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2013 schedule

In all seriousness, the worst case scenario for that schedule should be a record of 5-7. If we go worse than that, then some should have their resume ready. I hardly believe that will happen, but 6-6 should be more than attainable.

Realistic (meaning not going undefeated) best case scenario is probably a 9-3 record in the regular season. We are still far away from getting to the double-digit win mark. I also think that we should win our bowl this year if we end up going. Unless we go 9-3 or better I don't think we will get a very big bowl this year. There won't be as much demand for some since we went last year and the 'OMG DUKE IS GOING TO A BOWL' novelty will likely wear off on some of the more casual fans. Lesser bowl usually means easier opponent. Hope I'm wrong though!
 
Is Duke actually better in 2013? I mean, I get that the schedule is soft, but we are losing some real weapons on offense. Plus, it's not an open date for Duke opponents anymore, they will be ready to play.

I'm optimistic as well, but what makes Duke better next year?
 
I know some enjoy this aspect of college football, but I dislike the limited number of games. So little room for error...
 
I think the hope for improvement comes from two main areas:

1. The trenches. Of our entire front 6 depth chart, we only lose one backup LB (Gamble) - everyone else gets a year older and stronger, and we add a couple of guys like Raynor and McDonald who can hopefully make an impact. On the offensive side, we only lose one rotation guy out of all of the OLs/TEs/RBs, and probably add 2 young OLs to the mix that the staff really likes (Skura and Patrick). We also get our best TE back (Deaver) and add a huge, blocking TE from the defensive line (Sink).

2. Change in offensive philosophy. We're moving to a true read-option with Boone and Sirk, and will play a lot of 2-back sets. The running game should be a strength next year, and I think it will make us more consistent and help keep the D off the field.

I think the combination of the two will improve our offense as a whole - we'll lose CV, Scott, and Renfree, but we won't have to lean on a pro-style passing game like we did this year, so IMO it's not as bad as it seems. It would be nice if one of the "on paper" guys like Blakeney or Nash stepped up at WR, but we'll have more sets with only two WRs, and a couple of Braxton, McCaffrey, Barnes and Alls should be decent options.

The secondary is obviously the huge question mark, but I'm pretty optimistic otherwise.
 
dukeberto said:
Realistic (meaning not going undefeated) best case scenario is probably a 9-3 record in the regular season. We are still far away from getting to the double-digit win mark. I also think that we should win our bowl this year if we end up going. Unless we go 9-3 or better I don't think we will get a very big bowl this year. There won't be as much demand for some since we went last year and the 'OMG DUKE IS GOING TO A BOWL' novelty will likely wear off on some of the more casual fans. Lesser bowl usually means easier opponent. Hope I'm wrong though!
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8-4, Meineke Bowl again, simply because that's the easiest one for me to get to.

Just not in sub-40 degree conditions again, please.
 
dukeberto said:
still should be heavily favored
Pitt
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I think you're underestimating Pitt a lot. I would put it in the toss-up category and I would actually even give the edge to Pitt.

Pitt finally has a good coach in Paul Chryst. He was Bret Bielema's OC at Wisky.

And he has recruited good classes at Pitt. I expect Pitt to take a huge step forward this year. Might even be able to reach 10 wins.
 
rhfarmer said:
Is Duke actually better in 2013? I mean, I get that the schedule is soft, but we are losing some real weapons on offense. Plus, it's not an open date for Duke opponents anymore, they will be ready to play.

I'm optimistic as well, but what makes Duke better next year?
Click to expand...

Sorry for taking so long to respond to this post.

I agree with Pantalonio's post regarding trenches and change in offense. I am really excited about our move to the read option. We have a couple of quarterbacks that can run and are proven (Boone and Connette) and apparently Sirk is legit as well. Add that to an impressive running back rotation and there is certainly cause for optimism. What Jela Duncan was able to do last year in terms of running was impressive. Give him the ball as much as possible behind a bigger, faster and deeper O-Line and I think he could be really special. I think we may actually have a 1,000 yard rusher next year. Then add in the fact that we have one proven WR and a couple that show potential and we have a pretty complete offense. (Coach Mo is going to do wonders with Blakeney and Braxton. No more alligator arms, which is really all that Blakeney is missing from becoming a beast of a down the field WR).

Will we score as many points as we did last year? Probably not. If we become a 50-50 offense team our O possessions will be longer and we will rely on a grind it out style of play that is not exactly conducive to high scoring. But I do think we should be around a 25-27 ppg average (We averaged 31.5 last year). This should also help our defense in lowering our points against. Offense keeping the ball away from the other team will be our best defense. I understand the concern with our defense, it was awful for the second half of the season last year. It was very weird because we played pretty well on the defensive side to start the season, even with a plethora of injuries, and then just bombed. Don't know if teams were able to adapt or we just got tired or what happened. Obviously we played some much better teams in the second half of the season.

Anyways, I am not as worried about the secondary as most, just because I think that the freshmen (both redshirt or true) will be serviceable enough, plus we have Ross. I think the Brown brothers will be excellent linebackers and will have serviceable backups. And we should FINALLY have some depth on the DLine. It all starts there. If they can show up like Anunike did last year, I think our defense will be good enough for the offense to win us some games.

As I mentioned in the earlier post, our schedule is favorable. Just the fact that we don't have to play FSU, Clemson, or freaking Alabama or Stanford is an upgrade. Playing against teams coming off bye weeks isn't great, but we'll adapt and survive.

That's why Duke will be better in 2013.
 
After sitting through the Sheriff Franks/Ted Roof eras (bless their hearts), I'm in love with the concept of a defense that gets to rest more than a few snaps at a time.
 
dukeberto said:
aiw said:
Spring game on EPSN3 at 4pm
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Headed out there in a bit. Really wanna see if we stick to the read option
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Im gonna try to watch as much as possible but could you give us updates when you get back?
 
I'm still going through and re-watching it on ESPN3, as I was a little intoxicated Saturday morning after drinking a lot of free Duke-provided beer.

I'm going to focus solely on the first team Offense and Defense. Some things that I remember liking was our commitment to the read option. I will try and get more exact numbers on this but it seemed like at least 80% of the plays Boone ran had some element of the RO.

Was not very happy with the silly turnovers or those ridiculous rainbow fade throws. Boone seemed to be forcing some things rather than taking the easy yardage. That's ok in certain scenarios, but sometimes its a lot better to get three or four yards easily rather than forcing what could be a great play, but is not guaranteed. It changes the way the coordinators will call plays.

The girlfriend got Conner "the Truth" Vernon to sign her number 2 jersey. I think I've taught her well, especially since she's a Georgia grad.
Got to speak to vinny rey for a little while, he's doing really well. Eventually wants to move back to Durham to teach and work with kids.
Also got to buy a game worn black on black helmet. I'm looking forward to putting it in my office somewhere. Eventually want to have one of each helmet.

Pretty damn good crowd there, great decision by the staff on holding the game on alumni weekend.
 
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