Let's gooooooo!
The Good:
- Manny Diaz is HIM! Everyone said this would be a rebuilding year. We're bowl eligible with 5 games left, got the Bell back, and beat FSU for the first time. To do that with *this* offense is pretty remarkable. Yeah, we've had some breaks and I don't think winning close games like this is sustainable. But this has been a really good coaching job. If you had told me at the start of the year that our offensive line and QB play would be this bad, plus injuries to our top RB/WR/TE, I would have expected an ugly record.
- This defense is for real. 11 more tackles for loss, 6 sacks, and 4 (should have been 5) forced TOs.
- The Toddfather was clutch, with 3 big field goals.
The Bad:
- The yardage numbers are not pretty. We were outgained 291-180, and on a ypp basis 4.4-3.1.
- I've said a lot about the offense before, so I won't belabor. It's just not good. That said, I'll give the staff a bit of a break for last night. We were without our best player, Jordan Moore. Then apparently just a few days ago, Nicky Dalmolin went down. The staff had to really shuffle things at the tight end position, where it's obvious our young guys aren't ready. Then we faced an FSU front that just whipped our OL all night. I'm not sure what kind of play calling would have gotten results under those conditions.
- Special teams continues to be a struggle. We've just had too many breakdowns this year. Strangely, it was our kickoff coverage, which had been really good until last night. Reynoldson had a rare rough night punting, though I think a couple of those were influenced by poor protection. We also got totally fooled on their fake punt.
- Penalties weren't that bad in aggregate, but they happened at the wrong times. Twice we wiped out long runs with holding penalties, and another time we wiped out what would have been a defensive stop.
The Statistical:
- Duke now has a nice 69 tackles for loss on the season - good for #1 in the country! Duke's 24 sacks ranks 7th in FBS. Alex Howard's 11 TFLs are 6th nationally.
- We're now 15-2 in our last 17 home games. I know some of y'all here go to games occasionally: get season tickets! This team is fun and deserves your support. The atmosphere in the last two games has been electric.
- We won a game with under 200 yards of offense. That surely hasn't happened often. I'm not sure, but I think the last time might have been the Army game during Hurricane Matthew in 2016. We won that won 13-6 with 184 yards.
The Realistic:
- The next two weeks could be rough. SMU and Miami can really score, and I just don't see how we'll keep up. Then VT is also looking much improved after a bad start. State and Wake look absolutely beatable, however. No reason we can't sweep the in-state rivalries and clinch another winning season.
