8-1 and Unhappy: Initial Reactions from Durham

I just returned home from a weekend in the North Carolina Triangle. This was my second game down at Duke, and both have been causes of anxiety that I didn't anticipate upon arrival.

I can say, Wallace Wade certainly gives a unique opportunity for Hokie fans to see their team up close. My tickets were literally in the first row of section 12, along the Hokie sideline in the end zone. We had a great view of Josh Oglesby's 2nd quarter touchdown run, and most of the 4th quarter was played right in front of us. Sadly, much of the first half was played at the other end of the field, and in the 3rd quarter, the jackasses at the "ACC Network" put their on field boom right in front of us, and our screams of "we paid for these tickets <expletive deleted>" didn't seem to move the producers.

Again, the same themes emerged, good and bad. Because I had a poor angle for parts of the game, so I will withhold full analysis until I watch the replay.

Offensive Identity

This performance really highlighted the same offensive issues I have harped upon all year. The first half featured an excellent mix of run and pass, mostly under center with the Hokies using the I and single back. The Hokies effectively ran the ball and used play action, but the old bugaboos reared their head. First, running in short yardage was a challenge (more on that in a minute, as TheKeyPlay did a terrific job of breaking down a second half play.) Second, the Hokies repeatedly got ahead of the sticks, allowing for 2nd and short plays where they did not take advantage, and third, they were careless with the football (see evaluation.) Also, the Hokies (from my vantage point) seemed MUCH more successful running straight ahead out of those sets, with the occasional stretch play, but at least one stretch play a series put them behind the sticks because Duke's penetration put them in an awkward down and distance. Nevertheless, I was confident at the half that the Hokies had a gameplan and the athletes to put the ball in the endzone. Then, O'Cainspring struck.

After only featuring the shotgun on passing downs in the first half, the Hokies came out and ran their zone-read series exclusively the first two series of the second half. When they lined up for shotgun on the first play, I made a snide remark to one of my buddies about how the Hokies again were getting away from something that was working. I am fine with using the shotgun package, but why run that as your base offense for two series after you didn't run it the whole game? PICK SOMETHING AND GET GOOD AT IT. Those two short posessions changed the momentum of the game, and the Hokie offense never really recovered their rythmn. Also, the second half featured much more shotgun and wide zone stretch plays and sweeps. The quick hitting dives and power plays which were effective in the 2nd half of the BC game and seemed to be working in the first half were gone. The I formation and split pro gave way to numerous variations of the bubble screen, which Duke was keyed on taking away. Even worse, the Hokies again didn't take advantage of numerous 2nd and 3rd in shorts. I love David Wilson's effort, but on short yardage, get upfield. He is too hard to tackle to keep trying to bounce plays when he needs 2 and can get three by hitting the hole hard. At the same time, the offensive line is better coming off the ball rather than moving laterally.

Also, how many zone plays (stretch plays where the Hokies did not pull a guard) had HUGE holes backside, but Wilson seems incapable of planting his outside foot and hitting the backside gap. Such fundamentals are a staple of the stretch zone offense, and Duke's best running plays featured such reads and cutbacks. I will use my film study to better evaluate the OL, but it sure looked like the holes were there often and not taken advantage of.

Quarterbacking/Passing Game

Logan regressed a bit this game. The first interception was a complete misread. He didn't see the safety, and even if the safety was in the porta-potty taking a dump, the pass would have hit the Duke corner in his stomach. The second pick was a TERRIFIC playcall, and Randall Dunn was wide open, but Logan (as he did numerous times early in the year) seemed to try to arch the deepball rather than lead the receiver and he threw it short. Dunn didn't help him out by doing a weak impression of a defensive back on the short throw. Logan had some VERY impressive throws in the first half, but his confidence wavered in the second half. He held onto the ball a long time, and ran several times when guys were open. He also didn't stretch the field as much. It wasn't as bad as East Carolina, but it had similarities. I couldn't tell how much his receivers were helping him, but guys were open and made plays in the first half. Also, he has to protect the football. The last offensive play of the half was horrible by Beamer, and worse in execution by Logan. The Hokies are lucky that they play didn't cost them the game.

Chris Drager continues to immerge as a weapon. Danny Coale vanished after his big catch, so I wonder if the injury impacted him. Boykin was ok, but he received most of the attention by the Duke secondary. Marcus Davis wasn't targeted, nor was DJ Coles. Logan has to get them involved, especially Coles.

Special Teams

Even when the Hokies offense was rolling, the special teams put them in bad situations all game. We have focused on the poor punting (again terrible) and erratic placekicking, but the coverage teams have been below average this season, and the return teams have been abysmal. I can't remember a Hokie team worse on kickoff returns, which is even more vexing given that the kickoff return team was terrific last year. I have often defended Beamer's effort to focus on setting up returns for Jayron Hosley, but ACC opponents have circumvented Hosley through rugby style and directional kicking. How long has it been since they blocked a kick in a meaningful game? I don't see that ace, that electric effort on the special teams that we have seen in the past.

Defense

The Duke offense, when properly quarterbacked, is a difficult offense for the Hokies to deal with. The Duke offense picked on the Hokies man coverage, especially Eddie Whitley and Jayron Hosley, the entire game. Hosley looked uncomfortable and was turned inside out by Vernon over and over again, and he got away with 3 additional pass interference calls where he grabbed at the Duke player's thighpads. Whitley has really struggled over the last couple of weeks. You should expect more from a 4 year starter. I thought Exum was excellent, Hill was solid, and Kyle Fuller was tremendous. The hit on Renfree to stop the last serious Duke threat was probably the easiest play Fuller made all day except that it was in such a big spot. Fuller isn't quite the same level of cover guy, but he has a bit of Brandon Flowers in him.

The front seven really left me scratching my head. I thought Luther Maddy played well, but this time Corey Marshall barely got on the field, even on passing downs the Hokies went with the ineffective 50 look (which for whatever reason doesn't seem to have much blitzing.) I believe Marshall got two series and Hamlette got one. DHop seemed to struggle from my angle. It seemed like he lost gap control on several of the better Duke runs. JR Collins got more pass rush this game with Gayle back, but he also has been burned on the same zone cutback play that he was an absolute ace on earlier this season. James Gayle was an upgrade over Tyrell Wilson, but he still isn't getting pressure (and hasn't gotten much besides Clemson, Marshall, and Appy State.) The Hokies don't blitz as effectively with Rivers, who dropped back into zones much more than Taylor. Edwards doesn't seem to be sent as much, and he again was good when unblocked and struggled when blocked.

I noticed very little of the backups, but I constantly wondered why there was almost no DL rotation.

Humorous Observations

The crowd was 50% Hokie, if not more.

The Duke band warmed up in front of us before the half. That was almost worth the price admission. If the chants, rampant acne, and sheer nerdiness were not hilarity personified, having the acroynm "Duke University Marching Band" (DUMB) took the taco.

I need to figure out a way to do a Hokies NC State followed by a Hurricanes game doubleheader. Hitting up the Canes vs the Blackhawks game the night before softened some of the sour taste the next day.

Duke's team wasn't that bad. If they had any way of getting a higher quality of athletes, their coaching staff could get them to do some damage in the ACC. They had the same trouble finishing drives that VT did, but they were VERY well prepared and they picked on the same Hokie weaknesses that we have been observing. Miami and BC didn't.