FB: Duke 20, Georgia Tech 23 OT

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Yeah well, he's likely pretty banged up today. I fell for the fun of the drive. Leonard probably shouldn't have been smiling when they tied considering how grim the rest of the game was according to the experts here.

I see what you did there...

[BCCoordinators]

Can Duke Handle Success?

https://jimsumner.substack.com/p/can...handle-success

Latest Jim Sumner article.

I really liked that article from Jim. It looks like, though, Duke wasn't ready for the moment. Oh well. Hopefully next week will be better. I've really been enjoying Jim's Substack, BTW. It's great stuff.

[cakerace]

I came here this morning hoping to order the official DBR "I'd Go For 2!" t-shirt. Oh, well... #whyillneverbeafootballcoach

[TheTrain]

And it is the kind of decision that opposing coaches will bring up, with video, on the recruiting trail.

Trust me, nobody will bring that up and honestly so what if they do

[TheTrain]

Curious why you left out the sentence from Elko where he stated "those are things that we, as a staff, have to get corrected".

1000% correct…. Some serious selective editing here that intentionally omits the most important comment.

[TheDevilMadeMeDoIt]

No one on here is giving the coaches or the team credit for something we have been missing for several seasons, fight. Yes we were aided by penalties on the last drive, but our last few teams would have checked out in the third quarter after that first possession when we came out of the locker room and did nothing. Instead our defense dug in and played better. Our special teams were “special” and our offense came alive a little. Tech only scored twenty points during regulation. Our defense deserves credit especially with Shaka out and our injuries. Riley missed throws he has been making. I don’t recall a single great catch last night by our receivers. Yet, we got to overtime. Once again in the fourth quarter we were the better team, which has been a pattern this year.

My biggest concern now is injuries, not coaching or attitude. Injuries are what have ruined other promising starts. (See Mike McGee.)

Carolina may blow us out as they have better talent. However, I’m still in the glass half full mode. Go Devils!

[uh_no]

No one on here is giving the coaches or the team credit for something we have been missing for several seasons, fight. Yes we were aided by penalties on the last drive, but our last few teams would have checked out in the third quarter after that first possession when we came out of the locker room and did nothing. Instead our defense dug in and played better. Our special teams were “special” and our offense came alive a little. Tech only scored twenty points during regulation. Our defense deserves credit especially with Shaka out and our injuries. Riley missed throws he has been making. I don’t recall a single great catch last night by our receivers. Yet, we got to overtime. Once again in the fourth quarter we were the better team, which has been a pattern this year.

My biggest concern now is injuries, not coaching or attitude. Injuries are what have ruined other promising starts. (See Mike McGee.)

Carolina may blow us out as they have better talent. However, I’m still in the glass half full mode. Go Devils!

I find it a bit...disappointing...that after getting to 4-1...exceeding most people's expectations, we're ready to turn on the new coaching staff after a conference loss in oertime.

[Skydog]

This is a different game if not for Robertson's lack of discipline. His late hit after the whistle ended a great first half drive. That likely cost us points and definitely took the wind out of our sails. He then had two offensive PI penalties, both drive killers. In fact the second one in OT nullified a likely game winning play that would have given us a first and goal on the GT 5 yard line. Without that last PI we are likely talking about Duke's miraculous comeback win.

That being said, the reason we needed a miraculous comeback was because we couldn't control the line of scrimmage.

[chrishoke]

Jim’s take:

https://jimsumner.substack.com/p/duk...short/comments

Money quote:

"And can we please slow down those Daniel Jones-Riley Leonard comparisons?"

[ecs15]

Pain still hasn't faded from this one but that's the team's fault for setting expectations so high

[Thurber Whyte]

No one on here is giving the coaches or the team credit for something we have been missing for several seasons, fight. Yes we were aided by penalties on the last drive, but our last few teams would have checked out in the third quarter after that first possession when we came out of the locker room and did nothing. Instead our defense dug in and played better. Our special teams were “special” and our offense came alive a little. Tech only scored twenty points during regulation. Our defense deserves credit especially with Shaka out and our injuries. Riley missed throws he has been making. I don’t recall a single great catch last night by our receivers. Yet, we got to overtime. Once again in the fourth quarter we were the better team, which has been a pattern this year.

My biggest concern now is injuries, not coaching or attitude. Injuries are what have ruined other promising starts. (See Mike McGee.)

Carolina may blow us out as they have better talent. However, I’m still in the glass half full mode. Go Devils!

Wow, I’m surprised by some of the comments. We were obviously not having our best game, yet we kept fighting and found a way to tie the game. Should we have gone for two? If you look who played the best in the fourth quarter it was us, so why gamble on two when you can keep playing in that position. But reasonable minds can disagree. If we had tried and failed I think the board would be on fire with criticism.

I also don’t expect Elko to take the blame every time we lose. “We didn’t execute” sounds about right for the first three quarters. Of course some of that is on the coaches, but Johns didn’t throw the interception and Elko didn’t commit offensive pass interference.

I can’t remember the last time we came back from a two touchdown deficit in the fourth quarter. I’m excited about playing UNC. Everyone expects them to win, so no real downside. Mack on the sidelines reminds me of Cut the last few years, lost. GTH Carolina.

Pain still hasn't faded from this one but that's the team's fault for setting expectations so high

I agree with all of this. I am taking the season game by game. At this point, we are still ahead of my expectations. Last year, coaching problems aside, I just did not think we were that talented. Even in the blowouts, I thought the team showed more fight than in previous seasons, where at some point, they just quit. Last year, the players were mostly running around in circles to no clear purpose. Part of that probably was coaching and my untutored eye could not tell just how much, but we did seem to have less talent than previous seasons. Off season, we had some of our better players transfer out. Going into the season, the cupboard was bare. This year, I am pleasantly surprised by the results. We have been fortunate with injuries so far, which have always been an issue as seasons go forward and now are rearing their head. However, help seems to be on the way through solid recruiting, which should address both talent and depth. The coaching staff has proven proficient in the portal too.

Did Elko get outcoached? Maybe, but he has never been a head coach before and this is his staff’s first year together as a group. For me, he is still rookie coach of the year.

We spent part of the week looking at computer rankings and trying to predict the rest of the season. That is great, but games are played on the field and we will still likely lose a game or two to teams that we should beat and win a game or two against teams that are better. And is Georgia Tech really that bad? Before they fired their coach, they lost to two ranked teams, beat an FCS team and lost to UCF. That entire decision seems to come down to one game and it is not clear to me that UCF, at 4-1, was a bad loss. Maybe firing the coach energized Georgia Tech. Maybe not. Either way, unless there was more going on behind the scenes, it looked kind of stupid to me.

Yes, we had no business even getting to overtime against Georgia Tech, but the fight the team showed and the way the game ended ought to leave the team hungry. Played correctly, it should be the opposite of the jump pass. Speaking of better ranked teams, speaking of Carolina, I too fancy our chances against them. They are the ones struggling with expectations, not us.

My advice? Play a long game. As the season plays out, just keep asking yourself: on the whole, we are moving in the right direction or not. I think we definitely are. To me, this season is for fun. And we still have much to look forward to. The Coastal Division is still ripe for the taking. Who is the frontrunner? Pittsburg? Steal a win from them and we have the tiebreaker. Do that and we still have as good a chance to emerge from the Seven Dwarves cage match that is the Coastal Division as anyone. Beating Northwestern was encouraging in that regard because it showed that we could go four quarters against a grindy, chew ‘em up offense like Pittsburg’s, which we never really could before. Handle the rest of the dwarves, pull a foreign object out of our tights and whack Grumpy and we are through to the ACC Championship. At the very least, bowl eligibility is a realistic prospect.

I am more worried about next year. Even before the schedule got reshuffled, Notre Dame replaces one of our easier nonconference opponents and I believe Clemson was already on there. We may take a step back next year even as we get better. Enjoy this season! Play a long game! Respect the process!

[BCCoordinators]

Money quote:

"And can we please slow down those Daniel Jones-Riley Leonard comparisons?"

Hopefully all this will keep the team level and hungry. The 4-1 start may have tricked us into thinking that the team was better than it is.

[hustleplays]

I agree with all of this. I am taking the season game by game. At this point, we are still ahead of my expectations. Last year, coaching problems aside, I just did not think we were that talented. Even in the blowouts, I thought the team showed more fight than in previous seasons, where at some point, they just quit. Last year, the players were mostly running around in circles to no clear purpose. Part of that probably was coaching and my untutored eye could not tell just how much, but we did seem to have less talent than previous seasons. Off season, we had some of our better players transfer out. Going into the season, the cupboard was bare. This year, I am pleasantly surprised by the results. We have been fortunate with injuries so far, which have always been an issue as seasons go forward and now are rearing their head. However, help seems to be on the way through solid recruiting, which should address both talent and depth. The coaching staff has proven proficient in the portal too.

Did Elko get outcoached? Maybe, but he has never been a head coach before and this is his staff’s first year together as a group. For me, he is still rookie coach of the year.

We spent part of the week looking at computer rankings and trying to predict the rest of the season. That is great, but games are played on the field and we will still likely lose a game or two to teams that we should beat and win a game or two against teams that are better. And is Georgia Tech really that bad? Before they fired their coach, they lost to two ranked teams, beat an FCS team and lost to UCF. That entire decision seems to come down to one game and it is not clear to me that UCF, at 4-1, was a bad loss. Maybe firing the coach energized Georgia Tech. Maybe not. Either way, unless there was more going on behind the scenes, it looked kind of stupid to me.

Yes, we had no business even getting to overtime against Georgia Tech, but the fight the team showed and the way the game ended ought to leave the team hungry. Played correctly, it should be the opposite of the jump pass. Speaking of better ranked teams, speaking of Carolina, I too fancy our chances against them. They are the ones struggling with expectations, not us.

My advice? Play a long game. As the season plays out, just keep asking yourself: on the whole, we are moving in the right direction or not. I think we definitely are. To me, this season is for fun. And we still have much to look forward to. The Coastal Division is still ripe for the taking. Who is the frontrunner? Pittsburg? Steal a win from them and we have the tiebreaker. Do that and we still have as good a chance to emerge from the Seven Dwarves cage match that is the Coastal Division as anyone. Beating Northwestern was encouraging in that regard because it showed that we could go four quarters against a grindy, chew ‘em up offense like Pittsburg’s, which we never really could before. Handle the rest of the dwarves, pull a foreign object out of our tights and whack Grumpy and we are through to the ACC Championship. At the very least, bowl eligibility is a realistic prospect.

I am more worried about next year. Even before the schedule got reshuffled, Notre Dame replaces one of our easier nonconference opponents and I believe Clemson was already on there. We may take a step back next year even as we get better. Enjoy this season! Play a long game! Respect the process!

I like Thurber Whyte's perspective on taking the long view. I also affirm our admiration and respect for Elko, his staff and our fighting team.

Our hopes are high and speaking for myself this team has exceeded expectations and deserves high praise. But they did not have a good game and I believe it's legit -- and posterboard fun -- to express disappointment and to discuss why this game was not played as well as previous games. That said, it says a lot of positive things about this team that they were in it until the end, fought like crazy, and finally lost likely to an unforced error.

I respectfully ask that if I and fellow posters criticize [however ignorantly, but sincerely, in my case] this and that particular deficiency it not be inferred that we are losing faith in the coaches, teams, etc and are not grateful for what has been accomplished so far. I am thrilled that our criticisms, along with our praise, come in the context of incredible improvement over last year and continuing high expectations and gratitude for this year's team.

Go Duke Football!

[dlmzzz]

the Seven Dwarves cage match that is the Coastal Division...pull a foreign object out of our tights and whack Grumpy

I am hoping we continue to show the fight that proves that WE are Grumpy.
We all know which dwarf is Dopey.

[duke2x]

Did Elko get outcoached? Maybe, but he has never been a head coach before and this is his staff’s first year together as a group. For me, he is still rookie coach of the year...And is Georgia Tech really that bad?...Yes, we had no business even getting to overtime against Georgia Tech, but the fight the team showed and the way the game ended ought to leave the team hungry...I am more worried about next year. Even before the schedule got reshuffled, Notre Dame replaces one of our easier nonconference opponents and I believe Clemson was already on there. We may take a step back next year even as we get better. Enjoy this season! Play a long game! Respect the process!

My apologies for editing an excellent but long post.

I would not give anybody on the sidelines yesterday an A, but I appreciate the fight that was usually missing 1-2 games/year under Cut before 2020 and very frequently the past 2 years. GT's coach has all of 2 games under his belt with a lot of new staff so first year is not an excuse.

Yes, GT is still really bad even if they are more enthusiastic. Struggling with the lines of KS and GT is a bad sign for the rest of the ACC schedule. BC, Pitt, and VT should be on the table as possible wins. I just hope we don't channel the Dolphins/Bucs when it's cold as we sometimes have. (I forget which team becomes a frightened turtle when it's < 50 degrees.) UNC, Miami, and Wake are going to be ugly. It looks like UNC is going to win the division but lose to Clemson in the ACC Championship game by 2+ scores.

You can't judge this staff too harshly in year 1 as they are drinking through a fire hose. When injuries mount up the 2nd half of the year, it shows on the scoreboard. A good year might make portal recruiting a lot easier since we're going to need it for 2-3 years. I'd like to see Duke have a true 2-deep at the ACC level instead of the usual 1-1.5 deep.

Trivial point, but I would take the ball first every game. This group really needs that 10-14 point halftime cushion and a few points from opposing mistakes to win.

If we go 3-9 next year, I'll be very happy. We lose all the bad ACC teams off our schedule except UVA and replace them with the non-BC Atlantic teams. Since there's no way the ACC is going to fill its bowl slots, I have to ask where we ranked in graduation rates. I hate to be a 5-7 bowl team, but it's worth the extra practice even if only 500 Duke fans can attend before Christmas.

[Devilsforlife]

My apologies for editing an excellent but long post.

I would not give anybody on the sidelines yesterday an A, but I appreciate the fight that was usually missing 1-2 games/year under Cut before 2020 and very frequently the past 2 years. GT's coach has all of 2 games under his belt with a lot of new staff so first year is not an excuse.

Yes, GT is still really bad even if they are more enthusiastic. Struggling with the lines of KS and GT is a bad sign for the rest of the ACC schedule. BC, Pitt, and VT should be on the table as possible wins. I just hope we don't channel the Dolphins/Bucs when it's cold as we sometimes have. (I forget which team becomes a frightened turtle when it's < 50 degrees.) UNC, Miami, and Wake are going to be ugly. It looks like UNC is going to win the division but lose to Clemson in the ACC Championship game by 2+ scores.

You can't judge this staff too harshly in year 1 as they are drinking through a fire hose. When injuries mount up the 2nd half of the year, it shows on the scoreboard. A good year might make portal recruiting a lot easier since we're going to need it for 2-3 years. I'd like to see Duke have a true 2-deep at the ACC level instead of the usual 1-1.5 deep.

Trivial point, but I would take the ball first every game. This group really needs that 10-14 point halftime cushion and a few points from opposing mistakes to win.

If we go 3-9 next year, I'll be very happy. We lose all the bad ACC teams off our schedule except UVA and replace them with the non-BC Atlantic teams. Since there's no way the ACC is going to fill its bowl slots, I have to ask where we ranked in graduation rates. I hate to be a 5-7 bowl team, but it's worth the extra practice even if only 500 Duke fans can attend before Christmas.

Very disappointing result yesterday, but I’m not ready to concede any games other than maybe Wake yet. We’re decided underdogs, but UNC’s defense is bad and Duke will have the coaching advantage against them for the first time since 2018. Miami got blown out at home by Middle Tennessee, they’re certainly capable of turning in abysmal performances. Pitt runs a Stone Age offense, but Narduzzi has had our number for years. BC and VT both look terrible.

The schedule is definitely tougher next year, but I’d be very down if we were to go 3-9. Should beat NW at home, UConn and the FCS team in the noncon. Louisville is going to have a new coach and has not been above average in years. I think State at Wade is winnable, Doeren has never impressed me at all. Wouldn’t even entirely rule out pulling off a shocker at FSU to finally get our first win over the Noles, they are so poorly coached. UVA should be a trainwreck again. 5-6 wins feels very realistic for year two under Elko.

[jv001]

I agree with all of this. I am taking the season game by game. At this point, we are still ahead of my expectations. Last year, coaching problems aside, I just did not think we were that talented. Even in the blowouts, I thought the team showed more fight than in previous seasons, where at some point, they just quit. Last year, the players were mostly running around in circles to no clear purpose. Part of that probably was coaching and my untutored eye could not tell just how much, but we did seem to have less talent than previous seasons. Off season, we had some of our better players transfer out. Going into the season, the cupboard was bare. This year, I am pleasantly surprised by the results. We have been fortunate with injuries so far, which have always been an issue as seasons go forward and now are rearing their head. However, help seems to be on the way through solid recruiting, which should address both talent and depth. The coaching staff has proven proficient in the portal too.

Did Elko get outcoached? Maybe, but he has never been a head coach before and this is his staff’s first year together as a group. For me, he is still rookie coach of the year.

We spent part of the week looking at computer rankings and trying to predict the rest of the season. That is great, but games are played on the field and we will still likely lose a game or two to teams that we should beat and win a game or two against teams that are better. And is Georgia Tech really that bad? Before they fired their coach, they lost to two ranked teams, beat an FCS team and lost to UCF. That entire decision seems to come down to one game and it is not clear to me that UCF, at 4-1, was a bad loss. Maybe firing the coach energized Georgia Tech. Maybe not. Either way, unless there was more going on behind the scenes, it looked kind of stupid to me.

Yes, we had no business even getting to overtime against Georgia Tech, but the fight the team showed and the way the game ended ought to leave the team hungry. Played correctly, it should be the opposite of the jump pass. Speaking of better ranked teams, speaking of Carolina, I too fancy our chances against them. They are the ones struggling with expectations, not us.

My advice? Play a long game. As the season plays out, just keep asking yourself: on the whole, we are moving in the right direction or not. I think we definitely are. To me, this season is for fun. And we still have much to look forward to. The Coastal Division is still ripe for the taking. Who is the frontrunner? Pittsburg? Steal a win from them and we have the tiebreaker. Do that and we still have as good a chance to emerge from the Seven Dwarves cage match that is the Coastal Division as anyone. Beating Northwestern was encouraging in that regard because it showed that we could go four quarters against a grindy, chew ‘em up offense like Pittsburg’s, which we never really could before. Handle the rest of the dwarves, pull a foreign object out of our tights and whack Grumpy and we are through to the ACC Championship. At the very least, bowl eligibility is a realistic prospect.

I am more worried about next year. Even before the schedule got reshuffled, Notre Dame replaces one of our easier nonconference opponents and I believe Clemson was already on there. We may take a step back next year even as we get better. Enjoy this season! Play a long game! Respect the process!

Very well-thought-out post. Spork worthy. One important aspect of the game that has not been mentioned was our best defensive player sat out the entire second half because of targeting. Heyward is a team captain and should know better. That wasn't on the coaching staff, neither was Riley's lack luster game, neither was the uninspired play of our OL & DL. I admit the play calling wasn't up to snuff but through it all, Duke had a chance to win in OT. This team has FIGHT and I'm thinking the coaching staff deserves credit for that. I'm looking forward to the day we see Coach Elko's recruits as Junior and Seniors. That should give us an idea just how good our present coaching staff is. Too early for me to jump ship. Oh, I would have gone for two under the circumstances but I'm just a fan.

GoDuke!

[dm9e24]

Our defense held an ACC opponent to 20 points, missing one of our top players for one half. That should have been good for a win. It was the offense who didn't show up with any focus until midway through the fourth quarter. We gave away anywhere from 9 to 21 points on mistakes, penalties and a poor day from Riley in the first 3 quarters. Final score could have been anywhere from 29-20 to 41-20...Duke. With bad play calling. Duke's defensive line is maybe 1 deep. Our offensive line is full of former 3 star recruits and portal transfers. I don't think Elko in staff are all of a sudden going to be bringing in multiple 4 star recruits on the line. Hope so, but history is not on our side. They should be better than they are showing after 6 games. Granted we were missing one of our top running backs and lost MacIntyre, but we are pretty deep at both positions.

[Acymetric]

Our defense held an ACC opponent to 20 points, missing one of our top players for one half. That should have been good for a win. It was the offense who didn't show up with any focus until midway through the fourth quarter. We gave away anywhere from 9 to 21 points on mistakes, penalties and a poor day from Riley in the first 3 quarters. Final score could have been anywhere from 29-20 to 41-20...Duke. With bad play calling. Duke's defensive line is maybe 1 deep. Our offensive line is full of former 3 star recruits and portal transfers. I don't think Elko in staff are all of a sudden going to be bringing in multiple 4 star recruits on the line. Hope so, but history is not on our side. They should be better than they are showing after 6 games. Granted we were missing one of our top running backs and lost MacIntyre, but we are pretty deep at both positions.

Yep. Our defense has given up a lot of yards, but has done a pretty darn good job of keeping opponents out of the end zone despite that. The ultimate bend but don't break defense. Offense has looked great at times but sputters on the opponent's half of the field too often (and several of our key drives have been kept alive by timely defensive penalties).

[HoKogan]

I think there are some comparisons to the 2008 team, a team that had some talent, experience, and hunger on the 1st string, but injuries and lack of depth kept them from winning a couple of real close games to go 6-6 instead of 4-8. I think Duke is better than BC and VT is now currently, but Duke won't play them for weeks. By that point, defenses may have figured some things out, injuries will have an effect on depth, in short November football is different than September football.

It would be great to see if Duke could steal one more game this October, but it really depends on how healthy Coleman and Calhoun are, and the injuries on defense as well. I was going to be thrilled if this team got to 5-7 and anything beyond that seemed borderline unreasonable. I think now the team seems capable of a bowl, but there are still enough holes that its possible they don't win another game as well. We'll see how it goes.