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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
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    Duke football notes, 9-19-17

    Duke is playing the University of North Carolina this weekend.

    They’re a local school.

    There’s something of a rivalry there, I’m told.

    David Cutcliffe calls this a “grocery store game,” as in lose and folks give you a hard time in the grocery store.

    Johathan Lloyd is from Graham, N.C., just west of Durham.

    Lloyd actually grew up an Ohio State fan but still had a pretty good grip on the Duke-Carolina rivalry.

    “It means a lot to me, just being from here and knowing a lot of guys over there. A bunch of family are Carolina fans anyway. . . . . so I was aware of it and watched it. But they weren’t my team. A lot of excitement just because of who it is. It has so much meaning for the community.”

    Bryon Fields, Jr. was born in Pittsburgh but went to high school in Charlotte. Yes, he’s a Pittsburgh Steelers fan. Fields is a redshirt senior and says most of the guys he knew from Carolina have graduated. Fields sat out the 2015 game rehabbing ACL surgery and in fact didn’t even travel to Chapel Hill, watching the Tar Heels blow Duke out 66-31.

    “They beat us pretty bad. That’s definitely in the back of my mind. I don’t want to talk to much about that one.”

    “You grow up around it,” Fields says of the rivalry, “more so in basketball. But both football programs have made great strides as far as building their programs. I think the football rivalry is growing. You definitely take more pride in it as you grow older and become more familiar with the other side and become more ingrained in the rivalry, especially since it’s my last one.”

    Fields said he was not recruited by UNC and was a fan of “whoever was recruiting me.”

    Offensive guard Zach Harmon is from Toledo, Ohio. He says he knew of the Duke-Carolina rivalry because of the basketball games. “We talk about them and we know how important the rivalry is. We lost badly (45-20) to them my freshman year and that left a bad taste in my mouth and ingrained in me how big the rivalry is.”

    This is the first road game for a lot of Duke’s young team.

    Fields says he tries to convey his attitude towards road games. “I like road games. I like the energy. I like being the underdog, being the enemy, being the bad guy.”

    Cutcliffe says road inexperience “can be [a factor] for the start of a ball game. But once you get hit and settle in to the game, it fades away.” He added that opening close to home, staying in the same hotel, not having to get on a plane should help the young players stay focused.

    Harmon on better pass blocking. “It’s composure. We know what we can do. We protect Daniel every day in practice. We can do a better job coordinating. The biggest thing is knowing that if we can keep Daniel clean, he’s going to put points on the board.”

    Harmon praised true freshman Rakavius Chambers. “You wouldn’t know he was a freshman. He’s very mature.”

    Cutcliffe says Duke has to do a better job of pass protection this week. He says his laundry list on pass protection was “about 18 lines long,” including “consistency, proper sets, proper communication and recognition, throwing the ball on time. Some of them were held balls, not throwing it away.”

    The expectation is that Surrat will take most of the QB snaps for Carolina Saturday but that Carolina doesn’t really change their offense when Harris takes over. Preparation is the same for both.

    Speaking of Surrat, you may recall that he committed to Duke before changing his mind. Cut deflected any attempt to discuss his de-commitment in detail, stating that he was concerned with the players he had, not the players he didn’t have. Said he is an old bass fisherman and he learned long ago not to worry about the ones that got away, adding that when he sets the hook, not many get away.

    He added that Surrat ended up going where he wanted to go, which is the goal of the process.

    Duke tried Shaun Wilson as punt returner against Baylor because T.J. Rahming is banged up. Cut says Wilson “struggled catching the bombs. That guy from Baylor is unusual.”

    More than likely Wilson will return punts this weekend. Duke is working with other options but Cut declined to name them.

    Rahming and Bracey still fighting through injuries.

    Duke has been quite effective on third and fourth down defense. Cut says that the run defense has improved and is forcing more third and longs. Says Coach Knowles has confidence in his team’s ability to execute what he calls and cites Duke’s preparation “at every position.”

    Explosives? “We had three plays that resulted in touchdowns that equaled 196 yards,” Cutcliffe said. “You can’t win consistently doing that. They have the ability to run the ball, to throw it. You have to have sound technique, you have to play fast. You take the tape and learn from it and make it better on Tuesday and made it better again on Thursday. You prepare as well as you possibly can.”

    Fields added that Duke had some guys lined up wrong on the big plays and noted that Carolina runs a lot of hurry-up offense. Duke needs to get it right this week and down the road.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
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    Norfolk, VA
    Thanks as always, Jim. These posts are gold.

    Quote Originally Posted by jimsumner View Post

    Duke tried Shaun Wilson as punt returner against Baylor because T.J. Rahming is banged up. Cut says Wilson “struggled catching the bombs. That guy from Baylor is unusual.”

    More than likely Wilson will return punts this weekend. Duke is working with other options but Cut declined to name them.

    Rahming and Bracey still fighting through injuries.
    I'm glad to read Wilson will "more than likely" return punts again this weekend. He struggled mightily against Baylor but perhaps he needs more time to adjust to the role. With his shiftiness and explosive speed, it would be a mistake to give up on him. Wilson could struggle again or he could take one to the house.

    Rahming and Bracey being dinged up is concerning; however, there is a lot of depth on the roster at receiver.
    Bob Green

  3. #3
    Wilson isn't the first Dukie to have multiple punts go over his head. I've wondered for years why we don't line up our returners farther back. It's much easier to step toward the ball than to backpedal while craning your neck upwards.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Richard Berg View Post
    Wilson isn't the first Dukie to have multiple punts go over his head. I've wondered for years why we don't line up our returners farther back. It's much easier to step toward the ball than to backpedal while craning your neck upwards while looking into the blinding sun burning all the attendees at WW on yet another very warm Saturday afternoon.
    Embellishment added.
    [redacted] them and the horses they rode in on.

  5. #5
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    Feb 2007
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    Raleigh, NC
    I think Wilson will do fine. The Baylor pounter was awesome! Coach Wade would have loved that kid.
    "This is the best of all possible worlds."
    Dr. Pangloss - Candide

  6. #6
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    Thanks, Jim. The "must spread comments" block hits you a lot in football season from my computer.

  7. #7
    Dev11's Avatar
    Dev11 is offline Commissioner of Statistics, DBR Podcast
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    The punt returning and the missed defensive assignments seem like potential trouble against UNC. Their offense moves quickly. That said, I think our defense will react to their sometimes uneven performance against Baylor and plug those holes. They see UNC every year, and even though UNC has a new QB, the offense still works the same way.

    I can't wait to see Rahming or Bracey back there on punt returns.

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Dev11 View Post
    The punt returning and the missed defensive assignments seem like potential trouble against UNC. Their offense moves quickly. That said, I think our defense will react to their sometimes uneven performance against Baylor and plug those holes. They see UNC every year, and even though UNC has a new QB, the offense still works the same way.

    I can't wait to see Rahming or Bracey back there on punt returns.
    Agree with this. I'd also be OK if we simply caught the punts on the flly and didn't advance them. That would be an improvement.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by arnie View Post
    Agree with this. I'd also be OK if we simply caught the punts on the flly and didn't advance them. That would be an improvement.
    About the only good thing about our punt returns has been that we haven't fumbled them. By the way, it looked like Rahming might have jammed a finger on one of his non pass receptions...hope that doesn't linger.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by budwom View Post
    By the way, it looked like Rahming might have jammed a finger on one of his non pass receptions...hope that doesn't linger.
    Yeah, I remember seeing that but do not recall whether he caught any more passes that day or not.

    To state the obvious -- we need everything we've got on Saturday. Will be a war.

    LGD!!!

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by budwom View Post
    About the only good thing about our punt returns has been that we haven't fumbled them. By the way, it looked like Rahming might have jammed a finger on one of his non pass receptions...hope that doesn't linger.
    Our younger son-in-law, watching on TV, was concerned he may have dislocated a finger on that play. Guess we'll find out Thursday if he's on the injury report with an "upper body" listing.
    [redacted] them and the horses they rode in on.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by devildeac View Post
    Guess we'll find out Thursday if he's on the injury report...
    I'm anxiously awaiting the injury report posting. It seems we have a "health advantage" right now so hopefully there are no surprises tomorrow.
    Bob Green

  13. #13
    Our biggest issue this week might not be our punt returning but actually our punting. Austin Parker couldn't punt to save his life last week and if he can't pin the cheats inside the 20 at least a few times on Saturday we might be in trouble.

  14. #14
    I see the line has moved to -2.5

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by jimsumner View Post
    He added that opening close to home, staying in the same hotel, not having to get on a plane should help the young players stay focused.
    Am I reading this right, the team actually moves into a hotel for this game? Seems like some players might already live closer to UNCheat's stadium than a hotel would be. Is this just taking advantage of allowances for road games to corral everyone together and stay focused and out of trouble?

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sir Stealth View Post
    Am I reading this right, the team actually moves into a hotel for this game? Seems like some players might already live closer to UNCheat's stadium than a hotel would be. Is this just taking advantage of allowances for road games to corral everyone together and stay focused and out of trouble?
    I believe they actually do this for home games as well. Out of the dorm, into the team routine.

  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sir Stealth View Post
    Am I reading this right, the team actually moves into a hotel for this game? Seems like some players might already live closer to UNCheat's stadium than a hotel would be. Is this just taking advantage of allowances for road games to corral everyone together and stay focused and out of trouble?
    The Duke football team has been staying in hotels before home games since the 1960's; at least, that was the practice when I was in school and I thought it had continued.
    Sage Grouse

    ---------------------------------------
    'When I got on the bus for my first road game at Duke, I saw that every player was carrying textbooks or laptops. I coached in the SEC for 25 years, and I had never seen that before, not even once.' - David Cutcliffe to Duke alumni in Washington, DC, June 2013

  18. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by OldPhiKap View Post
    I believe they actually do this for home games as well. Out of the dorm, into the team routine.

    That is correct.

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by OldPhiKap View Post
    I believe they actually do this for home games as well. Out of the dorm, into the team routine.
    You are correct. Each of the local teams patronizes a local hotel for the evening before a home game.

    Duke has a routine that changes little except for occasional adjustment because of the kickoff time the next day. A short while after the team arrives and each player gets settled into the room assigned to him, team meetings and the evening meal get underway.

  20. #20
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    Unlike Wallace Wade, Kenan will be loud on Saturday. Anyone know if we have practiced indoors with the speakers cranked up? We have done it before other away games.
    Q "Why do you like Duke, you didn't even go there." A "Because my art school didn't have a basketball team."

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