#64 Duke Blue Devils |
#10 in ACC |
It’s hard to believe, but David Cutcliffe is entering his thirteenth season as the Duke head football coach, making him the dean of the ACC, and one of just 8 Power Five coaches to be at their current schools for over a decade. He’s already the third longest tenured coach in school history, and just three years away from catching Wallace Wade, for whom Duke’s stadium is named after. Granted his .476 winning percentage, and 76 wins, compared to Wade’s .742 and 110, suggest that name won’t be getting chiseled off any time soon. Nobody is pretending Duke’s money base cares about football, but the fact that he’s getting a thirteenth year with a sub-.500 record is actually fairly remarkable, considering Dave Clawson at Wake Forest and Derek Mason at Vanderbilt (both hired in 2014), are the only other Power Five coaches with more than four years below .500. In fairness, the Blue Devils have had a winning record in five of the past seven seasons, after having five in the previous thirty-eight, including none in the prior 18. But, since that 2013 season, where they played in the ACC Championship, getting blown out by eventual national champion Florida State, they’ve only finished with a winning ACC record once. They’ve scheduled wins, going 22-6 in non-conference play, without beating a single ranked out of conference foe in Cutcliffe’s entire tenure (including bowls), with last year’s blowout loss to Alabama being their only scheduled opportunity. That made me sort of curious, and Duke’s last win over a ranked non-conference opponent happened in 1971, when they did it twice, beating #19 South Carolina at home, and #10 Stanford (who went on to win their second consecutive Rose Bowl) in Palo Alto. Anyway, point is, you’ve been around as long as Cutcliffe, you know what you need to do, and that is to schedule your way to bowl eligibility, and have a quarterback. Trying to replace Daniel Jones last year was a disaster, for an acclaimed quarterback coach, such as Cutcliffe. The Blue Devils rolled with fifth year senior Quentin Harris, despite finishing with the second lowest pass efficiency among full time starters, and the second highest interception rate. The fact that Duke didn’t try out any other options, to replace a struggling outgoing senior, in a year where the Blue Devils weren’t going bowling, and put up 17 points or fewer in four consecutive games in late October/early November, tells you all you need to know about the other options. So, he went out and got Chase Brice, who, while not overly experienced, was one of the most sought after transfer quarterbacks on the market. They did waste a top 20 special teams unit, and while returner Damond Philyaw-Johnson returns, after finishing second in the ACC in kick return yardage, with a pair of touchdowns, they have to replace both their kicker and punter, due to a transfer and a graduation respectively. If Philyaw-Johnson can translate that to his performance, that would be a big help, after tight end Noah Gray was their most consistent option last year. The defensive line should be strong, but the back seven, losing their two strongest tacklers, looks to be a major problem. Looks to be more of the same from Duke, fundamentally sound, well, coached, three cupcake non-conference opponents, but at a talent deficit. Qualifying that with the fact that if Bryce takes off, Cutcliffe has proven what he can do with good quarterback play.
| KEY PLAYERS |
WR | Damond Philyaw-Johnson, Junior |
TE | Noah Gray, Senior |
C | Jack Wohlabaugh, Senior |
| . |
DE | Victor Dimukeje, Senior |
DE | Chris Rumph II, Junior |
S | Marquis Waters, Senior |