Tag Archives: Duke Football

Duke Football

Watch Every Daniel Jones Pass & Run

Do you think people will be talking about Daniel Jones this week?  The former Duke quarterback had a story-book debut where he led the New York Giants to an 18 point comeback win.

Jones scored on a seven-yard scamper up the middle with 1:16 remaining in the game as the Giants then held on for a 32-31 win,

The rookie quarterbacks stellar debut makes him the toast of New York.  Jones hit on 23-36 pass attempts for 336 yards with two scores.

His first career NFL touchdown came on an 11 yard rushing play.  The Giants would go into the half trailing 28-10 before Jones ignited a second-half rally.

Jones heorics also came at a time when the Giants lost their star tailback, Sequan Barkley to injury.  This was the first career win for Jones which also provided the first victory of the season for the Giants who now stand 1-2.

Check out every pass and run from Jones -

 

Duke Football

Duke Football Notebook 9-10

The Duke Blue Devils evened up their season record to 1-1 with a lopsided win over North Carolina A & T and they hope to build on their momentum this week versus Middle Tennessee State.

Bobo practicing

Jake Bobo has returned to the practice field per Duke Coach David Cutcliffe.  While he will not play this weekend, Bobo has seemingly made Duke look into adjustments that would allow him to be on the field at the same time as freshmen breakout talent Jalon Calhoun.  Cutcliffe has high praise for Calhoun who had a stellar game against the Aggies.

Injuries Piling Up

A season ago Duke was plagued by injuries and that trend is continuing this year.  Cutcliffe said that his team had 13 scholarship players out after the win over the Aggies.  He ruled Gunnar Holmberg out for the year today, giving the team two scholarship quarterbacks to work with.  DL Ben Frye has returned to practice and is rounding back into playing shape.

Penalties, film and discipline

Cutcliffe said some of the penalties called against his team may not have been as obvious on film review.  On the other hand, he said there are discipline penalties that they will try to correct.

Duke will stay in Nashville

The Blue Devils will stay in Nashville for their game with Middle Tennessee State.  That makes the trip all the more attractive to the fan base who will be traveling with the team.  Cutcliffe said he had some good relationships with Middle Tennessee coaches and that his wife would entertain the family during the visit.

Cut warns fan base that Middle Tennessee is a Solid Program

The Blue Raiders can play and they have an established football program.  Cutcliffe spoke of his opponent with high praise.  They lost to Michigan by 19 on the road in their opener and bounced by with a 45-26 win over Tennessee State this past week.  The program is known for their offense, but more on that in our preview out this Thursday.

Duke has a bye week coming

The Blue Devils have a bye week after this weekends contest and before they travel to Virginia Tech for their ACC opener.

Facebook Live

The game will be telecast on Facebook Live, but we have yet to see if there is an application to stream this to TV or if any station will carry the game.  The rights are owned by Stadium but the game will not be on their streaming service.  I hoe to have more information when I release the game preview.  Speaking of previews, we are 2-0 vs the spread on the season and 2-0 overall and had the exact point spread at 32 this past week.

The game is huge for the Blue Raiders

The Red Raiders will have a "blackout," for the game where fans are asked to wear black.  The current line is Duke by 6 in the contest.

Duke Football

Duke Set To Right The Ship vs N.C. A&T

The Duke Blue Devils take on North Carolina A&T at 6:00 tomorrow in Wallace Wade Stadium.  The weather will be sunny and warm as Hurricane Dorian has veered away. Duke is a labeled a 26 point favorite.

Last Week

It was no surprise that the Blue Devils struggled against an immensely talented Alabama squad which seems destined to play for another national title.  While Duke showed glimpses of good things to come, the offense struggled to find its identity.  The best news is that there were no major injuries and that the Blue Devils.

This Week

North Carolina A&T is relishing the opportunity to knock off an ACC foe.  They took out East Carolina a season ago and defeated a ranked Elon team on a 52-yard field goal last week.  The Aggies are currently ranked 14th in the country in the FBS national rankings.

More on the Aggies

First of all, they can play.  They have a stingy defensive scheme designed to hold teams down in scoring.  The Aggies are a step up from NCCU, a team they demolished last season on their way to winning their conference.  Duke Coach David Cutcliffe said they are balanced in all aspects of the game and he is right.  Duke will face a very pesky team seeking to pull off one of their biggest upsets in school history.

Duke seeks offensive continuity

We saw Duke tease some new offensive formations and schemes last week.  The Blue Devils will show more of what we can expect to see as the season progresses this week  It will be important for Duke to establish the ground game in order to get the passing game going.

The defense hopes to stiffen up

Even though it was juggernaut Alabama scoring 42 points a week ago, the defense looks to show some pride this week with a bounce-back performance.  This side of the ball was considered a strength going into the season, so expect the unit to play with a reckless abandon this week trying to shut down the Aggies attack.

Duke will play more players

The Blue Devils are playing some young players this season and those guys will get more snaps this week if all goes as planned.  Expect to see more skilled players break out this week, especially in the young wideout group.

What we expect

Duke is anxious to even their record up at 1-1 and they are also intent on showing more of the style we will see this season.  The Blue Devils will likely still have some growing or timing pains, but they should be able to show off their talent as this game progresses.  There is a feeling of immense hunger this week and they want to show last weeks lopsided loss was an anomaly.

On the other hand, the Aggies are capable of taking advantage of mistakes and they are a legitimate football program capable of putting a scare in Duke if the Blue Devils get off to a slow start.

It is crucial for Quentin Harris and the offense to get rolling sooner rather than later.  The Aggies know how to play a frustrating style of football if they get the lead, so a fast start is a must for Duke.

Duke should win this game and they need to win this game.  The Blue Devils David Cutcliffe will be 10-3 in home openers with a win.

The pick here is Duke 42  North Carolina A&T 10

(Season prediction record 1-0 overall, 1-0 vs the spread)

 

Duke Basketball, Duke Football

Remembering My Pal, Al Featherston

Al Featherston passed on today, Monday, 11-5-2018.

My longtime friend, Al Featherston died Monday, Nov. 5th, 2018 at Duke Hospital after a long illness.  Many of you know that Al has been a sportswriter for more than five decades and has authored books on both history and ACC sports.

Al attended Duke University and contributed to the ACC Sports Journal, Basketball Times, Blue Ribbon Yearbooks, Duke Basketball Report, GoDuke.com and many other outlets over the years.  He spent a great portion of his career writing for the Durham Morning Herald and the Durham Herald Sun as well.

He battled his illness until the end, but never recovered well from elective heart surgery.  He was also diagnosed with ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease.  Being a long time New York Yankees fanatic, Al was able to go out like one of his favorites.

I had a lot of history with Al, which included seeing Duke win a National Championship together.  Having seen a lot of Duke athletics in my time, he enjoyed someone to talk history with,

Towards the end, another good friend of Al's named Ed McIntyre was able to help get our pal into a retirement home.  I would take Al to appointments and run errands while going over on Saturdays to watch college football games.

Make no mistake, Al loved his sports and we watched the Duke away football games together right up until his passing.  Al was staying on a strict diet and got down to 212 pounds, but he liked that I would bring something special for him for football Saturday,

We thought we'd lost Al about two weeks ago,  On a Monday, following the win over Georgia Tech, Al went back into the hospital never to come out,  He would also lose conscience for about five days.

Thankfully, Al came out of that and just in time to inform his sister Libby who was up from Southport on his final wishes.  He was able to get some closure and I can tell you after conversing with him that he was still very sharp minded and at peace with what was to come.

So, as soon as I get to his room, Al spots the box score to the Duke Basketball exhibition game in my hand.  Before he can say hello, he is reaching for it while asking me about Marques Bolden.

Yep, his faculties were intact and he wasted little time in wanting to talk about that game and the Duke loss to Pitt in football which he had just watched.

I spent the better part of three hours with Al the last time I saw him.  I filled him in on what he missed while being out and he sponged it all in while wanting to continue to talk about this years basketball team.

Al was very excited about tomorrows Duke matchup with Kentucky and the Duke-UNC football game coming up this weekend.  He mentioned that he was sad that he would miss this basketball season with this year's talented team, but we had all hoped he could bounce out of his issues and at least make it through this week.

I was saddened to hear the news of his moving on from his sister this morning whom I have been able to get to know through the process.  I contracted a virus and could not make it back to see Al beyond that last conversation.

But in the end, I realized I had a great conversation with him that day and it was a normal exchange which I think he liked.  I will miss my friend greatly and talking Duke Athletics, ACC sports in general and appreciate the many memories with him by my side.

Al wanted his sportswriter friends and acquaintances to know he was thinking about them.  He was in his favorite spot in the world on press row where he enjoyed socializing.  Towards the end, the plan was for him to dictate some messages to me but time would not allow for that.  But, again, he was thinking of many of you.

Whether you are a sportswriter, work at Duke Athletics or in the ACC offices in Greensboro, just know Al was appreciative of the relationships.

Al was the son of Louis Alywn Featherston Sr. and Mary Norfleet Vick Featherston.  He is survived by his sister, Elizabeth "Libby" Featherston if Southport, N.C.; and brothers, Mark Featherston of Caddilac, MI and Richard Featherston of Seymour, Conn.

The family plans a private cremation.  A celebration of Al's life will be announced at a future time. I will let you know of any further details and please pass this information on.

I appreciate your friendship Al, who last told me he was looking forward to seeing what happens next.

Duke Football

David Cutcliffe Addresses the Media

DAVID CUTCLIFFE: We obviously realize how difficult a task it is to go to Miami, and not only to play well, but to win. Extremely athletic team. A team that plays really well at home. We've had good preparation. I think our minds are in the right place. We're trying to overcome getting -- beat ourselves, and a huge challenge and one that we need to challenge ourselves to be able to be successful.

I'll take your questions.

Q. A little off-the-wall question for you. Who was your athletic idol growing up and why?
DAVID CUTCLIFFE: Mickey Mantle because I saw the Yankees more than anyone else. They certainly were on TV, baseball Game of the Week. I could go out and simulate being Mickey Mantle by myself, throwing the ball up and swinging in the air, and I was a switch hitter, so that helped.

Q. Did you wear No. 7?
DAVID CUTCLIFFE: Absolutely. The other one was Joe Namath, quarterback, No. 12. I had many of them. Listen, it changed, you know.

Q. From season to season?
DAVID CUTCLIFFE: Well, yeah, season to season. You know, the basketball was a little different, a little more removed. There was one game a week. Bill Russell -- I worked on my left-handed hook shot because of him.

You're bringing up good memories, I can tell you that.

Q. Miami's defense seems like they are growing every year into an elite defense. What do you have to do to not put play that fourth ball to those guys and put that turnover chain thing back on?
DAVID CUTCLIFFE: They do a lot of things that create turnovers. First of all, they lead the country in tackles for losses, and that's a big part of creating turnovers, creating bad down and distance. You can't be desperate. You have to be smart and patient. You can't play afraid or cautious, but you have to play smart to play a team like that -- we call them havoc plays, and their defense, as we view, it leads their country far and away in havoc plays.

Q. How do you prepare for two quarterbacks or whatever? How do you prepare for that?
DAVID CUTCLIFFE: They really don't change their offense. I think one quarterback may run more than the other, but they have so many weapons that surround the quarterback position that you'd better focus on that. So that's not as problematic as you might think.

Q. Covered your game in Atlanta and you guys looked so good. I thought you had a pretty good shot at winning the division. Would it be fair to say you're kind of surprised to be where you are now, two weeks later?
DAVID CUTCLIFFE: Yeah, I mean, there's no question that this team is not the same team. We have been challenged. You hesitate as a coach to ever say these things, but we've been as many as 12 starters down and it just continues to take its toll. That's something that we are hopefully turning the corner. We still have a lot of people not making the trip to South Florida, but we also know that this team is the deepest team we've had.

So my job is to get our young people playing better, and that's the biggest issue that we have faced are inconsistencies. You saw us in Atlanta, we were able to create some turnovers. In the three games we have lost, we have not created a single turnover. We've lost the turnover margin 4-0 in those three games, and we're playing a team that thrives on it.

You know, it's not a secret. If you're going to win, you've got to do the things that winning teams do. Our young people have got to not be young people right now. We've got a lot of them playing that we didn't think we would be playing with, but we are playing with them. So as I said, my job is to have them ready.

Q. Do you have a guess at who the top team in the league is, or in the division as of this week?
DAVID CUTCLIFFE: Obviously right now Clemson is playing at an extremely high level. They are left on our schedule. But the Coastal Division, it's just very difficult to say.

The team we're playing this week is extremely talented. But Virginia has played really well. Virginia has played very opportunistic and solid.

But I wouldn't call a winner right now. It's a horse race that you can't call. Too close to call.

Q. Can you put your finger on what's made the division so balanced?
DAVID CUTCLIFFE: I think the coaching has just continued. Paul Johnson and I have been in this league the longest, and we know the kind of job that he does. Georgia Tech has been really impressive here of late and just really, year after year.

Then you start looking at what Justin Fuente has done to follow up a legend in Frank Beamer.

And then Bronco Mendenhall is just an outstanding coach and got Virginia playing well.

Mark Richt is at Miami and got Miami playing well.

Pat Narduzzi at Pitt; you want to talk about physical football, and Pitt football teams have been that way for as long as I can remember.

Larry Fedora at North Carolina can score on anybody. They have just hit over the last two years a rash of injuries and circumstances.

I think I've covered the Coastal there. I just have great respect for the coaches, both in the Atlantic and the coastal, and I think our league is terrific right now.

Like I said earlier and somebody else asked a question, it's no secret. You have to do the things -- if you're normal, if you're not just overly talented compared to everyone else, you've got to do the things that win football games, and that's no secret. There are four or five things that a team has to do and embrace together to be a winner, and we haven't done it as well as we needed in the three losses.

It was very disheartening in Pitt that we kept giving up when we'd get two or three scores up. That's my job is to get us over that hump and we're going to find a way to do it.

Duke Football

Duke Football Notebook – Week Four

The Duke Blue Devils are off to a 3-0 start this season with cross-town rival North Carolina Central next on their schedule.  Duke will take on the Eagles on Brooks Field in Wallace Wade Stadium in a game which kicks off at 3:30.  The contest can be seen on the ACC Network.

The Atlantic Coast Conference announced today that the kickoff time for the Virginia Tech at Duke game on September 29th will get a prime time 7:00 start.  That game will be on either ESPN 2 or ESPNU.  Both teams could come into the game undefeated if they get by this week's opponents.

Dylan Singleton and Jack Wolabaugh earned ACC Player of the Week honors this week.

Making his first career start in Saturday’s 40-27 win at Baylor, Wohlabaugh posted a team-best offensive line grade, along with four knockdown blocks. He spearheaded a Duke offense that yielded zero sacks, committed zero penalties and suffered zero turnovers.  Wohlabaugh provided protection for quarterback Quentin Harris, who in his first career start threw three touchdown passes with no interceptions.

Singleton carded seven tackles, caused one fumble, recovered another and broke up a pass in the Blue Devils’ win at Baylor.  His fumble recovery midway through the first quarter set up Duke’s first touchdown.  Singleton led the Duke defense, which shut out Baylor in the first half en route to building a 23-0 lead at intermission.

The Blue Devils may rest a lot of players in this weeks game.  Starting quarterback Daniel Jones is sure to be out.  Center Zach Harmon was available this past Saturday but did not play.   Defensive End, Terrell Lucas will likely miss another game.   Mark Gilbert is of course, out for the season and Jeremy McDuffie and Aaron Young are day to day.  Christian Harris and Rak Chambers also missed some game time at Baylor on the offensive front and their injuries are unknown at this time.

The Blue Devils win got them some vote in the new Top 25 polls.  Duke is 28th in the A.P. and 27th in the Coaches Poll.

Closing thoughts -  Duke is riding high after a 3-0 start and they should be.  However, injuries are stacking up.  Thankfully, we are seeing that Duke has more depth than in the past which has offset that to date.

Some old demons reared their ugly head when Duke had a punt blocked which gave up some momentum and a touchdown in the win over Baylor.  Duke also had a botched XP.  It is something to keep an eye on in the weeks to come.

The one good thing about Jones being out is seeing Quentin Harris gain some needed experience.  He missed on some easy passes early but overall he played a phenomenal game against Baylor.  He should be more comfortable in the pocket this week and David Cutcliffe has some film where he can work with him better on his play,

The stat of the wee was no penalties.  That does not happen very often and it can mean the difference in games.  It made up for the blocked punt.

It has to feel good for the Duke staff to have two power five conference road wins in their first three games.  After all, only Duke Football can claim that feat.  The Blue Devils have started the last two season 3-0.