Category Archives: Duke Football

Duke Football

Turnover prone Devils drop a 35-21 decision to Army – Cutcliffe post game audio

Photo courtesy of Lance King Images

DURHAM - You simply cannot turn the football over five times in a game and compete and the Duke Blue Devils learned that the hard way today in a 35-21 loss to Army.  An early Sean Renfree interception led to a quick Army score and the Blue Devils could never regain their footing to stay in the game or later mount a comeback.

You could point to many areas where Duke lost this game and if they had simply protected the ball, they would have been in the game with a chance at victory.   While the season is far from over, it has become obvious that Duke is rebuilding after dropping to 1-3 on the season.  During the post game press conference Cutcliffe stated that this team would now play each game one at a time as if it were a new season.

Considering that Army chewed up 39 plus minutes of the clock, the Duke defense improved on the day alllowing 17 first downs and 333 yards.  Conner Vernon was the stadout stat leader for Duke with 8 catches for 129 yards and 1 touchdown, but it was Renfree's inability to find other recievers which hampered the offenses effort.

Below is Coach Cutcliffes comments via BDN audio.  We'll have more on the game in our Sunday Morning Quarterback edition.

Press play for post game with Cutcliffe -

Duke Football

Tennessee OL Cody Robinson commits to Duke

David Cutcliffe and the Duke coaching staff secured another commitment from a top prospect out of the state of Tennessee on Friday, as 6’4” 305 pound Cody Robinson announced his decision to join the Duke program. Cody made his announcement at noon central time in the Warren County High School gymnasium.

Duke was the first program to offer a scholarship to Cody, and he has formed a good relationship with the coaching staff over the past several months. Cody attended a Duke camp in June and also visited Durham for the Alabama game last weekend. His father played on the offensive line at Tennessee under Coach Fulmer, a close friend to Coach Cutcliffe.

Cody is the fifth offensive line commit for the class of 2011, joining Marcus Aprahamian, Lucas Patrick, Caron Ginn, and Matt Skura.

For more on Cody, please see our recent interview and view his highlight video.

Duke Football

BDN Previews Army vs Duke

LK Images, BDN Photo

It's Homecoming at Duke, and the Blue Devils will try to end a 2-game losing streak with an important win against a physical Army team on Saturday at 3PM in Wallace Wade Stadium. Tickets are still available through the

Duke Ticket Office and active military personnel can receive two free tickets. The game will also be available on espn3.com. Blue Devil Nation encourages all Duke fans to cheer on the Blue Devils in what should be an exciting rematch of week 2 in 2009. Please note that due to the expected high temperatures at kickoff in Durham, Duke has put the Heat Management Plan into effect. 

Duke in Week 3 

The Blue Devils suffered a lopsided defeat at the hands of the #1 ranked, defending national champions Alabama Crimson Tide. The Duke defense struggled for the third straight week, giving up a total of 62 points and 626 yards of total offense. The Crimson Tide put the game away early, racing to a 28-0 lead, led by the potent offensive combination of Heisman winner RB Mark Ingram (154 yards, 2 TDs), powerful RB Trent Richardson (189 all-purpose yards, 2 TDs), playmaking WR Julio Jones (106 yards, 1 TD), and undefeated QB Greg McElroy (258 yards, 3 TDs). The Duke offense struggled out of the gate, as QB Sean Renfree struggled to find open receivers for big plays to answer the Crimson Tide offense. WR Conner Vernon faced double teams nearly all day, which essentially took him out of the game. There were several bright spots, most notably in the backfield, where the tandem of freshman RB Josh Snead (186 all-purpose yards) and sophomore RB Desmond Scott (128 all-purpose yards) were able to break through the high-pressure Alabama defense. 

Army in Week 3 

The Black Knights are coming off a dominating performance at West Point last Saturday, shutting out North Texas, 24-0. It was Army's first shut out since 2005 and came after giving up 31 points in a loss to Hawaii in week 2. In the second year under head coach Rich Ellerson, the Black Knights' triple option offense and double-eagle flex defense are hitting full stride. Army rushed for 292 yards against North Texas and controlled the clock to pull out the victory. QB Trent Steelman leads the offense, and rushed for 68 yards and a touchdown, along with 75 yards from RB Brian Cobbs. The Black Knights' defense forced two turnovers in the game, an interception and a fumble recovery, holding the Mean Green to 201 yards of total offense. 

Analysis 

Despite the defense's struggles, the Blue Devils enter this game as 6 point favorites. In 2009, Sean Renfree led the Blue Devils to a comeback 35-19 win at West Point. This bodes well for the Duke offense, as Renfree has been praised for his preparation all season, and will now be facing a defense he has seen before for the first time in his young career. For the first time in the past three seasons, Duke appears to have a balanced offensive attack, and it will be essential for the Blue Devils to build on the recent success of their young running backs. Big games for Scott and Snead will take some pressure off the Blue Devil receivers (who have been struggling with drops of late) and most importantly, will keep the Army triple-option off the field. To win this game, Duke must control the game with its offense, and the Blue Devils now have the weapons to do it. An early Duke lead would put the Black Knights offense in an uncomfortable hole; conversely, falling behind early will allow Army to control the game on the ground. 

Army will test the Blue Devils physically on both offense and defense. The Black Knights will try to force turnovers with their unique defensive scheme, led by standout DE Josh McNary. The Blue Devils offensive line must neutralize McNary's pass-rushing ability in order for the offense to be successful. The undersized senior leads the team with 5 sacks and 16 tackles through the first 3 games, after finishing 2009 with 12.5 sacks and 22.5 tackles for loss. The Blue Devils must control the line of scrimmage on offense in order to be successful against the Army defense. 

The biggest challenge is whether the Blue Devils will be able to stop or even slow the Army triple-option. It's no secret that Duke is struggling both physically and mentally on the defensive side of the ball, and the Army option is designed to wear a defense down. The defense has done a fair job of slowing the run off the edge, but has provided little resistance to runs up the middle. Opponents like Army will seek to exploit that weakness; the Black Knights enter the game 7th in the country in rushing at 283 yards per game. With 7 players who have already received more than 10 carries in 2010, Army is loaded with the weapons to wear down a banged-up Blue Devil defense. The burden will be on the linebackers to close the holes and finish tackles; if not, it will be another long and disappointing day for the Duke defense. 

BDN Prediction

Both offenses are likely to have success in imposing their will on the opposing defense, and it will likely be another back-and-forth game for the Blue Devils. Special teams and red zone efficiency could be a big factor in this game, and the Blue Devils will need to continue to make plays in these areas. After a disappointing effort against Alabama, we will learn a lot about the resolve of this Duke team against a physical Army team. If Duke can match the physical play at the line of scrimmage, build an early lead, and come up with a big defensive stand, they might just be able to get back to .500 heading into College Park. 

Duke 35

Army 31

Duke Football

Future of Duke Punting Looks Bright


To many scouts, Will Monday is the top punter in the class of 2011 in the country. That’s good news for Duke fans, as he’s a solid commitment to the Blue Devils and was recently in Durham for the Alabama game. BDN caught up with Will shortly after his visit.

“The visit was a lot of fun. It wasn’t really the game I was expecting, but it was a great atmosphere and it was great to catch up with the coaches, who I hadn’t seen in awhile,” Will said when describing his visit. “My parents came too and had a great time. We’re really excited to get up there next year.”

Over the summer, Will solidified his reputation as one of the best punters in the class, taking top honors out of 130 punters at the Kohl Punters’ Camp in Wisconsin in July for the second year in a row. He has also won accolades at the invitation-only “Top 12” Chris Sailer Camp the past 2 summers. Scouts have called him “the most college-ready punter in the 2011 class.” The Duke coaches expect Will to come in and compete with Alex King for the starting job right away next year.


As expected, Will’s senior year at Flowery Branch High School in Georgia is off to a perfect 4-0 start. “We have a strong defense and got a big win two weeks ago,” Will said about his team, “the offense is slowly coming along with a new quarterback and I think by the 7th or 8th game they will be hitting all cylinders and roll into the playoffs. Individually, I’ve had an excellent start for my senior year and I just want to keep it going and help the team out with good field position and getting back to a state championship.”

Will plans to take his official visit to Duke for the Boston College game in November, and has no other visits scheduled for the fall. Highlights of Will’s junior year can be viewed here.

Duke Football

Tennessee offensive lineman Cody Robinson set to announce decision

Cody Robinson is a 6’4” 305 pound offensive guard from McMinnville, Tennessee. He recently visited Durham to take in the Duke vs. Alabama game and BDN caught up with him to get his thoughts on his visit and his senior year.

“The visit went really good. I really enjoyed talking with all of the coaches and the players a lot,” he said. The visit to Durham capped off what has been a busy few months, and Cody will announce his college decision on Friday at noon at Warren County high school.

Warren County has started their season with a 2-3 record, getting a big win last week. “We definitely have some issues with being young and starting seven freshmen,” Cody said, “but we just got a big win.” As a senior team captain, he’s been piling up the tackles so far this year, and said that the offensive line has had a pretty good year so far.

Cody holds scholarship offers from nine schools, and has received interest from many more. Duke was the first to offer and has been recruiting Robinson the longest; Kentucky was his most recent offer, which came in June. Over the summer, Cody attended camps at Kentucky, Tennessee, Duke, Arkansas, Middle Tennessee, and Vanderbilt. He also fit in trips to Memphis and Syracuse.

Cody recapped his summer visits as follows:

Kentucky: “They offered me right after camp. It’s a good school and an up-and-coming program. Lexington is a really nice city.”

Tennessee: “I’ve always loved Tennessee. There’s lots of changes going on there with the program, with a new coaching staff.”

Duke: “They’re going to get really big, really fast. They have great coaches and some really good players. They’re fixin’ to take off.”

Arkansas: “They’ve got a nice thing going there and have really nice facilities.”

Middle Tennessee: “It’s really close to home – just 35 minutes from my house, and they’re just really good people there.”

Memphis: “That’s a good staff that’s done really well in their first year, it’s definitely another up-and-coming program.”

Syracuse: “When I visited in June, it was 25 degrees cooler there than in Tennessee. It was really nice and wasn’t what I was expecting at all. When you think New York, you always think the city, but Syracuse is really nice with mountains and it’s very laid back.”

Vanderbilt: “It’s about 90 minutes from my house. They’re going through a coaching change there.”

Cody also holds scholarship offers from Western Kentucky, Tulane, and Chattanooga.

Cody’s father, Ray Robinson, was an offensive lineman at Tennessee under Head Coach Johnny Majors and Offensive Line Coach Philip Fulmer in the mid-1980s. Cody has lived up to his father’s legacy, becoming one of the top offensive line prospects in the state of Tennessee. The program he chooses on Friday will be getting a good football player and a very good young man.

Duke Football

Stats Update: Josh Snead and Lee Butler Shine

Except the lopsided final score, Duke survived the Alabama game from a statistics perspective, which goes a long way toward validating the humorous saying often quoted, “Liars, damn liars, and statisticians.” There is more to football than numbers. However, that is equally true of the final score, which was the result of being overmatched against the best team in the nation. As Coach Cutcliffe stated when he addressed the media, “After getting into the game tape, multiple times, I’m more encouraged than discouraged about our athleticism, future, immediate future…we have some athletes…we have capabilities in place…”

There are several legitimate positive takeaways from Saturday’s loss starting with one offensive category not addressed in last week’s article: rushing offense. Duke is averaging 155.7 yards per game on the ground, which places them at number eight in the ACC and number 61 in the nation. The significance of these rankings is the improvement over last season when Duke was ranked number 120 or last in the FBS. With three games under their belt, all indicators show Duke will be able to run the ball in 2010, a fact with serious implications for defensive coordinators of future opponents who now must prepare a defensive game plan to counter a balanced offensive attack by the Blue Devils.

Desmond Scott and Josh Snead have both shown they can successfully run the ball, and the offensive line has demonstrated the ability to run block. Snead’s 83 yards from scrimmage against the Crimson Tide and Scott’s 129 the previous week against Wake Forest provide Coach Cutcliffe with a tailback tandem to factor into future game plans. Teams which successfully run the ball routinely feature two running backs. Duke has rushed for 467 yards in 2010, which is more than two and a half times the 184 yards Duke totaled during the first three games in 2009.

Punt and kick-off return performance are two more areas which were not addressed in last week’s article. Lee Butler is ranked number 15 in the nation in punt returns. He is averaging 15.25 yards per punt return after three games by returning four punts for 61 yards. Butler is also Duke’s leader in tackles with 21 on the season including six against the Crimson Tide.

Josh Snead is ranked number 31 in the nation in kick-off returns. He is averaging 25.75 yards per kick return by returning four kick-offs for 103 yards. Kick return performance is an area where Duke can gain an advantage over opponents in the critical starting field position statistic.

All statistical rankings quoted throughout this article are from www.theacc.com and www.ncaa.com.

Offensive statistical categories which remain impressive:

1. Total offense: Duke remains impressive in the total offense category by averaging 443.7 yards per game, which ranks number three in the ACC and number 27 in the nation. Performance in this category will climb with the Alabama game in the rear view mirror.

2. Time of possession: At 32 minutes and 27 seconds per game, this statistic is a bit misleading due to Alabama scoring on quick strikes. Duke is number one in the ACC in this category.

3. Third down conversions: successfully converting on 23 out of 48 opportunities (47.9%) is good for a number three ranking in the ACC and number 27 in the nation.

4. Red zone offense: Duke remains at 100 percent success in the red zone scoring eight touchdowns and four field goals in 12 opportunities.

5. First downs: Duke remains number one in the ACC with 71 first downs. The Blue Devils have rushed for 22, passed for 43, and been awarded six via penalties. These numbers result in Duke being tied with Notre Dame at number 16 in the nation.

Defensive statistical categories still need to improve:

1. Total defense: Duke ranks last in the ACC and number 117 in the nation by allowing 510.7 yards of offense per game to opponents.

2. Scoring defense: It is no surprise Duke is last in the ACC giving up an average 47.7 points per game. Those numbers rank number 118 in the nation. This is the statistic Duke must correct as the season moves forward. A defense can afford to bend as long as it does not break; however, Duke has given up way too many points so far this season.

3. Opponent first downs: Duke’s defense ranks last in the ACC and number 115 in the nation by giving up 75 first downs. Opponents have rushed for 33, passed for 36 and been awarded six via penalty.

4. Red zone defense: Opponents have scored on Duke in 13 out of 14 red zone opportunities, but the good news is Duke stopped Alabama once last Saturday. Duke is number nine in the ACC and number 98 in the nation.

5. Turnover margin: With a three to one turnover advantage this past Saturday; Duke now has a plus two (+2) in turnover margin, which is ranked number five in the ACC and number 33 in the nation. While the turnover advantage was irrelevant against Alabama, this remains a key statistic to follow for success on the gridiron.

Noteworthy individual performances:

1. Sean Renfree’s passing efficiency rating dropped to 135.6, which ranks number seven in the ACC and number 51 in the nation. His efficiency rating along with his conference and national rankings should climb moving forward. Renfree threw for 144 yards this past week dropping his season average to 284 yards per game, which is number two in the ACC and number 13 in the nation.

2. Conner Vernon was held to 10 yards on two receptions so his individual national rankings fell. He is number two in the ACC in receiving yards per game at 106.7 and tied with Donovan Varner for number two in the ACC in receptions per game at 6.7. Those numbers rank number 13 and 21, respectively, in the nation.

3. Desmond Scott remains at number two in the ACC in All-purpose yards but drops to number 23 in the nation with 153 yards per game. While he only rushed for 41 yards this past weekend he returned four kick-offs for 59 yards and had 28 yards receiving to total 129 all purpose yards. Scott fell from number one in ACC to number five in rushing yards. His 79.3 yards per game is currently number 54 in the nation.

This week’s contest against the Army Black Knights is a crucial game as the Blue Devils attempt to even their record at 2-2. All eyes are focused upon the defense after they’ve given up 116 points in the previous two games. If Duke is to record a victory over Army, the defense must step up and stop the Cadets offense. Be sure and check back with Blue Devil Nation next week for an updated stats report where we hope to report about improvement on the defensive side of the line of scrimmage.