FB: Duke 23, Florida State 16

Our offensive play calling all season has defaulted to run the ball up the middle on first down for 1-2 yards. I've never seen anything like it. It's bizarre. Wish someone kept stats on this.

We are so much more successful on offense when we get creative with our play calls and spread out the defense.

Ok I'll stop now. GREAT WIN!!!
Manny is committed to establishing a running game, which frankly sometimes requires a frustrating stubbornness. But last night it was obvious that FSU’s DL was simply too good. Unfortunately, so was their secondary, which made it impossible for us to stretch the field, leaving us only slants and such. MM’s “gun” was irrelevant. We needed a QB who could run, which would have helped both our receivers and Thomas. I’m not criticizing MM. He is who he is and we are very fortunate to have him, but what he is could not be successful against last night’s FSU defense. I’m not arguing that Belin should replace MM as starting QB; I am simply convinced he would have been more successful against FSU last night.
 
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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.
 
Trying to rack my brain...
Is this perhaps the weakest offense displayed by a 6-1 P5 team in the BCS era?

Speaks volumes for the defense.
Well, without the qualifier of “in a win”, Iowa just last year lost to Penn State and only had 76 yards. That team got to 6-1 before losing its next game. There might be a common denominator there…

Oh and Iowa only had 126 yards in that 12-10 loss in game 8 against Minnesota.
 
The FSU dudes just needs to eat the dog poop. The Curse is real.
Hasn't he seen Diary of a Wimpy Kid (1 or 2)? (Youtube on your own with the essential key word in the quote above.) Then again, I probably could call his entire X account Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
 
I cannot believe the amount if criticism of a Duke team that just went to 6-1 and dumped a monkey off their back.

On the one hand, we are starting to treat our football squad more like our basketball squad I guess.

I'm just over the moon about being 6-1.

If you dig out the preseason thread, I don't think anyone had expected one loss through seven games.
 
are you really making a point on that stat? I mean yeah, a 2 yard gain is better than an incompletion. But one 15 yard pass completion is better than seven two yard runs.
What is the old saying? There are only three things that can happen on a pass play, and two of them are bad? I think that's it. Can't remember who it came from... maybe Schembeckler? (sp?)

Of course, if you think about it, there are also only three things that can happen on a run play, and two of them are bad.


I think now that tape has clearly established that we like to run off tackle on every first down, we ought to play fake that exact run and throw a pass every once in a while, just to keep the opposing defense on its toes.
 
What is the old saying? There are only three things that can happen on a pass play, and two of them are bad? I think that's it. Can't remember who it came from... maybe Schembeckler? (sp?)

Of course, if you think about it, there are also only three things that can happen on a run play, and two of them are bad.


I think now that tape has clearly established that we like to run off tackle on every first down, we ought to play fake that exact run and throw a pass every once in a while, just to keep the opposing defense on its toes.
Woody Hayes.
 
I mostly agree. But with the offensive "punch" that is Duke, I thought the bye week was the time to re-think the offense. Either change QB, change OC, or whatever Manny thinks will work. But if he thinks no changes are necessary at this time, I guess I'm on board... especially since Duke is 6-1 and bowl eligible.... BEFORE Thanksgiving... as the announcers mentioned.
The offense needs rethinking but now is not the time. Our top running back is out, our top receiver is hurt, our top two tight ends are hurt and our QB has clear limitations We have to muddle by with what they have for the time being Manny is no dope, he knows the offense is lacking but it will take time to address that. There are no easy fixes
 
I cannot believe the amount if criticism of a Duke team that just went to 6-1 and dumped a monkey off their back.

On the one hand, we are starting to treat our football squad more like our basketball squad I guess.

I'm just over the moon about being 6-1.

If you dig out the preseason thread, I don't think anyone had expected one loss through seven games.
Me neither, but there is another point about our offense. One of its jobs is not to screw up, no interceptions, no fumbles etc. If it does that we can win with our defense. So mission accomplished. Wallace Wade would approve.
 
The offense needs rethinking but now is not the time. Our top running back is out, our top receiver is hurt, our top two tight ends are hurt and our QB has clear limitations We have to muddle by with what they have for the time being Manny is no dope, he knows the offense is lacking but it will take time to address that. There are no easy fixes
I mean I hear ya, but SOMETHING has to change. We have beaten mostly bad teams with our flawed offense. We won’t win many more games with an offense that gets less than 200 yards and passes under 50%.
The time is NOW to change the QB.
 
I cannot believe the amount if criticism of a Duke team that just went to 6-1 and dumped a monkey off their back.

On the one hand, we are starting to treat our football squad more like our basketball squad I guess.

I'm just over the moon about being 6-1.

If you dig out the preseason thread, I don't think anyone had expected one loss through seven games.
The criticism is fair, though! We can still be joyful while we know that this team could and probably does have a higher ceiling.
 
I cannot believe the amount if criticism of a Duke team that just went to 6-1 and dumped a monkey off their back.

On the one hand, we are starting to treat our football squad more like our basketball squad I guess.

I'm just over the moon about being 6-1.

If you dig out the preseason thread, I don't think anyone had expected one loss through seven games.
I'm with you. "Smile, we won" The offense was stymied but remember the other guys get paid too.
 
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