FB: Virginia Tech 38, Duke 31

[Bob Green]

Duke is a 10.5 points underdog with the Over/Under at 51.5 points. Discuss the game here...

[rtnorthrup]

Weirdly, we have had some success against Va. Tech, even when we arent very good.

That's about all I got.

[devildeac]

Duke is a 10.5 points underdog with the Over/Under at 51.5 points. Discuss the game here...

You're a brave, brave soul, Bob, for starting game threads two weeks in a row.

[peloton]

Weirdly, we have had some success against Va. Tech, even when we arent very good.

That's about all I got.

I'm afraid that's not going to be enough 😏. I'll be watching of course but seeing what they did against the Pack...it's not going to be pretty at all. No bold/foolish prediction from me this time as I'm no longer drinking (the kool-aid).

[duke2x]

Weirdly, we have had some success against Va. Tech, even when we arent very good. That's about all I got.

Duke-VT @ VT since 2004: 3-6.
Duke-VT @Duke since 2005: 0-7.

Note there was a quirk in the 2012 and 2013 schedule because VT did not want to host BC and Duke in the same year to even out ticket sales. We got Miami at home twice.

[tteettimes]

Duke football???...really????...still???....m ore like an oxymoron!!!...we should be playing junior colleges only....or girls teams....Duke football...what an embarrassment

Sorry...lm just not able to keep the faith any longer...I will always pull for the Duke Blue Devils...this really hurts

[jimsumner]

Duke football???...really????...still???...more like an oxymoron!!!...we should be playing junior colleges only...or girls teams...Duke football...what an embarrassment

Sorry...lm just not able to keep the faith any longer...I will always pull for the Duke Blue Devils...this really hurts

Deep, cleansing breath, Repeat as needed.

Just curious but were you around in the Franks/Roof days?

[Devilwin]

Deep, cleansing breath, Repeat as needed.

Just curious but were you around in the Franks/Roof days?

Not Roof bad yet, but it's heading that way. But I know we have talent, and hopefully we can get it together. QB is a big issue now...Get that issue settled we can still be ok..I have a feeling we can reverse fortunes Saturday.

[jimsumner]

Not Roof bad yet, but it's heading that way. But I know we have talent, and hopefully we can get it together. QB is a big issue now...Get that issue settled we can still be ok..I have a feeling we can reverse fortunes Saturday.

Methinks we need to get a lot closer to a winless season than 0-3 to even remotely compare this team to the worst teams of the Franks/Roof era.

[Acymetric]

Methinks we need to get a lot closer to a winless season than 0-3 to even remotely compare this team to the worst teams of the Franks/Roof era.

I don't know, I think 7 turnovers just about does it.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Not Roof bad yet, but it's heading that way. But I know we have talent, and hopefully we can get it together. QB is a big issue now...Get that issue settled we can still be ok..I have a feeling we can reverse fortunes Saturday.

That is something that is particularly maddening. We ARE more talented than we were when Cutcliffe took over, yet we are not progressing. It's one thing to lose when we have "the fattest and slowest" team, but those days are long gone. One could argue that we are more talented now than we were when we won the Coastal, at least on paper. We should be consistently be competing in ACC, and we obviously aren't even close to doing so.

[jimsumner]

I don't know, I think 7 turnovers just about does it.

I'm talking about a season not one game. Apples and oranges.

As an aside, anyone who wasn't around for Carl Franks' last game is not arguing from an informed perspective.

[Im4howdy]

That is something that is particularly maddening. We ARE more talented than we were when Cutcliffe took over, yet we are not progressing. It's one thing to lose when we have "the fattest and slowest" team, but those days are long gone. One could argue that we are more talented now than we were when we won the Coastal, at least on paper. We should be consistently be competing in ACC, and we obviously aren't even close to doing so.

I wonder if someone needs to ask Coach Cutliffe again, "Do they play football at Duke." That seemed to get his juices flowing the first time.

[Acymetric]

I wonder if someone needs to ask Coach Cutliffe again, "Do they play football at Duke." That seemed to get his juices flowing the first time.

It feels like I haven't seen Cut fired up about anything in years. Early on in his tenure I loved listening to his interviews (pre-game, post-game, midweek, whenever).

[arnie]

I'm talking about a season not one game. Apples and oranges.

As an aside, anyone who wasn't around for Carl Franks' last game is not arguing from an informed perspective.

Yea, they should have fired me at halftime for continuing to sit through it. The other problem, unless Charlotte is able to play, we stand a chance at going winless. Strangely, our best chance at a W may against hapless FSU. If they keep losing, that new coach is likely gone.

[Bob Green]

Jim Sumner article on front page:

https://www.dukebasketballreport.com...evils-football

Michael Carter II and Casey Holman met with the media.

Virginia Tech ran for 314 yards against State. Job 1 will be stopping the Hokies ground attack.

[peloton]

I don't know, I think 7 turnovers just about does it.

Acymetric, 7 turnovers is downright awful, I agree. However, and I don't remember under whose watch it was, but I've been to at least one game in the past where the ball was hiked over our punter's head. Granted, we're bad but we're not that level bad right now (I realize that's little consolation as we all ponder which team we'll get our first win against).

I would love nothing more than to see both Coach Cut and the team display some emotion this weekend and grab this victory vs the Hokies.

[jimsumner]

Yea, they should have fired me at halftime for continuing to sit through it. The other problem, unless Charlotte is able to play, we stand a chance at going winless. Strangely, our best chance at a W may against hapless FSU. If they keep losing, that new coach is likely gone.

Then you know how pathetic that team was. For those who don't Wake led 42-0 at the half. Jim Grobe played his backups the entire second half. He did not call for a single pass, did not call for a run outside the tackles, maybe outside the guards, did not blitz.

Without putting too fine a point on it Jim Grobe FELT SORRY FOR A DUKE FOOTBALL TEAM and TOOK PITY ON THAT TEAM.

When that starts happening to Cutcliffe then Duke will have reached the depths of Carl Franks last game. But we are a long, long, long way from that point.

I think Duke's late-game collapses may have distorted our perceptions. Duke was down 17-13 at Notre Dame in the fourth quarter. Duke didn't really fall apart against BC until Charlie Ham missed a chip-shot field goal that would have made it 10-9 in the second half. And Duke led Virginia in the fourth quarter.

Duke is doing a terrible job of finishing close games and they have to fix that. Have to. But Franks and Roof rarely had that opportunity and that's why I find the comparisons of this team to the teams of Cut's two most immediate predecessors to be overwrought.

[DU82]

Then you know how pathetic that team was. For those who don't Wake led 42-0 at the half. Jim Grobe played his backups the entire second half. He did not call for a single pass, did not call for a run outside the tackles, maybe outside the guards, did not blitz.

Without putting too fine a point on it Jim Grobe FELT SORRY FOR A DUKE FOOTBALL TEAM and TOOK PITY ON THAT TEAM.

When that starts happening to Cutcliffe then Duke will have reached the depths of Carl Franks last game. But we are a long, long, long way from that point.

I think Duke's late-game collapses may have distorted our perceptions. Duke was down 17-13 at Notre Dame in the fourth quarter. Duke didn't really fall apart against BC until Charlie Ham missed a chip-shot field goal that would have made it 10-9 in the second half. And Duke led Virginia in the fourth quarter.

Duke is doing a terrible job of finishing close games and they have to fix that. Have to. But Franks and Roof rarely had that opportunity and that's why I find the comparisons of this team to the teams of Cut's two most immediate predecessors to be overwrought.

Interesting you brought up Jim Grobe (and I stayed through the end of that game; I wish he had allowed his walk-on QB a chance to throw a pass in what might have been his only game on the field.)

I see some parallels between Grobe and Cutcliffe. Grobe came to Wake, lit a fire, made it to the championship game (and won!) and took Wake from a doormat to a contender. However, over his 13 seasons, he peaked in season 6, had two more good seasons, then basically went back downhill. He wasn't able to capture the same lightning again and he ended up "retiring" rather than being fired (although he came back to be the interim coach at Baylor a couple seasons later, as they needed a clean, decent person to pull them out of the crap they got themselves into.)

Do you see similar patterns with Cut?

[sagegrouse]

Jim Sumner article on front page:

https://www.dukebasketballreport.com...evils-football

Michael Carter II and Casey Holman met with the media.

Virginia Tech ran for 314 yards against State. Job 1 will be stopping the Hokies ground attack.

I attended a game played against The Citadel in 2004. At the beginning of the second half, we lateraled into our own end zone for a Citadel touchdown to get within four points.

We put the game away only when our big, lumbering tailback Justin Boyle ran for for 83 yards -- it turned out he was the fastest man on the field.