Category Archives: Duke Football

Duke Football

Boone selects the Blue Devils, joining Lipford as second 2010 verbal

[private]The Duke Blue Devils Football team continued it's aggressive recruiting, grabbing a commitment

Anthony Boone
Anthony Boone

from Anthony Boone (Class of 2010-6-2, 218) over the weekend.  Boone is a dual threat quarterback for Weddington High School in Mathews, North Carolina.

Boone's team struggled during the season with just four starters back, but that didn't stop him from rolling up more numbers or garnering attention.  Boone, who chose Duke over Illinois, Virginia Tech and Clemson has over 30 touchdowns in his career with another season to go.  The coveted prospect has been clocked at 4.75 and benches 300 pounds at an early age.  He is also a pitcher and outfielder on his schools baseball team.

The young man hopped into a car with friends and family the second his high school season ended on Friday and made the trip to Durham for the N.C. State game.  This enabled him to get a better look at the campus and facilities and of course talk to the players and coaches.

While there was no timetable going in for a verbal commitment, Coach Cutcliffe made quite the impression on Boone who chose the Blue Devils on Sunday.  In his weekly teleconference, Cutcliffe said there were 80ish prospects on campus and that the staff will continue to work hard on the recruiting trail.

Boone gives Duke two early commitments for the 2010 season.  He joins another in state prospect in Darrius Lipford (6-4, 205) from Lenoir, North Carolina.  Lipford committed near October 31st and is considered an elite athlete.  He was a three sport athlete in high school, finishing second in the state in the long jump as a junior. Lipford is projected to be a tight end or receiver and may walk on for the Duke Basketball team. Lipford chose the Dukies over UNC, N.C. State and East Carolina.[/private]

Duke Football

Tough loss for Devils – support needs to improve

[private]Duke fell to 1-4 in the ACC and 4-5 overall with a disappointing loss to neighboring rival N.C. State on Saturday afternoon.  When it counted redshirt freshman  quarterback Russell Wilson and the Pack executed while Duke couldn't do the same.

Well, actually Duke did execute between the twenties, but once again the red zone offense failed to take advantage of key opportunities.  One was a bungled exchange from center to quarterback which caused the timing for a wide open touch down to be just a second off.

Then there was a running play where the back stopped moving his legs and driving.  But it wasn't all on the offense.  Time and time again, the Duke secondary got beat when the chips were on the table.  In fact, they made the talented Wilson look even better.  The frustrating thing for our coaches is that they were in position to make the plays, but either jumped too soon or had their back turned to the play.

In short, all that could go wrong did on this day.  Duke went into the game expecting to win, but the Pack seemed to have an edge or sense of urgency early on and it took the Devils a few series to match the intensity.  If you were to point to one play of the many which could have made the game closer, it would be the return of a kickoff for a touchdown after a field goal knotted the game at 3-3.

As disappointed as many fans were leaving the game as the fourth quarter started, Duke was a lot closer than it looked early on.  In fact a look at the stats makes one realize that things just didn't click, for Duke rolled up 400 yards of offense and Thad Lewis was incredibly accurate.

Perhaps the most painful thing from a fans standpoint, was that N.C. State red was all over the place.  IMO, Duke fans didn't turn out as I would have expected.  I can't give the students a pass in this one for the stands were empty save the hard cores and band at games start.

Much has been made of late about student apathy in Cameron and on Saturday it carried over into Wade.  For the first time this season, I visited the students party in the parking lot on the west side.  It was quite the party, and they were second to none in their revelry.  I thought to myself, if we have this crowd of wild ones in the stands in their various outfits, we'll be ready.

As game time came around, very few of the of the crazily Christmas outfitted under grads made it over.  Some were obviously too toasted.  While they in no way had a part in the loss, they did remind many how far we have to go to change the culture.  On a day when we were playing a rival, the message seemed lost in the mail and too many were into the extra curricular activities to be bothered by supporting the team.  I mean, I thought that is why they were partying, but I now know I am wrong.

That said, I hope the students realize how much the players need them there in the future.  Heck, I need them there as a fan.  I can't tell you how much they added to the James Madison game, but the reasoning for not showing up on Saturday obviously perplexes me.  And it was not only at the game, but the Blue Devils Walk where I counted a grand total of 40 students throughout the quad.

Despite all of the disappointments, Cutcliffe still has the program on the right track.  A big part of the puzzle will be recruiting success and the many who were there should see not only the direction the program is going in, but the opportunity to make a mark early.

Other than that, we need to continue to work on the culture collectively and despite the Thanksgiving break versus North Carolina, I hope the students who stay commit themselves to their classmates for the last home game.  Duke needs your support and we all want you to help us with this pursuit of a true ACC Football atmosphere.[/private]

Duke Football

Anything less than standing room only for the Duke-NCSU game in Wade is unacceptable

[private]The Duke Blue Devils will entertain the North Carolina State Wolfpack in football for the first time since 2003 this weekend in Wallace Wade Stadium.  It's a shame it took this long for these two rivals to hook up again, but that's the way it is since the new ACC alignment.

There is no reason for this game to be anything other than a sell out.  N.C. State is sure to bring many a red clad fan in for the 3:30 kickoff and Duke fans need to realize just how long it's been since their team was 4-4 this time of the season.

Coach Cutcliffe worked hard all summer long to get fans excited and involved and it seems to be working.  I listened to a heart breaking defeat to Wake Forest at a local Durham establishment, Devines, located on Main Street last Saturday.

In the past, it was not unusual for Duke fans to turn out, but they were for the most part old school.  On this day, a large group of students joined the old guard in the courtyard and we all sat around together in unison rooting for Cut's kids.

The great thing is that generation gaps were bridged and conversations were those you might expect from friends or fans you've known for a long time.  In short, there was a new level of interest compared to the years of Franks and Roof. 

The crowd prompted long time Herald Sun sportswriter and my pal Frank Dascenzo to say, "Can you believe this?"  When asked what, he continued, "Look at all the people in here, they are into Duke Football."  He went on to say he'd never seen it like that before and coming from someone who cut his teeth on ACC football that's saying a lot.

All season long, Duke fans have come together and that's a testament to Cut's dedication to turn this long dormant program around.  Shortly after the opening victory over James Madison, I ventured to Cookout for a quick bite after the game,  The simple fact that I was wearing Duke colors prompted two band members (pictured with thumbs up) to strike up a conversation in the line about Duke Football.

People who know that I run a Duke related web site come up and say things like, "Wow, Duke is for real" or "Cutcliffe really knows what he is doing,"   The best might have been, "Man, I can't believe it!  Duke really has a football team." The thing is that most of these comments came from fans of another school, the same ones who were making fun of the program at the start of the season thinking it was the same old Duke.

No matter where I go or what I do, it seems the repercussions of a few wins are prevalent in the community.  The mere fact that I could give ten to fifteen more examples as those above says a lot, but the ultimate statement would be to show our support to Cut's kids by making the fire marshall come to Wade for tomorrows game.

This team has put in a lot of hard work as has the staff.  There is no reason why any fan within four hours wouldn't want to venture to Wally World to immerse themselves in a great college football atmosphere.

There is nothing like the contrasting colors or red and royal blue when Duke and N.C. State get together.  Add to that Autumn backdrop on a slightly crisp November afternoon and well, it doesn't get much better than this.

We have two more chances to see the 2008-09 Duke Blue Devils football team and super senior leaders like Michael Tauliliili.  That said, join me this weekend, cheer hard and wear your Duke Blue proudly for it is the "Dawn of a New Day."[/private]

Duke Football

Coach Cutcliffe Weekly Teleconference

[private]Opening statement -

We had four quarters of unbelievably good effort and play.  For the second week in a row, they've maintained that kind of intensity.  That's growth in eight quarters since the Miami game.  Unfortunately when  you have four turnovers and they have one and you set them up for touchdown drives of 22, 33 and 46 yards after turnovers and that's 22 points.  We gave up basically 5 points on a blocked punt for a safety and the ensuing kickoff was fumbled.  Then there was the onside kick that set them up on our own 26 with the penalty and they got points out of that.  We gave them a short field to play with.  Wake Forest is a very opportunistic team.  We played good enough in all areas to have won and will have to get back to practice in an effort to eliminate the errors.

After a tough loss where your team was resilient yet came up short, what do you tell your team as a coach to keep them up? (Mark Watson, BDN)

Well, I just talk to them straight forward about what happened and how it occurred.   We are in between meetings and getting ready to go out on the field and we don't have time to feel sorry for ourselves.  It's as simple as this, football games aren't won in the video room in Sunday.  We're going to correct these mistake and move forward.  When you play as hard as we played you just have to move on.  We have a difficult opponent, a rival opponent in North Carolina State coming off and open week.  They're well coached and have a good football team and we better not be spending any time not getting back up, so we're going to challenge them pretty good.

On the onside kick - (Lucie Chavez, News and Observer)

It's a judgment call.  I felt like the guy was laid out and he would have never  have gotten the ball.  He hit Johnny Williams after he had gotten the ball, but the official has to go out and use his judgement and it's a tough call.  Again, my philosophy on all those things is it could have gone another way.  We could have done ten or fifteen things another way and we would have won the game.  We evaluate it and move on.  I will probably be getting an explanation, but you have to move on. 

Was the reaction similar to that of the Northwestern game?

Yes, it was very similar.  We thought we could win and we competed hard.  We did everything we had to do to win against Northwestern - a return for a touchdown but it was called back.  It was that kind of experience and we are just hoping all of those things help us grow.  We're not just trying to have a good team, that's what everybody needs to understand.  We're going to build a football program here.  We're serious about that.  Thes guys this year?  They are laying the groundwork.  People are missing out if they don't come see htis team play, they're competing.  I certainly hope with a big rival game like N.C. State coming in that we feel this stadium up good.

Duke hasn't played N.C. State since 2003.  Do you feel like you should be able to play a rival every year and what do you think of the divisions the way they are set up now.  Would you rather see them more regional?

I'd love to see N.C. State in there but I'm brand new.  I'm sure if you looked at the economics of the conference, if you let us all be in the same division right here, we'd be playing each other every year and that would be some pretty good road trips for everybody and probably wouldn't be fair to the rest of the conference from Miami to D.C.  There was a lot of thought that went into it and I wasn't privy during those thoughts or meetings but you would love to play that game, not that I want to play N.C. State in particular.  You just love those rival games.  It is what it is and the league is getting better and it is working well as it is, I guess.[/private]

Duke Football

Duke drops an overtime decision to Wake Forest

[private]The tone for the game was set when Jabari Marshall fumbled returning the opening kick-off and Wake Forest recovered at the Duke 22 yard line. The fumble was the first of four turnovers to go along with a blocked punt for a Safety and a missed 42 yard Field Goal that would have won the game as regulation expired. Duke simply had too many miscues to overcome as they dropped a frustrating 33-30 decision to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.

Wake Forest took advantage of Duke's generosity and converted the turnovers into points. Quarterback Riley Skinner scored on a 1 yard run, after Marshall's fumble, to give Wake a 7-0 lead. The Demon Deacons went up 9-7 as a result of blocking a Kevin Jones punt out of the end zone for a Safety. In the 3rd Quarter, Thaddeus Lewis threw an interception that Wake Forest converted into a TD run and a 19-7 lead. Duke's defense forced Wake Forest to punt early in the 4th Quarter, but Donovan Varner could not handle the punt and Wake recovered at the 33 yard line. A 20 yard Riley Skinner to D.J. Boldin touchdown pass and successful 2-point conversion pass resulted in a 30-23 Wake Forest lead. Duke turned the ball over three times in regulation and Wake Forest converted those turnovers into three touchdowns. Thaddeus Lewis threw a second interception during overtime resulting in a Demon Deacons victory.

The Blue Devils outgained the Demon Deacons 376 to 344 yards, and made 21 1st downs to Wake Forest's 16. Jay Hollingsworth rushed for 67 yards and a touchdown, while Tony Jackson contributed 63 yards on the ground. Eron Riley and Brett Huffman both gathered in six receptions for 71 yards each. Clifford Harris had two receptions for 53 yards and two touchdowns.

With the loss, Duke falls to 4-4 and 1-3 in the ACC. Next up for Duke is North Carolina State next Saturday at Wallace Wade Stadium.

[/private]

Duke Football

Duke looking to win back-to-back road games

[private]

Duke travels to Winston-Salem this Saturday for an afternoon showdown with the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Wake enters the game as a 7.5 point favorite despite coming off back-to-back losses to Maryland and Miami. The Demon Deacons have lost three of their last four games after opening the season with three victories. Wake Forest has been ranked as high as number 15 in the USA Today poll this season, but fell out of the top 25 after their Week 8 loss to Maryland. Duke will be attempting to win back-to-back road games for the first time since the 1994 season.

Both teams enter the game with four wins and three losses, and they have played two common opponents: Navy and Miami. Duke beat Navy, 41-31, in Durham, while Wake Forest lost, 24-17, at home in Winston-Salem. Both teams lost to Miami. Duke dropped a 49-31 decision at home, while Wake Forest lost, 16-10, in Coral Gables. In discussing the game, Duke Coach David Cutcliffe said, "The challenges continue to get bigger – we’re playing a Wake Forest team that’s very talented, a very experienced team. They can beat you a lot of ways, they can beat you with their defense, they can beat you with their kicking game, and they can certainly beat you with their offense."

Wake Forest is struggling on offense and is currently last in the ACC in scoring at 17.4 points per game. The Demon Deacons are ranked 10th in total offense averaging 303.7 yards per game. Like Duke, they have struggled to run the football. Wake is 10th in rushing offense averaging 109 yards per game on the ground. Over their first six games, Wake Forest ran out of the spread offensive set, but against Miami they shifted to the Power I and rushed the ball 52 times for 195 yards. Tailback Josh Adams ran for a career high 111 yards on 21 carries. This complicates Duke's defensive preparation for the game as they must be prepared to defend both offensive sets on Saturday.

The Wake Forest players held a players only meeting this week to discuss the recent tough losses and ensure everyone was focused toward the five remaining games. At Tuesday’s press conference, Coach Jim Grobe discussed the meeting, "Our seniors are running out of time. We’ve got five games left. I think they feel a little bit of pressure right now to perform down the stretch." Coach Grobe also discussed the spread offense saying it hurt them against Navy and Maryland, and then stated the offense wasn’t diverse enough in the loss to Miami. "A little bit of balance would be good."

Duke has allowed opponents to score 21.1 points per game while gaining 341 yards. They have given up an average of 193 yards through the air and 148 on the ground per game. Duke’s defense gave up over 200 yards on the ground to Georgia Tech (224) and Navy (207), but was much stingier in their other five games by allowing an average of 122 yards rushing per game. Shutting down Wake’s rushing game will be a priority so Duke can win the Time of Possession battle and keep the defense rested and effective through the Fourth Quarter.

Linebackers Michael Tauiliili and Vincent Rey are number one and three in the ACC, respectively, for tackles. They will need big games this weekend to ensure the Demon Deacons continue to struggle offensively. Duke has 11 interceptions on the year but injuries are starting to take a toll on the secondary. Leon Wright aggravated a hamstring problem against Vanderbilt and Lee Butler is banged up. Defensive end Ayanga Okpokowuruk recorded two quarterback sacks in the Vanderbilt game and he and the rest of the defensive line are going to have to apply pressure to Wake Forest Quarterback Riley Skinner. Duke has recorded 13 sacks on the season.

Duke has struggled in the Red Zone this year and must improve in this area to be successful in November. Over the first seven games of the season, Duke is last in the ACC in red zone offense scoring 18 times out of 29 opportunities. Coach Cutcliffe has stated this team will be defined by their performance in November and if Duke is going to win games against ACC opponents in November they must take better advantage of scoring opportunities. Last week Duke blocked a punt and took possession on Vanderbilt’s 13 yard line and ended up with zero points after a missed field goal. Earlier in the game, Michael Tauiliili intercepted a pass in Vanderbilt territory, but Duke failed to convert the turnover into points.

In an earlier interview with Blue Devil Nation, Duke Quarterback Thaddeus Lewis discussed the game, "I think consistency and execution will be the key in this game and the team that has the fewest mistakes will win." It might be more accurate to say the team that takes advantage of their opponent’s mistakes will win.[/private]