Duke rush defense

slugboy

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I never really get this argument other than on a rare situational basis. Screen passes when the D is loading the box to stop the run will typically be far less successful than a quick slant or a post to an A-back right after he gets past LB depth.

We have better “options” than a screen pass. I think many desire screens as that is a big answer other offenses have for us when we blitz or start crashing down hard. Those Os don’t have our better “options”.

I don't know how tough it is to read the backside linebacker blitz. Hopefully, one of the linemen pick up the linebacker and you can run the play pretty much as normal. In the plays that they ran that against Army, the LB rushed through and the A back was deep and in a bad position to pitch to. Since Army didn't manage to pick up the blitzer, most of their counters looked really bad.

If we can't match Duke's football physicality, our program is in far greater trouble than even the most anti-CPJ fans think.

Hoops, I understand. But there's no excuse not to be on equal footing with Duke in football.

Duke isn't a doormat any more. Should Duke be better than FSU? (They are). Should they be better than UNC? (They are). They had a bad game against VT, but they might be a better team than VT. They're much better than Pitt, who held us to 19 points, some of it last minute. Duke hits hard, they're a physical team, and their defense is installed and their players know it.

We can control our team and how good we are. The fact that Duke has improved doesn't have anything to do with our program, or our program being "in trouble".
 

takethepoints

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I think Puke has gotten better. I'm not sure what will happen when the rock finally gets turned over, however. I'm betting it's a UNC situation that hasn't been uncovered yet.
 

GTonTop88

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I never really get this argument other than on a rare situational basis. Screen passes when the D is loading the box to stop the run will typically be far less successful than a quick slant or a post to an A-back right after he gets past LB depth.

We have better “options” than a screen pass. I think many desire screens as that is a big answer other offenses have for us when we blitz or start crashing down hard. Those Os don’t have our better “options”.
I know what you’re saying, I just remember Duke when they had Cash and VT when they had Kyle Fuller firing them all game and wrecking havoc on our offense. They disrupted the mesh and didn’t give us enough time to throw the ball. Figured a couple of screens, even if we don’t break one loose, would scare them enough to lay back some.
 

alentrekin

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I know what you’re saying, I just remember Duke when they had Cash and VT when they had Kyle Fuller firing them all game and wrecking havoc on our offense. They disrupted the mesh and didn’t give us enough time to throw the ball. Figured a couple of screens, even if we don’t break one loose, would scare them enough to lay back some.
Screening an overload blitz up the middle is dangerous with a 5' 10" under center QB. I like the crack RT and the belly/G series to slow that stuff down, and we have the guards to do it well. Against Army, Duke played a lot of 7 man fronts. If they do that against us, we'll bust some big runs up the middle.
 
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Why? Because of history? Times change. They are not the same Duke we made fun of in the 80’s and 90’s. Their administration made a definite an obvious financial commitment to improving the football program and making it respectable. Well they have exceeded that and gone beyond respectable. Their financial commitment exceeds ours.

So let’s stop with the high and mighty attitude. All that talk is in the past.

Let's stop putting Duke on a pedestal and let's stop dancing around the obvious: During CPJ's tenure, Duke has gotten better and we have not. We can try to blame the admin, etc but on gameday, Cutcliffe has outcoached CPJ time and again. Duke's players are not bigger, faster, nor better than ours. We're not comparing ourselves to Clemson here.

Duke's not an easy academic sell to recruits so the 'Recruiting' angle is lost. GA has more, better HS football players. Atlanta is a helluva better town than freaking Durham.

The excuses need to stop. An ***-beating of these jerks on Saturday would be very helpful in dispelling the myth that Duke is some sort of juggernaut. They're not - they just have a damn-good coach who plays in a freaking high-school stadium. OTOH, we have a better stadium but a high-school offense.
 

g0lftime

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I would really like to see a few screen passes this game early to keep them honest about running upfield.
We haven't run the screen well this year. I agree it would be good to burn them with it. Would think it would be good with our linemen but it seems to be too clustered to get into the secondary.
 

Whiskey_Clear

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Duke is doing what they need to be competitive. It’s been paying off and will continue to. I think Duke is a bigger threat down the road than VPI.

edit: And when you attempt to label our offense as a high school offense you lose all credibility.
 

AlabamaBuzz

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Let's stop putting Duke on a pedestal and let's stop dancing around the obvious: During CPJ's tenure, Duke has gotten better and we have not. We can try to blame the admin, etc but on gameday, Cutcliffe has outcoached CPJ time and again. Duke's players are not bigger, faster, nor better than ours. We're not comparing ourselves to Clemson here.

Duke's not an easy academic sell to recruits so the 'Recruiting' angle is lost. GA has more, better HS football players. Atlanta is a helluva better town than freaking Durham.

The excuses need to stop. An ***-beating of these jerks on Saturday would be very helpful in dispelling the myth that Duke is some sort of juggernaut. They're not - they just have a damn-good coach who plays in a freaking high-school stadium. OTOH, we have a better stadium but a high-school offense.


I think you have a point, to a point.

Duke has many more majors to offer, so the academic side is not the same as for a STEM school such as the Institute. I believe Duke has been able to recruit better players in their front 7 D than we have, and I think Cutcliffe and his coaches have done a good job with the players they have gotten.

If we had Duke's defense (their players) the past few years, we would have more wins, in my opinion.
 
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I hope we win by 70 to silence all the Duke praise here. Jesus, we've gone from "OK, we can't hang with Clemson and the factories anymore" to now "We can't keep up with Duke"??? What next - "Wake is actually pretty goddamn good!!"??? I don't give a damn how much Puke spends on its staff - We shouldn't have to resort to excuses to beat 'em! Wallace Wade Stadium is a JOKE. Durham is a hellhole. Duke's got more nerds than we do and just as few attractive women.

God - CPJ has really done a great job of lowering expectations here. This acceptance of mediocrity is a sickness, a malaise that will be more difficult for the next HC to remove than anything related to the scheme itself. Spending more money on Sideline Staff won't remove the stench either. This is the attitude of too many of our fans now. CPJ or the next HC need to start whipping some *** NOW.
 

RamblinCharger

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Duke really gets on my nerves. I hope we beat them to sleep Saturday. Unfortunately, I imagine it'll be a close game, but I have more faith in our Defense than in years past and I think we win by 7.
 
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