Duke Blue Devils

Miami Outlasts Duke in a Shootout

October 3, 2009

Season Report Posted: October 10, 2008 23:33  

Having thought that they exorcised the demons of that made them struggle against the ACC with a win over the Virginia Cavaliers, it appears that the Duke Blue Devils still have a ways to go until they are able to beat teams like the Miami Hurricanes.

While Duke's offense played up to their usual specs, scoring over 40 points in their 5th straight game, the Blue Devils defense is what was an unpleasant surprise. Victor Bonnell assured Durham area fans that his defensive coordinator, David Rogers was a talented defensive mind, despite an attack that was run over by almost everyone in the ACC in 2008. This season, Rogers appeared to have his players buying into the system, and had managed to orchestrate a defensive gameplan that hadn't allowed two touchdowns in a game this season. Miami scored 3 in the first half, enroute to their 58 point explosion.

Duke opened up the scoring, with Travis Cook continuing to look like the ACC's newcomer of the year, and nabbing his first of 3 touchdowns on the way to another 100 yard performance. But as they did for the entire game, Miami answered right back, and had a 10-7 lead heading into the second quarter. The 2nd period is when the scoring really began, with the most impressive "drive" coming with just 45 seconds left until half, and the Blue Devils down 24-21. Three plays later, Duke had a 28-24 lead, and appeared to have the momentum heading into halftime.

Unfortunately for Rogers, Bonnell, and the entire Duke football team, Miami seized all the opportunities after halftime, and by the 4th quarter Duke was scrambling just to stay in the game. A 4th quarter comeback was stopped short mainly because the Blue Devils simply could not find a way to stop the Hurricane's Graig Cooper, whether through the air, or on the ground Cooper was the bain of the existence for Duke. Cooper's 37 yard run with just over 1:51 to go pretty much cemented the 22nd ranked Hurricanes victory.

The loss extended Bonnell's struggles against the ACC, and ranked opponents. Duke is 2-8 against the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1+ years under Bonnell's watch. Bonnell also has failed to manage a victory in 4 outings against Top 25 teams. In individual news, Sean Renfree threw his first two interceptions of the season, and equaled his touchdown pass total from a year ago, with still over half a season to play. Renfree now has 11 TD passes, and 2 INTs on the year, and came just 7 yards short of throwing for 300 yards for the 3rd time this year

2009 Duke Blue Devils preview

August 1, 2009

Season Report Posted: September 27, 2008 07:15  

2nd year man Victor Bonnell knew he had his work cut out for him when he came to Durham. Still, knowing what you face, and actually facing it are two different things. When he had his team at 5-4 with 3 games to go in the season, he probably thought he had a bowl bid all but locked up. 3 straight losses later, Duke was sitting home in December again.

Bonnell has managed to get Duke fans excited about their program again, as witnessed by the uptick in season ticket sales, but he still has a long road to hoe before he can compete in the always difficult ACC

Quarterback
Duke saw three different QB's start for them last season, Zack Asack began the year, but a broken collar bone ended his season about five weeks in. Thadeus Lewis started one game, and then was relegated to the bench as true freshman Sean Renfree was given the keys to the castle, and told the job was his.

This year, Renfree will be the starter out of the gate. If he wants to hold on to his job, he'll need to cut way down on the turnovers, as he had 16 interceptions thrown in just 7 games. Pickoffs were a problem for the entire team, as the Duke quarterbacks threw 31 interceptions, to just 21 touchdowns. Bonnell has said that mistakes like that will not be tolerated this season. Asack will be waiting in the wings should Renfree stumble, but Thadeus Lewis has left the team, meaning that redshirt sophomore, Mike Cappeto, who was the only quarterback on the roster who didn't get a snap last season will be the 3rd stringer this year

Runningbacks
Bonnell is going to be running something he calls the "Spread Plus" which will basically be an offense that spreads the defense out more, and allows for a lot of running. Re'Quan Boyette was getting about 30 carries a game last year before he went down with a broken elbow, and now he's graduated, so the load will be carried by true freshman Troy Cook this time around. Should Cook stay healthy, a 1,000 yard season is almost assuredly in the bank.

Harris will be backed up veterans Jay Hollingsworth and sophomore Pat Kuruwune. Both served as backups who got passed on the depth chart by a cornerback last year, so talent is not abundant in the backfield

Wide receivers & Tightends
Because star receiver Eron Riley missed 7 games, the Duke offense had to adjust and make due without a top notch wideout. Tight end Brandon King was able to rise to the challenge, setting a school record for receptions in a season with 79. King's backup, Brett Huffman was also a high impact pass catcher.

Whether the tight end plays such a key role in the offense hinges on if any of the young receivers can step up and become a go-to threat. While there isn't a senior among them, the receiving corps does have players who saw a lot of action. Josh Trezvant, Austin Kelly, and Jeremy Ringfield all return to battle it out for the #1 spot with true freshman Al Vincent and Cody Goins looking like they could get some snaps.

Offensive Line
Duke quarterbacks were running for their lives more than Bonnell would like to admit. His offensive line was weak at best, bad at worst. He thinks players like Jarrod Holt and Brandon Morgan can step up and give the offensive more time to operate, but that will have to be seen to be believed

Defensive Line
While at times the Duke defensive line was dominant, and proved to be anchor on of the best rush defenses in the country, there were times the pass rush was non-existent. Wes Oglesby, Vince Ogbohaase, and Charlie Hatcher will be counted on to rush the passer better out of defensive coordinator Dave Roger's 3-4 defense. Ogbohaase has been named a pre-season All-American after a stellar overrall 2008 season

Linebackers
Vincent Rey returns after being the bain of many an offense's existence. At times Rey was so all over the field, that opposing QB's would actually seem shocked to see him pop up as he got a sack, or picked off a pass. The rest of the linebacker crew is extremely untested, and depth is an issue. Rogers' 3-4 scheme is dependent on good linebacker play so players like 1st year starter Clifford Respress will have to step up big time.

Defensive Backs
Duke lead the nation in interceptions last season thanks to a secondary that held their own quite well even when they weren't forcing turnovers. The Blue Devils ranked just 79th against the pass, but some of that was thanks to a run defense that forced opponents to pass more than they would have liked.

Leon Wright is back, and he will focus solely on defense after filling in admirably as a runningback after Boyette went down last year. Catron Gailey is also returning as a starter, and while the strong safety and other cornerback postions will be filled by first time starters, they aren't neophytes to the field. This will definitely be the strength of a very good defense.

Special Teams
Duke's kicking game was a strength of the team last year, as Joe Surgan missed just two field goals all season, and averaged 43 yards per punt as well. Two new starters will take on his roles, and this area of special teams could take a step backwards

Duke's return game last year wasn't particularly memorable in any way, and several players will be given the opportunity to change that this year

Outlook
Duke won more games than they have in 15 years in 2008, and a good recruiting class mixed in with talented underclassmen means that the Blue Devils could be staring down a bowl bid. However, the schedule gets harder this season, including an opener at Notre Dame and #12 Florida State replacing sad sack North Carolina State on the conference schedule. Ordinarily, a repeat of 5 wins might be considered a success, but the Dukies fans got so close to a postseason last year, that they are going to expect to taste a bowl game this season. If Bonnell can get them there, he'll start to be mentioned along the likes of Steve Spurrier. If they have another losing season, he'll be compared to Ted Roof.