Mark Watson
Duke hopes to avenge an opening day loss to Richmond when they take the field against Army this Saturday. In order to do that, Duke must establish a more consistent rushing game in that they rank 109th in the nation after a paltry 19 yard effort in their 24-16 opening day loss to Richmond.
To do so, Duke will have to get more consistent play from a very young offensive front that lacks experience. Only two of the starters have played significant minutes coming into the season and one freshman starts.
If the rushing game can improve, the Duke offense could be formidable, for senior quarterback Thaddeus Lewis threw for 350 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The 350 yards was the fourth highest total in college football in week one.
One of Lewis’s key targets this past Saturday was Johnny Williams, a sophomore wideout that is sure to be a go-guy all season long. Williams pulled in his first collegiate touchdown against Richmond on 7 catches for 115 yards.
There were other bright spots on offense, namely true freshman Conner Vernon who hauled in 4 passes for 48 total yards in his debut. Another freshman, Tyree Watkins added 3 catches for 31 yards, meaning the newcomers averaged just over 11 yards per catch.
The Duke defense allowed just 282 yards to a veteran Richmond team now ranked number one in the country in the FCS poll. While that looks good on the surface, the defense created no turnovers.
The real killer for Duke on opening day was their lack of execution in special teams play. Richmond blocked a punt recovering it for a touch down just minutes into the game. Add that to two Nick Maggio missed field goals and you have a 12 point swing.
Duke coach David Cutcliffe made it clear after the game on Saturday that he was disappointed in the effort and execution. The second year coach knows that these are the kinds of games his team needs to win and had just a few plays gone right on Saturday Duke would head to Army 1-0. You can hear Coach Cut’s audio comments at bluedevilnation.net.
This weekends opponent, the Army Cadets, opened their season with a win over a favored Eastern Michigan team on the road and they appear to be rejuvenated by new head coach Rick Ellerson. The Blue Devils have been watching film of his former team, Cal-Poly, in an effort to be ready.
Coming into the season Duke figured to be the favorite in West Point, but Army is a 2.5 point choice mid week. This will also be the Devils first game on artificial turf this season. For the record, they play on turf at Kansas the following week, making it the only two times off grass this season.
I expect that the Blue Devils will bounce back this week and that they’ll go on the road and win at Army but only if they come more prepared to play.
Great win for Duke! OL seemed to execute better when Renfree was in there. Hope they can carry the momentum into a very tough road game at KU!