He is from Baltimore so that makes it a lot more possible, as there is an east coast connection. He was at Stanford for four years - does one enter the transfer portal to be a grad transfer (i.e. eligible the following year)? I assume that is his plan since he already redshirted a year.
11 players entering the transfer portal seems like a lot. Is there something going on at Stanford that I'm not aware of?
Not off season discussion but I really enjoyed Jim's front page article on 2019 Duke football. As usual, Jim nails it. If you have not read it yet, take a look. I'll be anxiously waiting on his next article.
GoDuke!
That was an excellent analysis...I might've added that soft defensive coaching calls were part of the problem with the D against Wake and Pitt late...along with the offense not staying on the field long enough - which Jim mentioned of course - and that's a problem not only late in each game, but late in the season in general...cumulative wear and tear on defensive bodies and defensive mindsets.
I'm guessing the "what went right" column will be shorter. Much shorter.
I'll also add this FTA: " Steve Spurrier always maintained that you should take a shot down-field as early as possible. Even if it doesn’t work, it gives the defense something to think about, especially cornerbacks." -- it seems as if this notion has never entered the skull of Zac Roper.
If I said that one more time (said it a thousand times here) you'd be sick of it. I'll let the best offensive mind ever at Duke say it for everyone. And make no mistake, when he was at Duke, and for a while at Florida, he was offensively way ahead of the national curve. Not at South Carolina, and certainly not at Washington...but yes, at Duke he was.
I second that. Really well done, thorough and honest. My only nit is that it should not be labelled "The Play" but rather "The Call". I also agree with the speculation about the message it sent the team about the coaches confidence in them. Which was further compounded by Cut's decision to not even attempt to go for the TD at the end of the first half against ND. The "WTF" look the offense gave the coaches/bench as they stood in formation doing nothing, not even attempting a play, while the clock ran down spoke volumes.
The plays Roper ran over and over drove me nuts(short drive). Did it ever occur to him that opposing coaches saw that when preparing for Duke. Not throwing the ball down field probably had the most to do with offensive failures and the offensive line failing to do their job coming in a close 2nd. GoDuke!
The decision not to run a play or two at the end of the half against ND was one of the biggest disappointments I have ever had regarding any Duke coaching staff ever. Indefensible. Horrid. I can't even fathom the thought process that ended with that outcome.
Still makes me see red. No wonder our offense became what it did.
Man, if your Mom made you wear that color when you were a baby, and you're still wearing it, it's time to grow up!
Fall 1975, last game of the season against carolina, my senior year. Score tied, we have the ball with under a minute to go. Mike McGee called a run up the middle to preserve the tie rather than take a chance to win the game (or chance losing if it was a pick 6). I was so upset at not trying for the win that I destroyed my folding chair like Serena destroys a tennis racket when she loses...
Ozzie, your paradigm of optimism!
Go To Hell carolina, Go To Hell!
9F 9F 9F
https://ecogreen.greentechaffiliate.com
And in that vein, how about shutting the offense down for the entire second half against Ga Tech??? The O was NEVER the same after that second half against Tech.
Agree on ND...as for "the call" versus the Cheats...what made it really horrible was the fact it was the first down call, and the fact that they gave a player an assignment who was totally unprepared for that assignment. I think Duke's only successfully done that pop pass with a RB once...they have numerous successes with the QB throwing the pass. With a QB like Harris who runs a lot near the goal line, having Harris throw it had a much much greater chance of working. This speaks to no feel for the game or your players.
Where is the BANG HEAD icon???? And BTW, I agree with O line, but I'll also add that poor play calling hurts your O line.
Sage Grouse
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'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
Last edited by sagegrouse; 12-14-2019 at 08:06 AM.
Sage Grouse
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'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
Some day a cornerback will be stung by a bee and the bubble play goes all the way
I believe it would be beneficial to the very popular “bubble screen” topic to define the term because every outside screen pass is not a bubble screen.
Bubble screen - a type of screen pass where a receiver or tight end moves toward the sideline at the snap of the ball to receive an immediate pass from the quarterback.
http://insidethepylon.com/football-1...bubble-screen/
A different wide receiver screen is the tunnel screen also referred to as the jailbreak screen or plain old wide receiver screen. For this screen pass, the receiver is moving from outside to inside toward the quarterback.
Both plays require a couple of skills Duke seems to be lacking, a fast shifty receiver combined with good blocking, on the outside, by other receivers. As demonstrated in the link above, Alabama with Jerry Jeudy uses a bubble screen effectively. Duke achieved success with Jamison Crowder.
I am optimistic we will see effective use of outside screens in the coming seasons but it is dependent upon Trooper Taylor teaching our wide receivers how to block.
Finally, getting to my point, there is nothing wrong with running bubble and tunnel screens as part of the offense but they have to complement downfield passing and the running game instead of being a staple play. I like wide receiver screen passes, unfortunately, Duke does a poor job executing the play.
Bob Green
This, exactly.
There is a lot of merit in spreading the defense wide by getting the ball to the flanks quickly. But if you do not also spread the defense deep, all they have to do is keep the secondary fairly compact and then react as soon as the ball swings out.
Of course, you need an offensive line giving good protection for that too.
I would largely agree with what you said, with a minor quibble on your last point. Certainly it takes good protection to have double/triple move routes develop downfield...but there are two step drop passes that can stretch the defense too...simple go routes with a lofted pass...aimed to land maybe 35-40 yards downfield. This makes the D cover 40 yards instead of 5, with roughly the same timing.
QH was actually pretty good on those type passes, until he lost confidence in everything...and there was some success on those routes this year. But they didn't run them enough, and not early enough, to spread the defense length wise. If memory serves, we scored on a nice play like this against UVa, on a day when nothing else worked. But it was late in the game.
And as 'the ole ball coach' said, even if you don't complete it, it puts the defense a bit on their heels. This in and of itself would help pass protection.