up his standout NCCU performance with three catches for 43 yards against Northwestern but I am 99% certain all three catches were in the 1st Half and I did not notice Young on the field during the 2nd Half. I find that strange as Young looked good catching the ball.

Young didn't come up.

Bob Green
09-12-2017, 07:13 PM
Young didn't come up.

Thanks! I've been impressed with Young since last season and expect he is going to see lots of action.

budwom
09-13-2017, 07:27 AM
Thanks for these reports each week, Jim!



The team needs Wilson and Bracey healthy. "Nagging injuries" are a concern with the bye week a long ways away. Brown and Deon Jackson have looked good but I want to see Wilson and his breakaway speed get lots of touches. Brown seemed to struggle, against Northwestern, catching the ball out of the backfield.

Question for Jim Sumner: Did Coach Cutcliffe have any comments on Aaron Young? He followed up his standout NCCU performance with three catches for 43 yards against Northwestern but I am 99% certain all three catches were in the 1st Half and I did not notice Young on the field during the 2nd Half. I find that strange as Young looked good catching the ball.

Agree about the passes to Brown from Jones...on several of them, though, I would note that the passes failed to lead Brown, they were thrown more toward the sideline.
This is something we need to work on as it has been a habit...if you're going to throw that pass, you need to lead the RB so he's turning upfield when he catches the ball, not
lurching awkwardly toward the sideline. Plus you can minimize the risk of a lateral gone awry.

OldPhiKap
09-13-2017, 08:02 AM
Sounds like we got through the game and early week without injury, and Bracey sounds ready. Nice.

Baylor's hard revamp has me worried. Hungry team on the field, with a lot of unknowns. Gotta put them down early.

budwom
09-13-2017, 08:13 AM
Sounds like we got through the game and early week without injury, and Bracey sounds ready. Nice.

Baylor's hard revamp has me worried. Hungry team on the field, with a lot of unknowns. Gotta put them down early.

Hopefully with new guys on the their OL and a much less mobile QB, we can put a lot of pressure on him.

OldPhiKap
09-13-2017, 12:35 PM
Hopefully with new guys on the their OL and a much less mobile QB, we can put a lot of pressure on him.

Yup, good time for the D line to shine!