Bowl-bound Duke can learn a lot from Miami loss
Miami's Duke Johnson runs for a touchdown during the Hurricanes' 52-45 win over Duke on Saturday, November 24, 2012 in Durham, NC (Photo by Jack Morton).
Nov 24, 2012
When Duke head coach David Cutcliffe came out of the halftime locker room Saturday, facing a 28-10 deficit, he was visibly upset and made that known to the interviewing reporter on the broadcast. It was one of the most outward displays of frustration many have seen from the generally even-mannered Blue Devils head coach.
His points were valid. The team was not holding blocks, staying true to assignments, making key reads or really much of anything right.
Cutcliffe's staff was equally to blame, though, and he knew that as well. At halftime the stat sheet was essentially equal for the two teams, but a failed fake punt and a failed on-side kick attempt were virtual alley-oops for Miami's offense.
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In response to their leader’s emotion, the Duke players responded – and then fell apart – and then responded again. After spotting Miami a 14-0 lead, Duke pulled within one score four different times, but fell behind by three scores twice and could not so much as draw even in a 52-45 loss at Wallace-Wade Stadium.
The adage, whether you buy into it or not, states that, ‘More can be learned from a loss than a win.’ I don’t know if Saturday is entirely at that level, but many things were visible for Duke that should help them in their impending bowl game and into the future.
First off, team speed is an issue. This is something that the Hurricanes were able to expose time and time again. Five Hurricanes scoring drives were four plays or less and three of those ended with touchdown plays of 65 yards or greater.
When your team is not as fast as your opponent, two fundamental things need to happen: coaches need to call plays that don’t allow for the other team to get behind the last level and players cannot miss the initial tackle. Looking at Stephen Morris’ 14.8 yards per completion and seeing the back-to-back touchdowns by Duke Johnson and Mike James of 65 and 72 yards, respectively, neither of those two things happened.
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A second lesson learned: just because you have fallen behind does not mean you need to abandon the run.
Yes, Sean Renfree threw the ball an eye-popping 59 times Saturday and was effective with 432 yards and four touchdowns. However, one of the biggest plays of the game was a 37-yard Jela Duncan run in the third quarter. That was a momentum play that preceded a 23-yard touchdown pass to Jamison Crowder and pulled Duke within a touchdown.
In all, Duke ran the ball 32 times - roughly one-third of their 94 plays that register in the box score – and put up 151 yards.
Of course, that all changes when the deficit is three scores, but when Duke was hanging around, their balance proved to be effective.
And speaking of balance, the Blue Devils found balance among their wide receivers that, moving forward, should be a nice recipe for success.
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Step one: get Connor Vernon involved early. The all-time ACC leader in receptions and yards made seven of his 11 receptions in the first half – four of those were either third or fourth down conversions. The rest of the team accounted for just two third-down conversions through the air and caught a combined 11 balls in the first two quarters.
Step two: once Vernon has drawn the attention of the opposition, get Crowder involved. In the second half, Crowder caught six balls, including a 99-yard touchdown reception where the closest defender was 15 yards away. Crowder finished with 203 receiving yards and two touchdowns on the game – only 10 of those yards came in the first half.
Step three: with the wide outs creating havoc, get the backs and underneath receivers involved. On Duke’s final scoring drive that covered 70 yards in less than three minutes, Desmond Scott, David Reeves, Duncan and Juwan Thompson all had at least one catch. That group combined to have six fourth-quarter receptions.
There are more problems with Duke than these few items and there are more bright spots too. Now Duke, who has lost four in a row and five of their last six, will have a month to examine all of them as they prepare for their first bowl game since 1994.
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RE: Bowl-bound Duke can learn a lot from Miami loss
- Posted by SilentSamthey should have show some real class and turn down any participation in a post season bowl.
Showing "real class" has never been much of a strong suit for dook.
Good luck in the sub-Tire Bowl lolol
Says a fan of 1 of the dirtiest athletic departments in the history of college athletics. Have fun in your bowl game... Wait a second, you support a bunch of cheaters and can't go to a bowl. Its funny that you cheat and still couldn't beat this Duke team who is going to a bowl game by winning the right way.
Posted Nov 25, 12:00 p.m.
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RE: Bowl-bound Duke can learn a lot from Miami loss
Duke should go to a bowl game. They should be able to sell 500 to 1000 tickets if the game is in Charlotte. The rest of the tickets can be bought by the Iron Dookies. If they go to the Military Bowl in Washington they could sell a lot more tickets, since New Jersey is closer to Washington than Charlotte. They could be going to the Independence Bowl, which would mean only family members of the team would go.RE: Bowl-bound Duke can learn a lot from Miami loss
the only problem is most Bowls make you commit to a guarantee of 10-12,000 tickets sales if you dont sell them you pay for them im not sure Duke can sell that many Tixs except maybe the Belk Bowl and that is iffey Bowls look at things like this nowI can't imagine Duke not accepting a bowl bid. No matter where the bowl is, Duke will welcome it with open arms, as they should! Those kids have worked so hard, and Coach Cut has proven what a remarkable coach he is. A bowl is the reward that both coaches and players have worked so hard to achieve, and I wish Duke the best in their bowl.- Posted by jgunn
RE: Bowl-bound Duke can learn a lot from Miami loss
I can't imagine Duke not accepting a bowl bid. No matter where the bowl is, Duke will welcome it with open arms, as they should! Those kids have worked so hard, and Coach Cut has proven what a remarkable coach he is. A bowl is the reward that both coaches and players have worked so hard to achieve, and I wish Duke the best in their bowl.- Posted by jgunn
Well said, jgunn. The effort involved does get overlooked.
RE: Bowl-bound Duke can learn a lot from Miami loss
- Posted by Dr. FeelgoodLower tier bowls end up costing schools money, due to having to but a certain amount of tix, costs to practice, travel, etc. However, Duke should go and represent and they do deserve it. They beat my Heels in a hard fought game and they played to win. Quite a bit of heart with that team, and heart should always be rewarded.- Posted by rfred16Not sure Duke should be going to a bowl this year. Yeah yeah, they're bowl eligble, i get that. But, considering how their season got a reality check and we began to see the Duke of old, they should have show some real class and turn down any participation in a post season bowl. Duke's football program has indeed shown some improvement, but they're not quite there yet...and certainly not ready for any post season play.- Posted by JohnnyVoodoo
Not so sure it was a reality check, as they had the toughest schedule in the ACC, finishing with FSU, Clemson, Ga Tech, and Miami....They beat UNC and Virginis, who both beat Miami, and of course today only lost to Miami by a TD...Regardless of whether they deserve it or not, they would be doing a disservice to the team/program by turning a bowl down, as coaches always talk about the benefit of the additional (15+) practices a team gets by playing in a bowl. That is like adding an additional spring practice to the year for the team.....it can't hurt, Duke needs it, and if they show well in the bowl, all the better...
True, Doc...it's been a while & Duke could use a bowl bid at this point. Best of luck to Cut & the Duke players.
