Category Archives: Duke Football

Duke Football

Huge second half carries Miami to win over Duke

[private]The Duke-Miami game was a tale of two halves and the second and decisive half belonged to the Hurricanes.  Duke took a 17-14 lead into the locker room,  but Miami erupted for 35 points, after the break, which included 5 touchdown passes.  Four of those were thrown by a true freshman who had a breakout game.

The Canes came into the game winless in the ACC and for awhile it looked as if Duke would send them to their third loss.  Miami took advantage of their opportunities and executed when they had to.  After all, they are tops in the ACC when they enter the red zone and it's as if their players all want to step up and score when these situations are afforded.

Duke held a 24-21 lead later in the third, but a 83 yard net punt shifted the field and momentum for good.  That momentum was helped by the Blue Devils top playmaker, Eron Riley.  The normally sure handed wide out dropped numerous passes within his grasp, but the real killer was a blocking below the waste penalty.  That call pretty much sealed the deal for the Canes in that Duke lost a nice running play.  The Canes then came back with a sack of Lewis deep into Duke territory forcing a punt.

With Duke's top play maker having an off day and nagging injuries to the remaining wide outs, Miami showed why Coach Cutcliffe often talks about speed.  The Canes simply ran past Devil defenders on runs and patterns and their depth was evident.

While the final score of 49-31 looks bad on paper, the game was close for a long time.  There were a couple of positives for Duke.  The first was that they turned the ball over just one time and the second is that they got their running game untracked.

Duke must now rebound in order to play a tough Vanderbilt team on the road next Saturday.  If Duke is to win that game, some players will have to step up and make the plays it takes to turn the corner to victory.[/private]

Duke Football

Thaddeus Lewis shares his thoughts with the Blue Devil Nation

[private]So, your hometown school is coming to town ...

Preparation.  That's the key.  You have to treat it like any other game.  Those guys are going to come out to play.

This is a huge game for both teams.  Miami has their back against the wall in that they are 0-2, meaning they'll be dangerous.  They also have a pretty solid defensive front, much like Tech - what are your feelings?

We have to match their intensity and match the play those guys are going to bring in here and bring the fight to them.  If you deliver a counter punch or don't give up, it can pan out.  We have to go out there and play all phases of the game.

Duke will have played three straight games on ESPNU.  What does that mean for Duke?

You have an opportunity to show people who you are.  Some people will tune in to see what you got, so you have a chance to show the world what you can do.  Some guys will take that like an opportunity to perform.

How many players do you know on the Miami team?

A lot!  I know a lot of them.  I grew up playing against them in the little league or in high school.  You grow up knowing each other just playing football in general.

Is this a big game for your Mom and family?

Everybody calls me back home.  They say you have them this week.  Some of my family members and even some media I know want to see me play well and win.  It's a great deal for the family, but it's not really personal for me.  It's about this (Duke) football team.

You have gone up against these guys a couple of times.  Is there a little bit of smack talk on their end?

If I played any other position beside quarterback, I would smack talk back (laughing).  Talking back to what those guys are saying can get you out of your game.  I don't smack talk, but maybe my lineman can for me.  Most of them are pretty stand up guys, so they just go our there and play hard all the time, but they'll call your name some and stuff like that.

The offense struggled a little bit the past two games.  What can you do as a quarterback to help?

We just have to go out there and practice and execute.  If you practice well, you generally play well.  We just need to get some first downs to get this offense rolling.

How do you deal with a defense that held Central Florida to 4 yards rushing and one that had Florida at bay for most of the game before losing?

We have to be aggressive and get the running game going.  It opens up the offense.

On fan support -

We need our fans and we need them to be loud and give them (Miami) a little trouble.  It means a lot to us when they turn out and I hope they support us like they do the basketball team.[/private]

Duke Football

Quick Hitter – Michael Tauiliili talks exams, moving forward

[private]How did you treat the off week?

I'm taking six classes right now.  So, I had a take home mid term that is due tomorrow.  It wasn't really a week off.

Did you get distracted by football on TV?

No, I tried to stay on it.  I try to go to the library for at least a couple of hours.  I did find some time to relax and the off week helped me get my legs back under.

What was your routine or thoughts in the off week?

It's a lot of fun knowing we are getting ready to hit this last seven game stretch. Especially for me in that it is my senior season.  Any time you have a bye week, you are anxious to get back out there.  As a team we are ready to get back out there and compete.  We want to get that bitter taste out.  Once we looked at film we started immediately looking toward the future.[/private]

Duke Football

Cutcliffe talks of the upcoming Miami game

[private]Duke Coach David Cutcliffe spoke to the media during his weekly teleconference Sunday evening.  The Blue Devil Nation was on hand to bring you his thoughts on the upcoming game with Miami.

Opening statement -

Coming off an open date I'm still not sure what our health is going to be like just yet.  It's unfortunate with just five games to this point.  Our first business is Miami and the second is getting our guys ready to play seven games in a row.  Miami is playing a lot of young and very talented players.  IMO, they are the most athletic team we'll see.  It's a huge challenge for us.  It seems like forever since we played and we are looking forward to the ballgame.

On the Miami defense holding Central Florida to 4 yards rushing and 74 total yards -

I have looked at that game and all the others.  It's not a fluke - they're that good.  They play a lot of people, they are extremely good up front, the linebackers and the secondary.  They actually took Central Florida and made their offense look inept. 

On practices in the off week -

Our practices have been good.  We're coming off a bitter defeat.  Our attitude has been good.  We're hungry and we had some enthusiasm and got better.  Again, we have some people that were out.  I won't get into the specifics of that until Thursday and we will then evaluate where we are with our team.  We wanted to see why we weren't a very productive offense.  We made some tweaks in the running game.  Of course, I'm not sure if anybody can run the ball against Miami. I think we are better than we are.  We practiced running the football and becoming more physical.  I think you have to be a physical football team at this stage in the game and we worked hard at that.  We had a lot of live work which is high risk for us with no more depth than we've got, but we hopefully got better.

On Duke playing three consecutive games on ESPNU -

I think it's been good for us.  There has been a lot of people talking about Duke Football.  We have brought attention to game day.  I've had a number of letters and e-mails from people around the country who are seeing Duke Football for the first time - lot of comments from Coaches around the country have been saying we saw you do this and we saw you do that.  So, it's been good for our program.

On the support for Duke Football -

I think people will be here.  I think there will be a good crowd here and I think there are a lot of people excited about football here at Duke again.  We will have a good football program.

A little bit and that's one thing I'm conscious of.  I will have a light workout on Monday and on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday we'll get into game speed.  We should be ready, rested and focused coming off the off week.[/private]

Duke Football

Struggling Miami up next for Duke

[private]The Duke Blue Devils play host to the struggling Miami Hurricanes on October 18th. Perennial powerhouse Miami enters the game at 3-3 and coming off a sloppy 20-14 victory over Central Florida. The Hurricanes turned the ball over three times and managed just 216 yards of offense in the victory. Miami is 11th in the ACC in total offense at 289.2 yards per game. Prior to the victory over Central Florida, the Canes suffered back-to-back home losses to North Carolina and Florida State.

The Blue Devils are coming off a bye week after losing at Georgia Tech 27-0 on October 4th. The 3-2 Blue Devils are averaging 24.6 points and 324.4 yards of offense per game. Duke's offense is spearheaded by Quarterback Thaddeus Lewis who has thrown seven touchdown passes against three interceptions this season. Six of those touchdown passes have gone to wide receiver Eron Riley who is third in the ACC with 5.4 receptions per game. After the Navy game, in which Lewis connected with Riley for three touchdowns, Coach David Cutcliffe stated, "They are pretty special friends. Eron - he is kind of climbing the ladder...If we can get him healthy, he could have a pretty special senior season."

At 0-2 in the ACC and with upcoming conference games against #21 Wake Forest and #18 Virginia Tech, the Duke game has developed into a must win game for the Canes. The pressure will be on Miami and they could come into the game tight. If Duke can force a turnover or execute a big play early, they could set the tone for the game and exert pressure on Miami.

Duke has struggled establishing a running game thus far this season. The Blue Devils are managing just 118.8 yards per game on the ground, and in the loss to Georgia Tech were held to 35 yards rushing. In discussing the running game, Coach Cutcliffe stated, "It's got to be fixed and get fixed quick." Miami is second in the ACC in Rushing Defense giving up just 95.7 yards per game, so Duke will need to figure out the adjustments that need to be made and execute them in order to establish a running game against the Canes.

The passing game has been the strength of Duke's offense this season. Duke is third in the ACC in Pass Offense at 205.6 yards per game. Miami's defense has yielded nine passing touchdowns this season including two in the fourth quarter against North Carolina. Look for Duke to attempt to exploit Miami's secondary in order to move the ball and establish offensive rhythm. Miami is last in the ACC with just three interceptions on the season. Thaddeus Lewis has completed passes to 14 different players this season with four receivers having double-digit receptions. The offensive line must give Lewis time to throw the ball as Miami is fifth in the ACC with 14 sacks for 123 yards.

On defense, Duke has played solid recording six interceptions and seven sacks. Linebackers Michael Tauiliiu and Vinnie Rey are number one and two in the ACC in tackles per game at 11.4 and 9.4 respectively. The Blue Devils are sixth in Scoring Defense and eigth in Total Defense in the ACC. Duke is third in the ACC, behind Virginia Tech and Florida State, in Time of Possession at 31:50 per game.

October 18th will be an exciting day in Durham. It is Homecoming Weekend and the basketball Blue-White Game will be held at 1:00 pm prior to the football game that is set to start at 3:30 pm and be televised by ESPNU. This year finds the situation in Durham a bit different as Duke fans are still excited about football even though basketball season is set to start. This coming Saturday, the Blue Devils have a legitimate opportunity to secure their second ACC victory of the season against the Hurricanes. Duke needs to execute the fundamentals: take care of the football, win the battle at the line of scrimmage, avoid penalties, and execute on special teams. If they can take care of those fundamentals, there is a very good chance Duke will send Miami back to Coral Gables with an 0-3 ACC record.[/private]