Originally Posted by
jimsumner
First, the good news. Jela Duncan practiced this morning.
And it was a physical practice. Cutcliffe said you have to take risks to prepare for Georgia Tech. Those risks include having the scout team employing chop blocks. Cut noted that Duke also plays Army this fall and spent a lot of time in pre-season working on defending triple-option offenses.
Back to Duncan. No guarantee he will play Saturday. Duke will have to see how he responds to his first contact work in some time. But the trend lines are positive.
Not so positive for Cody Robinson, who is out indefinitely. Back problems.
With Robinson out, Duke wants to evaluate the backups and get some of them on the field more. Playing five guys too many plays.
Back to Northwestern. About those passes to the running backs. They were plays designed to be thrown downfield.
Here’s what Sirk had to say. “I think our plan going in was good. We have to play physical on the offensive side of the ball. They were a cover team that dropped back and we got put into a lot of third and long situations and they had a lot of eight-man coverages and you have to take what the defense gives you and they give you the check-down, that’s what you have to take. We believe in getting the ball into the hands of our running backs in those situations. We just have to maintain the ball. Turnovers and penalties hurt us.”
Here’s what Cut had to say. “They tackled extremely well. We got no extra yards, very few explosives. We were inconsistent and when you do that, you don’t make first downs. Most meaningful plays in the second half, Northwestern won. We take pride in getting better as the game goes on and we didn’t. . . . [Sirk] He’s still young in that process and we put him in a challenging mode today. We put him a lot of pressure today. We’re going to continue to train him.”
Cut cited turnovers and special teams as crucial to the loss.
Cut also cited inconsistency on offense, specifically citing a completed pass that T.J. Rahming fumbled backwards, turning a second and six into a third and 16.
Several Duke players conceded that Duke did not match Northwestern’s physicality. One was Matt Skura. “After watching the film and getting to see what was going on, I think we were hesitant at carrying the fight to Northwestern. We just kept waiting for a big play.”
Skura added that the loss lingered for most of Sunday. “You’ve got let it go. It hurts for about 24 hours. Watching the film on Sunday, it hurts, seeing the mistakes and knowing that one play could have made the difference.”
Duke’s goal is to put the previous game in the rear-view mirror by the end of Sunday and focus on the next game.
Cutliffe acknowledged the poor special-team play Saturday but said it was too early to panic and make personnel changes on special teams.
The kick-off return? An unnamed Duke player had hurt a hamstring but “didn’t realize how hurt he was. He was trying to be a tough guy but couldn’t run. It is unfortunate. . . . When he couldn’t get downfield, the other players were trying to fill in behind him. And we went to sleep a little bit on the back side.”
Braxton Deaver has one catch in three games, not what anyone expected. Deaver says he’s as healthy as he was two seasons ago but he and Sirk need to work harder to get on the same page.
Georgia Tech. Look for Duke to play an extra safety. Cut says Duke’s goal is to match “speed versus speed.”
Jeremy Cash says “Everything is assignment football when you’re playing Georgia Tech. It’s at a premium. You have a man, you watch your man, no matter what. You have to do your job. You can’t do anyone else’s job.”
Skura adds that Duke needs to sustain drives. That’s been a priority this week, eliminating the three-and-outs which send the defense back on the field.
Cutcliffe added “You can’t turn the ball over, you can’t get behind the chains, you can’t have plays that lose yards. When you’re playing Georgia Tech, you can’t have penalties, you can’t have plays that put you behind schedule."
And yes, I asked a senior staffer about beer sales. No state or ACC law or rule prohibits beer sales at Duke but the Duke administration doesn't allow it.
Predicted weather Saturday, high in the mid-70s, overcast, 40 percent chance of rain.