It was a great homecoming for Duke fans and the team alike, in that the Blue Devils ran roughshod over the Tulane. When the dust cleared the scoreboard read Duke 48, Tulane 27 but it wasn't that close. In fact, Tulane had two late scores in the fourth quarter against Duke back ups to make the game look closer that it actually was.
Another great day for Sean Renfree
Duke quarterback Sean Renfree put together another solid outing, save an early interception for a touchdown. Renfree went 21 of 30 for 278 yards and one passing touchdown. But it was Renfree's legs that allowed him to score two rushing touchdowns. I just happened to be on the field for both and each one was right in front of me. Renfree toughed his way in on the first one, a two yard run and the second he went pretty much untouched right up the middle.
Juwan Thompson carrying the load
Juwan Thompson averaged 4,9 yards per carry for 69 yards and two scores. Thomspon was a chief component in Duke controlling the clock to the tune of 36 minutes to just 23 for Tulane. It is also worth noting that Thompson has been forced into carrying the load while Josh Snead and Desmond Scott heal from injuries.
Duke defense shines
The Blue Devils went five straight quarters without letting up a touchdown and the two late Green Wave scores came against a bevy of back ups. The early Tulane touchdown was an interception return. A 122 yards of the Green Waves 318 yards of offense came on the last two drives, again, against the Duke subs.
Heartbreaking News
Kenny Anunike was lost for the season. Anunike was enjoying a fabulous season, leading the ACC sacks, and will be greatly missed moving forward. BDN wishes him a speedy recovery.
Red Zone prowess
The Blue Devils were a perfect 7 for 7 in the red zone which helped them to 48 points, a season high. The last time Duke scored more was November 6th against Virginia last season. Duke also got a26 yard field goal from Jeffrey Ijjas. Coach Cut said that it was a confidence builder in case Will Snyderwine got hurt again. Actually, Snyderwine is still on the mend but did kick some of the extra points for the Blue Devils.
Blue Devil Nation Video will have some player interviews up shortly.
It's a sweltering summer evening inside McDougald Gym on the campus of North Carolina Central University in Durham, North Carolina. Fans pack the arena to cheer on local college stars and current professional players during the annual North Carolina Pro Am, an extremely popular event. Andre Dawkins's team is up next and once the game starts it takes no time to hear the P.A. announcer bellow in a loud voice, "Dre, all day!" as Dawkins drains back to back three pointers.
"I like the nickname, Dre all day. It's my Twitter handle and is a nickname that I have had for a long time. The dad of one of my childhood friend's came up with it. I'm not sure where he got it from, but it stuck and I like it," Dawkins told BDN on that late August evening.
After Dawkins drained the aforementioned three point shots, he turns and runs back up court and you can see a ton of confidence in his body language. There is little doubt that Dawkins has improved his game in the off season and that allowed him to start during the China / Dubai trip.
As it turns out, Dawkins performances during the Pro Am were no anomaly. Dre racked up points by the bushel scoring 35 one night, 24 of those coming in the second half. "I tried to get easy baskets instead of forcing the issue," said Dawkins who nails three pointers with the same ease as a grown man dunks on a Nerf goal.
Dawkins had three consecutive 30 plus point games before slumming at a mere 25 points one evening, only to come back and hit 31 in the next game.
"The first night I was hitting a lot of threes in the first half but in the last game I concentrated more on getting to the basket," said the rising junior.
When asked if he was ready to step up his game this season, Dawkins stated, "I hope so, we lost a lot of scoring from last season so there will be opportunities."
Perhaps no player on the Duke roster has been through what Dawkins has. His sister's untimely passing was something he had to deal with as a true freshman. In fact, Dawkins had enrolled in Duke a year early after graduating early by going to summer school. And for those who may not remember his recruitment, Dawkins was a huge Duke fan before the offer ever came.
Dawkins emotions were evident after the tragedy and he realizes that as well. His confidence would sway with a hit or missed shot and it was clear to read that on his face. "This year if I miss a few shots I have to come back just as confident," said Dawkins. He continued by saying "I have been working everyday on ball handling and trying to get in real good shape and be aggressive on both ends of the court."
The sharp shooting swing man is now one of the older players on the Duke roster and he is aware that young guys will look up to him and learn from his experiences. "It's been going really well for them to date with the newcomers and I show them what I can. Guys are learning our system and we try to get better each time out."
He also said that the coaches expect him to step up as well, "I know what all the coaches expect and it helps a lot to understand the expectations."
When Dawkins smiles, he can light up a room. The smile is genuine. One will quickly notice that his braces are gone this season and that in some sense relates to the maturation of his game.
Once the dust settled at the Pro Am, Dawkins was one of the leading scorers in the event, if not the top one overall. More importantly, his team went undefeated until the last day of the regular season, but he missed the playoffs preparing for the Fiendship Games in China. "It's just a comfort level. I've played with a lot of the guys on the team before and they know to look for me in my spots. It just felt good out there," stated Dawkins on his overall play.
Next up for Dawkins was the China-Dubai trip where the Blue Devils got some early preparation for the coming season. Once the trip concluded, Dawkins showed again that he was more than capable of scoring in bunches. You can bet that other ACC teams payed close attention and they'll certainly concentrate on trying keep him from going off on them.
I asked Dawkins after the trip about his confidence and improvement and he replied, "Yeah, I do have more confidence. It comes from a lot of hard work over the summer and as you work hard you gain confidence. I feel like I have gotten a lot better and plan to show that this year."
That said, you may not hear the announcer in Cameron Indoor Stadium exclaim, "Dre, all day," with a booming voice which echos throughout the rafters, but that doesn't mean Andre won't be lighting the competition just as he did this summer.
This season's Duke Women's Basketball team will be one of the least experienced groups Coach McCallie has had at Duke. Despite that youth, the Sporting News have the Blue Devils ranked sixth nationally, and all other preview publications have Duke firmly in the nation's top ten. Those expectations come from having a very talented roster and the fact that many of their freshman gained valuable experience on the court in their first year. BDN caught up to two rising sophomores, Tricia Liston [6-1 G-F] and Haley Peters [6-3 G-F] and we got their thoughts on the team and what they worked on over the summer. And, for the record, both looked improved on the court during the North Carolina Pro Am.
Hi girls! Tell me what you worked on this summer?
Tricia Liston - I worked on conditioning, footwork and agility work as well as keeping up with my fundamentals, especially ball handling. I tried to work on that a little extra.
Haley Peters - I spent a lot of time working on my ball handling, moving on the court, shooting threes and creating off the dribble.
Did Coach P tell either of you to work on any particular thing in the off season?
Tricia - Coach wanted me to work on my overall game, my shot, and defense, too. She wants me to be a little more confident in my defense. That's about it.
Haley - She wanted me to spend some of the summer playing the two and the one in order to get more comfortable having the ball in my hands out on the floor. As a whole, the big thing we wanted to work on as a team were our free throws because they weren't very good last year and, to get to where we want to get to, you have to be a good free throw shooter.
So, what do you two think about this season's team? The roster is an interesting mix of talent, yet you lost some key contributors from a year ago.
Tricia - I'm excited. We have a new team this year, different from last year's, and we have the same capabilities, maybe even more, and think that the way we all play together will be interesting to see throughout the season.
Haley - I'm excited about the coming season. We're young but we're really talented, and I think seniors Shay Selby and Kathleen Scheer have a great perspective in what they bring and can be leaders for our team. We've had a good summer so far and we're talented, so, if we all work together, we can have a great season.
Both of you are going into your sophomore year at Duke having your freshman campaign behind you. How big is it to just have a year's experience under your belt?
Tricia -I think it's huge, just even in the summer I feel way more confident abut my game and our team. Just playing at the college level, it's such a wake up call your first season in that it's so much more different than high school in that everybody can play.
Haley - As a freshman class we experienced a lot last season, being in different situations, and got to play a lot more than most freshmen in the country. So we all have more experience and I feel much more confident that what I learned will help me step up to be a leader.
Notes - Here is the new schedule for the Duke Women's Basketball Team. BDN is looking for someone to help cover women's hoops in a non paying apprentice position for the coming season. Ideal candidates would be able to make it to all and or majority of the home games and local road ones as well. You must be professional and have a good knowledge of the program and be in close proximity to Duke University. If interested and or want more details, contact me at Watzone@BlueDevilNation.net
The Duke Blue Devils trotted out their All American field goal kicker Will Snyderwine with five seconds on the clock down 23-21 to Richmond. As a 60 yard attempt fell short, you could feel the collective wind leave Wallace Wade Stadium for the final time. Most fans felt Duke would pull out a win on an evening when one never seemed certain and escape a third consecutive upset to the Richmond Spiders, ranked 19th in the FCS top 25. But just four minutes earlier Snyderwine pushed the ball right on a 28 yard chip shot and that was but one of four major miscues one could point to as the culprit for a frustrating if not depressing loss to open the 2011 season.
A Crushing and frustrating loss for fans
Duke fans did not expect to lose to Richmond, an FCS school for a third straight time on their own home field. Duke started the season slow last year and they are now facing a 0-3 start with powerful Stanford coming in and a road game at Boston College on the horizon. Even if Duke rights the ship and gains some wins, this game will haunt the season if they approach five wins. Every ACC school but Duke handled their FCS opponent with ease and some of those teams were much better than Richmond. There is always renewed hope when a new season kicks off as well as anticipation and excitement for the fan base. Last evenings loss hit Duke fans hard and put the Blue Devils in an 0-1 hole right out of the gate. The mere mention of "Richmond," will make Duke Football fans cringe for a long time to come.
Duke pretty much gave the game away
Another point of frustration is the kicking game and more specifically the leg of Will Snyderwine who missed a mere 28 yard FG that would have saved the day wide right. Then there was the curious last play of the first half when Duke had the ball at the 19 yard line closing out the half. With ten ticks on the clock and no timeouts (one wasted earlier), Duke decided to take one more shot. The problem is that the pass went to Brandon Braxton who was far short of being near the goal line and worse, he clearly had a DB draped over him. Time ran out and Duke missed a golden opportunity for a score. The call was likely designed to be aggressive in nature, but Renfree should have been aware of the clock and where Braxton was as well and threw the ball to the ground to save an opportunity for a field goal attempt. And those fumbles! Both Duke drops led to incredibly short fields for Richmond who scored on both. And let's not forget another aggressive call to go for it on their own 35 yard line in the first quarter. The Duke defense saved the day on that one as Duke failed to gain the yard they needed. Richmond flat out lucked out and dodged a bullet in that they made just enough plays to allow the Blue Devils mistakes to let them win.
There are some positives ...
Duke ran the ball well going for 178 yard on 35 carries. Juwan Thompson led Duke with 86 yards and Desmond Scott added 82 yards and a 29 yard touchdown scamper. Renfree went 22 of 33 for 201 yards and no interceptions which translated into better decision making. Kelby Brown also led Duke in tackles and he seems to be back to normal and a true leader on the defense as a young, true sophomore. Matt Daniels tied a Duke record breaking up several passes and making some solid hits to knock the ball loose from wideouts hands on what looked to be sure catches. The two Duke backup quarterbacks, Brandon Connette and Anthony Boone both scored on rushing touchdowns. Duke has 5 seniors on there two deep roster, so they truly are once again, young which hopefully bodes well for the future. Sadly, the afforementioned Desmond Scott was injured and could not return to the game and by games end, Juwan Thomson was in the same boat forcing Duke to go way into their depth chart with Jay Hollingsworth.
More yards does not mean a win
In 2009 Richmond rolled into Wallace Wade Stadium and defeated Duke 24-16 but the Blue Devils outgained the Spiders 369-282 yards. Last evening, Duke was once again upset by the Spiders yet outgained them 379-288 yards. You might notice that there is but 16 yards difference between the two games. So what does this stat say? I'll admit that I am stumpped considering the results.
The Black Uniforms
There are a superstitious bunch of fans out there that actually pointed to wearing the black uniforms as being a bad omen. It's hard to measure the psychological effect of breaking out in outlaw black but there is little doubt that it has some effect. When Coach K and Duke first broke out their black duds years ago, he made his early teams earn the right to wear them knowing it could well pump up the other team in that it is a brazen statement of confidence. It's sometimes fun to listen to those who've had a bit to drink after a game as they leave the stadium. One fan snarled, "It all started with those "expletive" black uniforms." One thing is certain, as good as the uniforms looked, Duke fans have probably had their feel of them for they left them feeling "blue." Oh, the irony.
Great support
Duke promotions gave a valiant effort and filled Wallace Wade for the opener. And the students turned out as well before many scurried away just after a nice fireworks display. Many fans stay until the bitter end to suport their Blue Devils and it's ashamed that Duke couldn't get it done on the field to have made it a memorable evening. It was an opportunity squandered.
Some might think I've been a bit harsh in this recap, but there comes a time when you have to be objective in order to keep credibility. The bottom line is that Duke fans in no way should be okay with losing to Richmond. As they say in the south, "You can talk improvements until the cows come in, but in the end, only wins cure ills." Duke was a better football team than Richmond, yet they found a way to lose. Duke is an ACC school and Richmond is an FCS power, but it's time to beat the Spiders if the team is truly beggining to go in the right direction. Now, what do you do for bad spider bites?
In closing, I still think David Cutcliffe is the best man to get the job at Duke, but it is time to take a look at why they can't win games they are supposed to. The sun always rises the day after but had the Blue Devils pulled out the win, it would seem a whole lot brighter.
Over the last few months no one has blown up more than Brewster Academy big man Mitch McGary. McGary, who was sporting quite the tan from his recent trip to Florida, has jumped up in many rankings as a top 5 player in the country. Unfortunately for Mitch an injured ankle hampered him for much of the week here in L.A, but he still managed to be a part of two of the more memorable moments this week. On Friday night McGary gave every Derrick Williams fan a new poster as the #2 overall pick in this year’s NBA draft threw down a dunk of epic proportions on . Fast forward to Saturday’s warm up before the Elite 24 game at Venice Beach, McGary went up for a routine dunk, hung on the rim slightly and eventually shattered the backboard glass resulting in cuts on his neck, hands and left shoulder. He was all smiles about it though. There did not seem to be any intention to break the glass on Mitch’s end, it just happened to be one of those rare freak moments in basketball, but hey, everyone loves seeing the glass shatter. Mitch gave up a few minutes of his time to chat with BDN on his time at the Elite 24. (Note - BDN Premium is running a membership special this week where you will get the best discount of the year. Go to the join page and take advantage of 15% off a yearly membership.)
BDN: Is this your first trip out to L.A?
MM: Pretty much. I was here when I was about 9 or 10.
BDN: How was the [private] Midnight Run on Friday night?
MM: Well I got dunked. (laughs)
BDN: No big deal, anyone who tries to play defense has it happen.
MM: True true.
BDN: You seem like you’re hobbling a bit, what happened there?
MM: I got a bummed ankle, I sprained it about three weeks ago. It’s still not the same. I can’t really move that well on it yet. I think it’s just a high ankle sprain, it’ll be alright in a month or so.
BDN: You think you’ll give it a go on Saturday?
MM: Oh definitely. You have to. That’s what I came out here to do!
BDN: How was it playing with the pro’s?
MM: It was pretty cool. It was exhilarating because you don’t usually get to do that so I was excited to play against them. And of course I got dunked on by Derrick Williams (laughs). Pretty bad but I’m being a good sport about it and accept it. I get dunked on all the time.
BDN: What was the most difficult aspect of playing with the pro’s?
MM: Probably going up against their athleticism. I mean they are a lot more developed than us. Just going up against them is another level, the intensity too.
BDN: What was the trip to Florida like?
MM: It was good. The coaches there are pretty chill I liked them a lot. The campus is beautiful and some of the facilities and stuff like that. I’ll probably go down there for an official just to get more of a feel of the school and stuff. The girls are pretty hot.
BDN: You seem to have gotten a pretty good tan.
MM: (laughs) Yea I went down to the Keyes for about 4-5 days.
BDN: You’ll be visiting UNC and Duke basically back to back. Will one be an official and the other unofficial? Or will both be official?
MM: Both will be official visits.
BDN: What does Duke have planned for you when you get there?
MM: Well the 9th, I think that’s a Friday, I guess I’m going to Coach K’s house for dinner with the team and stuff like that and hang out with the guys. I know some of them like the Plumlees and I know of some of the guys. I know Austin Rivers is there.
BDN: How are you approached by Coach K? Has he said things you want to hear?
MM: I mean every coach tells you what you want to hear. I prefer coaches that actually say the stuff that is the truth and..
BDN: More beneficial to you?
MM: Yea. I like to know what I have to do to play. I know whatever school I choose I’m not gonna go there and be a 30 minute+ player a game unless I work at it. I don’t deserve that just going in there.
BDN: Do you feel you’ll make a decision in the early or late period?
MM: Probably this winter before the season starts, or maybe I’ll wait until the normal signing period I’m not sure.
BDN: There’s been a lot of NBA chatter lately about you. Have you given this any thought?
MM: Not really, it’s in the back of my head. I didn’t know it was even possible until I..
BDN: Someone had brought it up the other day and it just blew up.
MM: Yea it blows out of proportion. People start talking and saying I said certain things. I haven’t talked to anybody about it, you’re the first person I’ve talked to about it. My coaches have talked about it. I’m just going to play it by ear and continue to get better..
BDN: Something sort of just in the back of your mind? Not a major focus?
MM: Yea not at all. I mean I want to go to college and get a four year degree, that’s one of my major goals.
BDN: Do you have a favorite class?
MM: Math is one of my favorite classes, I want to get a finance degree.
BDN: Have you been working on anything this summer with regards to offense or defense?
MM: I really haven’t been doing much this summer I’ve just been playing a lot..
BDN: Not much time to actually refine your skills..
MM: Yea pretty much.
BDN: What do you feel is the next step in advancing your game?
MM: Once my ankle heals up probably defense and some lateral stuff but that’s just for my body and stuff like that. I gotta work on my body a lot more. But more or less my mid-range jumper. My forms a little funky right now, I’m just trying to figure it out and go back to how I use to shoot.
BDN: Much appreciated, Mitch.
MM: Thanks a lot. [/private]
When Coach David Cutcliffe first came to Duke, there was a serious lack of playmakers on the football team. That has since changed, but last year's Blue Devils defense simply didn't create enough turnovers to allow the team to win close games. BDN chatted with defensive back Ross Cockrell yesterday about this year's new defense and the importance of making big plays on defense.
What does the 2011 Duke defense need to do to win?
One of the things we struggled with last year was creating turnovers and my goal this year and for the secondary in general is to get it done whether it's an interception or knocking the ball loose for fumbles. We want to be people who create sudden change and not only do I want to be a playmaker but Johnny Williams, Matt Daniels and Walt Canty all want to be difference makers.
Duke got off to a slow 1-3 start last season. How important is it to start off the season with a win?
It's very important because it's not only our first game, but one where we can show our new defense since Coach Knowles took over as coordinator. We have to prove to fans and ourselves and the doubters that we're here to stay and we're going to play.
The players seem to have a good deal of confidence right now. Can you speak to that?
Our confidence is very high right now, We have a lot of athletes on the field with the 4-2-5 and are much more physical on the DL and in the defensive backfield and Kelby Brown is playing very well from the linebacker position.
How does Duke beat Richmond this Saturday?
To beat Richmond we have to be set and ready for every play. Where we got into trouble last year is where we were running around making changes and people would quick snap us and we would be caught off guard. So that is the thing we really need to focus on for this game, to be set and ready on every play.
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