0-1 Duke Hosts 0-0 Boston College Saturday, Noon KO

[Inveigle]

Boston College arrives in Durham Saturday with a new Head Coach. Jeff Hafley comes in with no head coaching experience and fresh off a stint as the Ohio State co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach. With an assistant coaching record that has both college and NFL experience, Hafley's reputation for strong defenses and relentless recruiting have Boston College fans believing that better days lie ahead for the football program.

Hafley's task, like those for all college coaching staffs this season, has been compounded by the impact of the coronavirus on their programs. With little to no spring football, a new staff like Boston College, piloted by a brand new head coach, will have its share of growing pains, especially as the 2020 college football season unfolds.

Unlike Boston College, Duke has a veteran coaching staff in place, led by head coach David Cutcliffe. Cutcliffe has 12 years on the job and has earned the respect of college football fans everywhere for making the Blue Devils a competitive unit. In the eight years before Cutcliffe's arrival, Duke only won 10 total games, and Cutcliffe as a 72-80 mark, including 51 wins since 2013.

Also unlike Boston College, Duke comes into this game with some legitimate game experience in 2020, albeit a losing one, having dropped the season opener at Notre Dame, 27-13. Duke was competitive at Notre Dame, actually leading the Fighting Irish 3-0 after the first quarter before Notre Dame took control in the second half.

A bright spot for Duke was the emergence of Clemson transfer quarterback Chase Brice. Brice completed 20-of-27 passes for 259 yards and had a rushing touchdown against the Fighting Irish who are ranked #7 this week.

When Boston College Has the Ball
With an inexperienced quarterback in Notre Dame transfer Phil Jurkovec a possible starter, look for Boston College to rely upon the running game to set the offensive tempo. Junior running back David Bailey had a strong 2019 season platooning with AJ Dillon, who is now earning his keep for the NFL's Green Bay Packers. Bailey ran for 844 yards and 7 touchdowns in 2019, averaging 5.7 yards a carry. Another intriguing offensive weapon to see for the Eagles will be Ohio State transfer Jaelen Gill. Gill is a hybrid running back/wide receiver, and will likely be a weapon for the Eagles in this game.

When Duke Has the Ball
As stated up above, Duke had opportunities against Notre Dame but seemed to run out of gas in the second half. Duke ran a no-huddle offense against the Fighting Irish, and was effective, especially in the first half, when the Blue Devils had a 246-228 yardage advantage. Besides Brice's encouraging play, Duke was helped by a solid performance by Blue Devils senior running back Deon Jackson. Jackson carried 15 times for 52 yards and may be the focal point of the offense as Brice becomes better acclimated to Cutcliffe's offensive scheme.

There is an old axiom in college football that a team will make substantial improvement from the first game to the second game. Considering Duke is playing at home, with an experienced coaching staff, while Boston College is going on the road with an inexperienced coaching staff, the Blue Devils should be able to get themselves into the win column for the first time this season.

The prediction: Duke 20, Boston College 13

 

[sjsj2448]

Damn, I had no idea BC had gotten Jurkovec and Gill. Will be interested to see if Jurkovec is any good, because I know he was rated very highly.

 

[aiw]

ruckus

 

[Devilsforlife]

Must win to have any hope of a 5-6 win season, especially with a trip to UVA looming next weekend.

 

[dukebluedevils05]

I’ve seen enough. Cutcliffe needs to go. This is a poorly coached team against a team with a new staff in their first game.

 

[DurhamSon]

Cut is as washed now as we joke that K is. Without anymore free wins against an even more incompetent Fedora, it’s going to get really ugly by the end of the year.

 

[Devilsforlife]

I was ready for Cut to retire after last year's collapse, but hoped some of the staff changes would improve the team somewhat. They have not. Yet another lifeless performance at home where we looked completely inept for much of the game. 5 turnovers? Fucking pathetic. We need to get a new staff in place before the program is completely bereft of talent and a long and painful rebuild is required.

 

[SeanMayTriedToEatMe]

If only everyone affiliated with Duke had known how awful this season would be. They could’ve easily skipped this season due to COVID.

 

[Devilsforlife]

 

[dukebluedevils05]

The three personal foul penalties in about seven snaps near the end of the first half sealed the deal for me. And not once did Cut go over and chew anybody’s ass out, just kept his lifeless walk along the sideline.

Reassign this buffoon and go get someone young that can inspire these kids to compete harder.

 

[SeanMayTriedToEatMe]

They'll let Cutcliffe coach out his contract. It's unrealistic to expect anything else. We are stuck with a garbage program until then. The Lawson hiring for WBB makes me hopeful for a smart hire on the football side.

 

[Inveigle]

I quit watching at half and started drinking. They simply looked lethargic to begin the game with their first two possessions being three and outs. The turnovers and the 6 or 7 penalties in a row show how undisciplined this team has become. There is way more talent than is being shown. 0-3 conversions when they got in the red zone led to zero points.

“I take full responsibility, I do,” Cutcliffe said in his postgame press conference. “Turnovers, the way our team played, that has to fall on the head coach. We’ve got to be all in, offensively, defensively and in the kicking game for us to be our best.

“That’s two games in, it’s 2020, there’s 10 conference games. Nobody’s going to run from the hard work. We have to stay together in the toughest of times.”

Well we're there Coach. This is the toughest of times and has been the last couple of seasons.

Brice seemed to stare down his receivers and he looked confused on several plays.

“Chase, I’ve got to put in better positions,” Cutcliffe said. “The temptation he’s got to resist is to try and force plays. You can make plays and he’s a playmaker, but you can’t force plays. We need to do a better job of having our receivers and our quarterback on the same page.”

But it wasn’t just Brice. Wide receiver Damond Philyaw-Johnson had the ball yanked out of his hands for a turnover. Running back Deon Jackson fumbled inside the BC 5.

Defensively, the Blue Devils made some good plays. But there was a badly blown coverage in the third quarter that allowed BC receiver Zay Flowers to roam free deep for an easy 61-yard touchdown catch as the Eagles took a 23-6 lead.

Ham missed the extra point on the lone score and he missed a FG. You name it and Duke did it to try and lose this game. I'm very disappointed in their performance today. I don't see them winning a game playing this way moving forward.

“A lot of it was self-inflicted,” Brice said after the game. “We have to be better.”

No shit. A lot better.