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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Raleigh, NC

    Duke football notes, 9-11-12

    Much different mood today.

    Cut fell on his sword repeatedly, taking blame for not having his team ready. But it was pretty generic blame-accepting.

    I asked him about the play-calling. Cut insisted that the problem against Stanford "was not schematic." Comes down to blocking and tackling and Duke did neither well. Stanford's best consistently tackled Duke's best, while Duke's best did not tackle Stanford's best.

    A lot of the quick throws were off called runs. Duke hoped to "make their pass rush honest."

    Stanford only had two sacks, versus 63 pass attempts, so I guess that part worked.

    Duke also rushed for 27 net yards, in 23 attempts. So that part didn't.

    It should be noted that Cut has consistently portrayed football as a series of 1 v. 1 battles. The team that wins the majority of those, tends to win the majority of games.

    Some more problems with the Stanford game? Poor first-down production hurt. Led to too many second-and-longs.

    Too many big plays. Duke played solid D most of the time but is still too prone to giving up the big one.

    Some positives? The Duke D forced field-goal attempts early. Run defense solid. Desmond Scott had a big game as a receiver. Ross Cockrell is a keeper.

    Still, there's only so much polishing a 50-13 loss can absorb. When the head coach says things like "we got whipped in every phase," you know it was a bad road trip.

    I asked an insider if the mood on the plane back was somber, mad, determined or here-we-go-again. The answer was all but the last. Fair enough.

    Duke got back around 4:30 Sunday.

    No injury news. Cut was asked about Jamal Bruce. Said Duke didn't know anything but his body language was not encouraging.

    The players were on message. Learn from your mistakes, rely on veteran leadership, ready to accept the challenge.

    The proof will be in the pudding. NC Central is overmatched and Duke should win easily. But 35-20 is easily, 56-3 is easier. So, Duke needs to establish dominance early and build some good habits that they can carry into a run of winnable but more competitive games.

    Speaking of Central, Duke expects a good crowd, maybe in the capacity-crowd range. So, allow for traffic. Weather projected to be excellent.

    Injury report Thursday.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Norfolk, VA
    Jim, thanks for posting these reports. It is great to hear stuff straight from the top, even if the message isn't exactly what we want to hear.

    Quote Originally Posted by jimsumner View Post
    The proof will be in the pudding. NC Central is overmatched and Duke should win easily. But 35-20 is easily, 56-3 is easier. So, Duke needs to establish dominance early and build some good habits that they can carry into a run of winnable but more competitive games.
    This is the key. We must go out and execute the types of plays we intend to use against those tougher, more competitive opponents. It isn't enough to be successful on Saturday night, it is imperative we both dominate and build off of the dominance.
    Bob Green

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Raleigh, NC
    Correction. Plane left at 4:30.

    Thanks to Reilly for the heads-up.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Denver, CO
    Sounds like it was a pretty somber press conference. Seems about right.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Jacksonville, NC
    Quote Originally Posted by Bob Green View Post
    Jim, thanks for posting these reports. It is great to hear stuff straight from the top, even if the message isn't exactly what we want to hear.



    This is the key. We must go out and execute the types of plays we intend to use against those tougher, more competitive opponents. It isn't enough to be successful on Saturday night, it is imperative we both dominate and build off of the dominance.
    I agree with this 100 percent. I want Duke to be unbelievably hospitable all night, except on the football field. This needs to be a clear cut blow out. No questions, no doubts left in the minds of anyone. This is what FBS teams are expected to do against FCS teams. They need to play angry, but in control, and they need to execute and do all those basic things Cut said they didn't do against Stanford: Block, run, tackle, cover. all those things. Don't need a close game here.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Nashville
    Quote Originally Posted by jimsumner View Post
    I asked him about the play-calling. Cut insisted that the problem against Stanford "was not schematic." Comes down to blocking and tackling and Duke did neither well. Stanford's best consistently tackled Duke's best, while Duke's best did not tackle Stanford's best.

    A lot of the quick throws were off called runs. Duke hoped to "make their pass rush honest."
    Hmmm.

    Thanks as always for the report - this is a kind of troubling answer, though. Not even sure what 'off called runs' means... like, Renfree audibled to a swing pass, or that it was an option of sorts?

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Raleigh, NC
    Quote Originally Posted by Greg_Newton View Post
    Hmmm.

    Thanks as always for the report - this is a kind of troubling answer, though. Not even sure what 'off called runs' means... like, Renfree audibled to a swing pass, or that it was an option of sorts?
    Plan B. I think.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Jacksonville, NC
    Quote Originally Posted by Greg_Newton View Post
    Hmmm.

    Thanks as always for the report - this is a kind of troubling answer, though. Not even sure what 'off called runs' means... like, Renfree audibled to a swing pass, or that it was an option of sorts?
    I assumed this meant that Sean audibled at the line of scrimmage. If so he audibled to the same play like 15 times in the first half. My concern is that Duke ran the ball 5 times in the first half. Against fast teams you figured they'd run some quick hits or draws. Don't have a lot of use for misdirection against really quick teams. Play action is useless unless you run the ball and nobody is going to bite on a play fake from a team that runs the ball only 5 times in a half.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    Winston Salem, NC
    Quote Originally Posted by jimsumner View Post
    Much different mood today.

    Cut fell on his sword repeatedly, taking blame for not having his team ready. But it was pretty generic blame-accepting.

    I asked him about the play-calling. Cut insisted that the problem against Stanford "was not schematic." Comes down to blocking and tackling and Duke did neither well. Stanford's best consistently tackled Duke's best, while Duke's best did not tackle Stanford's best.

    A lot of the quick throws were off called runs. Duke hoped to "make their pass rush honest."

    Stanford only had two sacks, versus 63 pass attempts, so I guess that part worked.

    Duke also rushed for 27 net yards, in 23 attempts. So that part didn't.

    It should be noted that Cut has consistently portrayed football as a series of 1 v. 1 battles. The team that wins the majority of those, tends to win the majority of games.

    Some more problems with the Stanford game? Poor first-down production hurt. Led to too many second-and-longs.

    Too many big plays. Duke played solid D most of the time but is still too prone to giving up the big one.

    Some positives? The Duke D forced field-goal attempts early. Run defense solid. Desmond Scott had a big game as a receiver. Ross Cockrell is a keeper.

    Still, there's only so much polishing a 50-13 loss can absorb. When the head coach says things like "we got whipped in every phase," you know it was a bad road trip.

    I asked an insider if the mood on the plane back was somber, mad, determined or here-we-go-again. The answer was all but the last. Fair enough.

    Duke got back around 4:30 Sunday.

    No injury news. Cut was asked about Jamal Bruce. Said Duke didn't know anything but his body language was not encouraging.

    The players were on message. Learn from your mistakes, rely on veteran leadership, ready to accept the challenge.

    The proof will be in the pudding. NC Central is overmatched and Duke should win easily. But 35-20 is easily, 56-3 is easier. So, Duke needs to establish dominance early and build some good habits that they can carry into a run of winnable but more competitive games.

    Speaking of Central, Duke expects a good crowd, maybe in the capacity-crowd range. So, allow for traffic. Weather projected to be excellent.

    Injury report Thursday.
    Jim, thanks for the report. The play calling reminded me of last years same play calling. It was evident that Stanford had prepared for that part of our offense. To keep going to it made little sense unless Cut was just trying to keep Renfree healthy(sacks) and as you said that worked. We really need to come out strong against Central and smash them in the mouth on offense and defense. A close win does little for the team's confidence. Once again thank you for your report. GoDuke!

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Dallas
    Thanks for the summary.

    On one hand, it makes me feel better that those swing passes weren't actually called down and were off run plays. On the other hand, shouldn't we have more variations for audibles?

    The number of sacks allowed can be a misleading stat, for sure.

  11. #11

  12. #12
    Jim, I listened to the presser, and heard Cut's quote about Renfree's option of throwing swing passes. I would've loved a follow up question of "Did Sean have the option of calling for a roll-out, and if so why didn't he opt for it?" It is harder to hit a moving target provided that roll side TE and tackle hold their blocks. It seems like the other local beat writers seem content to eat the appetizers and throw him softball questions.

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