2017 Football Season

[heyman25]

What a disappointment. Coaching and team are in an unexpected losing slide. The Chronicle link points out some of the problems. http://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2017/11/run-the-football-plain-and-simple

[jimsumner]

I prefer to do post-mortems post mortem. Why not wait until the season ends?

[heyman25]

Mainly although I have not been able watch on TV, I have followed this team and had much higher expectations. It is not post mortem. It is in the moment.
I actually much prefer the results of Duke Women's Soccer and Field Hockey.They have had major success this fall. As a Duke sports fan These 2 teams could go all the way. No National Championships in either sport, but can happen this fall.

Cutcliffe has his work cut out for the Duke Football team.

[hallcity]

Mainly although I have not been able watch on TV, I have followed this team and had much higher expectations. It is not post mortem. It is in the moment.
I actually much prefer the results of Duke Women's Soccer and Field Hockey.They have had major success this fall. As a Duke sports fan These 2 teams could go all the way. No National Championships in either sport, but can happen this fall.

Cutcliffe has his work cut out for the Duke Football team.

You can't even find the time to watch on TV and you're offering judgments on Duke football?

[arnie]

What a disappointment. Coaching and team are in an unexpected losing slide. The Chronicle link points out some of the problems. http://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2017/11/run-the-football-plain-and-simple

Brutally honest summary of Duke football 2017.

[-bdbd]

I prefer to do post-mortems post mortem. Why not wait until the season ends?

"I'm not dead yet..." ????!!

[-jk]

"I'm not dead yet..." ????!!

"I'm getting better."

-jk

[OldPhiKap]

I, for one, do not want to go on the cart.

[heyman25]

Mainly although I have not been able watch on TV, I have followed this team and had much higher expectations. It is not post mortem. It is in the moment.
I actually much prefer the results of Duke Women's Soccer and Field Hockey.They have had major success this fall. As a Duke sports fan These 2 teams could go all the way. No National Championships in either sport, but can happen this fall.

Cutcliffe has his work cut out for the Duke Football team.
No excuse ,but was in Hungary until October 26. I like how Duke football is now competitive. I just looked at a GoDuke Magazine about 2017. 2016 Redshirt Freshmen were so talented and everyone was optimistic. This tailspin is not good. The reasons seem to be Jones inability to get points on the board.He has been awful in this losing streak.The Chronicle sportswriter has valid criticisms of the coaching and the plays that are being run.I hope we get 3 and 0 and get a bowl game.Very shaky team that is unreliable in this losing streak.

[jv001]

No excuse ,but was in Hungary until October 26. I like how Duke football is now competitive. I just looked at a GoDuke Magazine about 2017. 2016 Redshirt Freshmen were so talented and everyone was optimistic. This tailspin is not good. The reasons seem to be Jones inability to get points on the board.He has been awful in this losing streak.The Chronicle sportswriter has valid criticisms of the coaching and the plays that are being run.I hope we get 3 and 0 and get a bowl game.Very shaky team that is unreliable in this losing streak.

I've watched almost every game and I can't lay all the blame on Daniel Jones our QB. Most of the blame goes on the offensive line and our wide receivers. Then play calling comes in 3rd on the list of blame. In the games we've lost, Daniel has been running for his life every time he throws the football. There have been many hard hits taken and with a few that should have drawn a flag. The defense has been the best in years but the offense has not done their part. Therefore the defense is on the field too long. Thank God we have some depth on D or it would have been worse. I think it's time Cut get's involved with our offense and uses plays that have a chance of working. I'm looking forward to a good game plan against Army. GoDuke!

[OZ]

I've watched almost every game and I can't lay all the blame on Daniel Jones our QB. Most of the blame goes on the offensive line and our wide receivers. Then play calling comes in 3rd on the list of blame. In the games we've lost, Daniel has been running for his life every time he throws the football. There have been many hard hits taken and with a few that should have drawn a flag. The defense has been the best in years but the offense has not done their part. Therefore the defense is on the field too long. Thank God we have some depth on D or it would have been worse. I think it's time Cut get's involved with our offense and uses plays that have a chance of working. I'm looking forward to a good game plan against Army. GoDuke!


It would certainly be easy and convenient to lay all the blame at the feet of one person/player; but, I don't think it is that simple. I've watched all of the away games and attended all home games for years... This is an O "Team" problem... the QB, receivers who can't get open or create separation, receivers who consistently drop passes, an inconsistent OL, TEs who do not do not block particularly well, predictable/poor play calling and coaching. I've attended the "signing day" event for all of Cut's tenure. I've listened to the continuous reporting in the "upgrade" of our recruits... yet, it would seem, we have been surpassed by Wake, Boston College, Pitt and Virginia. As much as it pains me to even think this, this has been a tremendously disappointing year (thus far) and some of that blame has to be shared by the head coach.
Comments were made in another thread about unc's poor attendance... much posting has been spilled here about the reason for poor attendance at Duke... not many people are going to go through the process... travel... parking... $$$... heat... an extreme security process to watch an inconsistent team beat NCC, a depleted Baylor and having played poorly five games in a row. It ain't going to happen... no matter how many stadiums you renovate or incentives you make available.

[MarkD83]

I prefer to do post-mortems post mortem. Why not wait until the season ends?

I agree with this. There are still games to be played....

[sagegrouse]

FWIW, I follow three teams, each of whom is lagging after good starts due to offensive deficiencies: Duke, the Redskins and the Denver Broncos. The reasons are quite different:

Whatever the potential of the Redskins offense, injuries to the offensive line have hit hard. The injury report (https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/teams/injuries/WAS/washington-redskins) includes five interior linemen and two tight ends. Redskins are severely limited and QB Kirk Cousins is trying not to get killed on the pass rush.

The Broncos, who were anemic for a couple of weeks, rebounded against the Chiefs with a very energetic and hard-hitting game -- and still lost by ten points, 29-19, to the division leader. The Broncos are extraordinarily prone to mistakes. They had five turnovers against Kansas City and several dropped passes, including one for a touchdown. An error-free game would probably have produced a win against their top rival.

The Duke offense is harder to analyze. Although the running game seems better than the passing game, we seem to more "low-voltage" than anything else -- nothing explosive, nothing really crisp and well-executed. I believe we can do better, and I hope the bye week helps.

[Sixthman]

The Chronicle has been putting out some very good sportswriting as of late, so I'll give them a pass on the premature post mortem. The sudden change in the performance of Jones coincided with the schedule getting tougher. I've seen every game and where Jones shows up bad is in making some poor decisions. The poor decisions strike me as being the product of less time (see better opposition and other comments about the offensive line not stepping up and receivers not getting open), and better coverage by the defense. He will learn and he will get better. Another problem for Jones is when the coaches (quite obviously) stopped running him as much. He is a very effective runner. He is a big guy who can take a hit. The team suffers when he does not run and I think, even though it makes no sense, that he is not as sharp in the pocket when he is not getting some called runs.

Offensive play calling has been an issue. As a fan I feel as if, without exception, when the running game is going great - and I mean truly great -- as it has at times this year, we intentionally and now predictably abandon it. I say "as a fan" because maybe some defensive adjustment I am missing is motivating this change, but there is no doubt it is happening and the move away from the run has hurt us in every instance in this stretch. It is also unmistakable that this problem of our wide receivers not getting separation is real and that our coaches have not implemented any schemes which have had the effect of changing this.

Coach Cut boldly acknowledged major problems after the Pitt game and more or less declared there would be a different football team on the field against Virginia Tech. His statements at that time were one of the few occasions I have heard him criticize his coaches. Nothing changed. That may have been the rain, which was enough to impact any game plan. It may have been that it takes more than one week to change course. In that case, the off week could not have come at a better time.

Trends change. Things changed once and can change again. The landscape of opponents actually change as much down the stretch as they did before the current losing streak. Two option teams, Georgia Tech and Army, present an opportunity for the defense to shine.

[jafarr1]

I agree with this. There are still games to be played...

I'd agree with this as well, except that every other lower-half ACC team has shown some spark, some sign that their team is trying to rally. UNC played Miami down to the wire. Syracuse upset Clemson. Etc. Meanwhile, Duke comes out with a similar game plan and intensity level week after week. For our defense, that's a good thing. For our offense, it's the definition of insanity.

Maybe the coaches are finally going to try something different, or the bye-week break will help for the lights to simultaneously going to come on for about half a dozen offensive players. However, for all his good qualities, Cutcliffe can be extremely stubborn about his vision for the team, to the point where I do not expect to see any noticeable strategic changes. Meanwhile, we have an OL that cannot pass-block, WRs that cannot create separation, and an OC that is apparently allergic to run play-calls. That does not bode well for the remaining games.

[AustinDevil]

The Chronicle has been putting out some very good sportswriting as of late, so I'll give them a pass on the premature post mortem. The sudden change in the performance of Jones coincided with the schedule getting tougher. I've seen every game and where Jones shows up bad is in making some poor decisions. The poor decisions strike me as being the product of less time (see better opposition and other comments about the offensive line not stepping up and receivers not getting open), and better coverage by the defense. He will learn and he will get better.

Northwestern--which has proven to be a fairly to very good BIG team--and Pitt and UVa--both mediocre ACC teams--belie this "schedule got tougher" analysis. And Baylor is woeful but extremely talented, and they had not yet given up on their season yet when they played at Wally Wade.

Something changed for Jones in the Miami game. It knocked all the confidence out of him, and the staff have been unable to restore it.

[75Crazie]

It is becoming obvious to me that there is way more college football expertise in the members of this board than there is in the Duke football coaching staff. I am hoping that the Duke athletic department is paying attention and will give due consideration after the season to replacing that staff with carefully-picked members of DBR. The ceiling is the floor.

[sagegrouse]

It is becoming obvious to me that there is way more college football expertise in the members of this board than there is in the Duke football coaching staff. I am hoping that the Duke athletic department is paying attention and will give due consideration after the season to replacing that staff with carefully-picked members of DBR. The ceiling is the floor.

Yep! You nailed it!

[jafarr1]

It is becoming obvious to me that there is way more college football expertise in the members of this board than there is in the Duke football coaching staff. I am hoping that the Duke athletic department is paying attention and will give due consideration after the season to replacing that staff with carefully-picked members of DBR. The ceiling is the floor.

The-coaches-are-way-better-at-coaching straw man never gets old ... apparently.

Of course the coaching staff has more expertise, and of course message board posters would make poor replacements for said coaching staff. But while I would make a terrible football coach, I am observant enough to recognize when I am seeing the same problems week after week after week.

Like you, I also give our coaching staff a far better chance of figuring out solutions than me. However, if the coaches has any solutions, I'd expect changes to appear before the fourth consecutive week of offensive futility with the same core issues.

I'd like nothing better than the staff to prove me wrong, because I really like Cutcliffe and very much appreciate what he's done for our program. I'll gladly eat crow if things turn around. I just don't see that happening.

[arnie]

The-coaches-are-way-better-at-coaching straw man never gets old ... apparently.

Of course the coaching staff has more expertise, and of course message board posters would make poor replacements for said coaching staff. But while I would make a terrible football coach, I am observant enough to recognize when I am seeing the same problems week after week after week.

Like you, I also give our coaching staff a far better chance of figuring out solutions than me. However, if the coaches has any solutions, I'd expect changes to appear before the fourth consecutive week of offensive futility with the same core issues.

I'd like nothing better than the staff to prove me wrong, because I really like Cutcliffe and very much appreciate what he's done for our program. I'll gladly eat crow if things turn around. I just don't see that happening.

The other concern; Army is playing very well against not so great competition, WF and GA Tech appear significantly better Duke. We need to win one of these to avoid an 8-game losing streak with a very healthy team. I doubt we’ll be favored in any of the 3.

[chrishoke]

The other concern; Army is playing very well against not so great competition, WF and GA Tech appear significantly better Duke. We need to win one of these to avoid an 8-game losing streak with a very healthy team. I doubt we’ll be favored in any of the 3.

That significantly better GT team got beat yesterday by the lowly Virginia Cavs. Hope springs eternal.

[budwom]

The-coaches-are-way-better-at-coaching straw man never gets old ... apparently.

Of course the coaching staff has more expertise, and of course message board posters would make poor replacements for said coaching staff. But while I would make a terrible football coach, I am observant enough to recognize when I am seeing the same problems week after week after week.

Like you, I also give our coaching staff a far better chance of figuring out solutions than me. However, if the coaches has any solutions, I'd expect changes to appear before the fourth consecutive week of offensive futility with the same core issues.

I'd like nothing better than the staff to prove me wrong, because I really like Cutcliffe and very much appreciate what he's done for our program. I'll gladly eat crow if things turn around. I just don't see that happening.

As a very faithful Duke football fan, I strongly agree. I am afraid that our assistant coaching inexperience is really hurting us this year at a number of key positions, e.g. offensive coordinator, offensive line, wide receiver, and special teams.
Assistant coaches are extremely important. For example, Cut's hiring of Ben Albert for the defensive line has paid huge dividends. I greatly admire Cut's loyalty to his staff and the fact that he likes to promote from within, but if you watch all the games (especially in person where you can see the whole field) it's pretty clear that we've had major, enduring problems that show no sign of improvement.

[Devil549]

If Duke wins 2 of next 3 and goes bowling we will look back and "say we had a bad OCT"......... of course we know now we had a bad OCT😎

IMO game that will surprise me the most that we win will be WF.

I HOPE WE GO BOWLING......don't care if it is with 5 or 6 wins!!!!!

[budwom]

If Duke wins 2 of next 3 and goes bowling we will look back and "say we had a bad OCT"..... of course we know now we had a bad OCT😎

IMO game that will surprise me the most that we win will be WF.

I HOPE WE GO BOWLING...don't care if it is with 5 or 6 wins!!!!!

if we win two of the next three, I'll come and wax your car. But I do hope it happens

[szstark]

I'd agree with this as well, except that every other lower-half ACC team has shown some spark, some sign that their team is trying to rally. UNC played Miami down to the wire. Syracuse upset Clemson. Etc. Meanwhile, Duke comes out with a similar game plan and intensity level week after week. For our defense, that's a good thing. For our offense, it's the definition of insanity.

Maybe the coaches are finally going to try something different, or the bye-week break will help for the lights to simultaneously going to come on for about half a dozen offensive players. However, for all his good qualities, Cutcliffe can be extremely stubborn about his vision for the team, to the point where I do not expect to see any noticeable strategic changes. Meanwhile, we have an OL that cannot pass-block, WRs that cannot create separation, and an OC that is apparently allergic to run play-calls. That does not bode well for the remaining games.

If the OL can’t pass block and the WRs can’t get separation, isn’t the answer fairly obvious? I know, l know - I sound like one of those DBR geniuses who know more than the coaches, but this one doesn’t strike me as being up there with brain surgery.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

I'd like to point out that most prognosticators pegged Duke between fourth and sixth in the division. Barring several surprises, that us exactly where we will finish.

[sagegrouse]

Fourth quarter -- Miami leads 31-28 but the Wahoos have the ball. This game could upset the national apple cart.

[YmoBeThere]

All is not lost...

[OZZIE4DUKE]

All is not lost...
You mean it’s not “over”? LGD GTHc!

[devildeac]

You mean it’s not “over”? LGD GTHc!

It's only over when you stop calling the plays from your mid-field seat...

;)