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Virginia Tech at Duke, 11/15, Noon (TV: ESPNU)

DrKlahn

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The Duke football team, who apparently will never lose another football game again, will be playing the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University on Saturday afternoon in Durham. Virginia Tech is probably good enough to give Duke fits for about 47 minutes before some weird shit happens and Duke ends up winning. Discuss the game here.
 
That would be so outlandish. I would legitimately start to think of Duke as a national player if something like that happened (unless most of that came on turnovers and botched punts and the like).

Most likely this is a pick em game with Va Tech holding a lot of advantages (rest, urgency, talent). The last doesn't bother me but the first two do.
 
It's interesting that you feel this way, Klahn. I think we all suffer a hangover from the last 30 years of Duke football that insulates us from the concept that Duke is good at football and that they should beat teams like VPISU. Tech was better last year and Duke beat them.

Duke just has to continue to take advantage of the demise of Uva, Wake and NCSU; the Bowdenish/Kish downturn in Beamer's career; the inability of Georgia Tech to field a modern football program; the imminent UNC death penalty; the gift of adding Syracuse and Pitt to the Atlantic Division; and not having to play Clemson, FSU and Louisville annually.

Seems like a pretty fortuitous path to bowl games. IMO, Miami is the only real rising program in the Atlantic other than Duke. If Cut can recruit at 60% of the level of Miami, Duke is in fantastic shape for the next decade or so.
 
VT has been eliminated from the Coastal race. They're the only one.

Duke should be favored by 7-8 but bettors have shown all this season and last that they enjoy burning money betting against Duke. I'd guess the line settles at 3-4.

The final 3 games should be a coronation for Duke football, but that sounds hilariously stupid.
 
Opened at 7. Down to 6 per Keeley.
 
Sagarin has Duke as a 5.5-point underdog to Florida State on a neutral field. That game is so winnable if they can just get there.
 
rhfarmer said:
It's interesting that you feel this way, Klahn. I think we all suffer a hangover from the last 30 years of Duke football that insulates us from the concept that Duke is good at football and that they should beat teams like VPISU. Tech was better last year and Duke beat them.

Duke just has to continue to take advantage of the demise of Uva, Wake and NCSU; the Bowdenish/Kish downturn in Beamer's career; the inability of Georgia Tech to field a modern football program; the imminent UNC death penalty; the gift of adding Syracuse and Pitt to the Atlantic Division; and not having to play Clemson, FSU and Louisville annually.

Seems like a pretty fortuitous path to bowl games. IMO, Miami is the only real rising program in the Atlantic other than Duke. If Cut can recruit at 60% of the level of Miami, Duke is in fantastic shape for the next decade or so.

Well, VT obviously has the talent advantage and I think (without trying to speak for Klahn) that's probably the biggest factor in feeling like perhaps we'll drop this one- it's not so much the failures of the last x number of years. That said, Duke has a lot going in its favor (momentum, a chance at playing for something big, and what will hopefully be a decent home field advantage). I would be surprised if this was anything other than a close game late. We've found a way to win those more often than not lately. I think this is a blend of luck, maturity and superior coaching.

Duke actually hasn't played really well on both sides of the ball since the Georgia Tech game (save for the last 5-6 minutes), quite honestly. It would be good to have a nice, complete effort next week.

Agree very much on Miami being the biggest long-term threat.
 
StopThePumpFakesShav said:
rhfarmer said:
It's interesting that you feel this way, Klahn. I think we all suffer a hangover from the last 30 years of Duke football that insulates us from the concept that Duke is good at football and that they should beat teams like VPISU. Tech was better last year and Duke beat them.

Duke just has to continue to take advantage of the demise of Uva, Wake and NCSU; the Bowdenish/Kish downturn in Beamer's career; the inability of Georgia Tech to field a modern football program; the imminent UNC death penalty; the gift of adding Syracuse and Pitt to the Atlantic Division; and not having to play Clemson, FSU and Louisville annually.

Seems like a pretty fortuitous path to bowl games. IMO, Miami is the only real rising program in the Atlantic other than Duke. If Cut can recruit at 60% of the level of Miami, Duke is in fantastic shape for the next decade or so.

Well, VT obviously has the talent advantage and I think (without trying to speak for Klahn) that's probably the biggest factor in feeling like perhaps we'll drop this one- it's not so much the failures of the last x number of years. That said, Duke has a lot going in its favor (momentum, a chance at playing for something big, and what will hopefully be a decent home field advantage). I would be surprised if this was anything other than a close game late. We've found a way to win those more often than not lately. I think this is a blend of luck, maturity and superior coaching.

Duke actually hasn't played really well on both sides of the ball since the Georgia Tech game (save for the last 5-6 minutes), quite honestly. It would be good to have a nice, complete effort next week.

Agree very much on Miami being the biggest long-term threat.

If you look at the games purely from a talent gap, then we should all expect Duke to lose weekly after week 4.
 
I'm not that worried about the talent difference. Clearly if that was everything then Miami and VT would be 1/2 in the Coastal every year. This just feels like a bad spot in the schedule for Duke (looking ahead) and a good one for VT (rested, desperate). The general recruiting advantage that VT has over Duke is just a throw-in.

Point is, a repeat of the Miami game from last year (same weekend, similar scenario but without the scheduling quirks) would be really really impressive.
 
rhfarmer said:
StopThePumpFakesShav said:
rhfarmer said:
It's interesting that you feel this way, Klahn. I think we all suffer a hangover from the last 30 years of Duke football that insulates us from the concept that Duke is good at football and that they should beat teams like VPISU. Tech was better last year and Duke beat them.

Duke just has to continue to take advantage of the demise of Uva, Wake and NCSU; the Bowdenish/Kish downturn in Beamer's career; the inability of Georgia Tech to field a modern football program; the imminent UNC death penalty; the gift of adding Syracuse and Pitt to the Atlantic Division; and not having to play Clemson, FSU and Louisville annually.

Seems like a pretty fortuitous path to bowl games. IMO, Miami is the only real rising program in the Atlantic other than Duke. If Cut can recruit at 60% of the level of Miami, Duke is in fantastic shape for the next decade or so.

Well, VT obviously has the talent advantage and I think (without trying to speak for Klahn) that's probably the biggest factor in feeling like perhaps we'll drop this one- it's not so much the failures of the last x number of years. That said, Duke has a lot going in its favor (momentum, a chance at playing for something big, and what will hopefully be a decent home field advantage). I would be surprised if this was anything other than a close game late. We've found a way to win those more often than not lately. I think this is a blend of luck, maturity and superior coaching.

Duke actually hasn't played really well on both sides of the ball since the Georgia Tech game (save for the last 5-6 minutes), quite honestly. It would be good to have a nice, complete effort next week.

Agree very much on Miami being the biggest long-term threat.

If you look at the games purely from a talent gap, then we should all expect Duke to lose weekly after week 4.

Yeah, certainly. I guess what I'm saying is that we've been able to overcome that talent gap with maturity, good coaching and some luck. And if you take the luck piece out, you have to hope the other two are enough to push us over the top against teams with a distinct advantage like VT. I'm less worried about the ball not bouncing our way against Wake for example.
 
The whole talent gap thing is an interesting thing to think about... "talent". I generally just use HS offers and ratings as proxy, because that usually works itself out pretty well over the course of an entire team, but like, our entire non-Cash starting secondary had one combined P5 offer. A guy with the size, length, and athleticism of Borders, for example, should probably be considered one of the more "talented" DBs in the ACC. Same with Blakeney at receiver.

Sort of a similar situation with the OL, too... I mean, Skura was a garbage recruit, but now he's a 6'4 305 C who seems to move pretty well. Is there really a talent gap between him and FSU's 6'3 285 starting C?

DL and LB are a different story, as are some other spots here and there, but overall it's a little more blurry to me now than it was a couple years ago. Maybe we've just recruited and developed well enough that our personnel is starting to stack up reasonably well in a lot of spots. I want to believe...
 
That's a good point. By "talent" I am really referring to the raw physical tools (size, physicality, athleticism) that separates NFL guys from elite college guys, elite college from the rest of FBS, FBS from FCS, etc.
 
Speaking as someone who once had a raw, physical tool, once I acquired some quality coaching that I trusted, I was able to develop a far more impressive skill set, and played with far more confidence.
 
rhfarmer said:
Speaking as someone who once had a raw, physical tool, once I acquired some quality coaching that I trusted, I was able to develop a far more impressive skill set, and played with far more confidence.
I bet you've had a raw tool.
 
I looked up VT's stats and was sure that I'd fine them to be among the top defenses in the country in yards per carry allowed. Nope. 80th in the country, giving up 4.6 ypc (same as Duke).

Worth noting that Duke's mediocre to poor offensive performances this season (UVA, Syracuse, Miami) have come against the 18th, 13th and 24 ranked rush defenses in ypc and their above average offensive performances (Pitt and GT) have come against the 87th and 107th ranked teams in this category. I was not feeling great about this game but this stat is a positive.
 
I've enjoyed this season so much that I'm still pinching myself at how good this season has been. It's still surreal to see Duke football in the top 25 and what Cutcliffe, his staff and players have done to this point. I want it to continue!

A win this week would go a long way towards a second straight division title.
 
I have a good feeling about the atmosphere of this game. I think the fan base will show up big on Saturday.

I think Duke will play well. Not sure if it will be enough to win. VT makes me nervous. Hopefully they won't be able to overcome the play-calling of Loeffler.
 
Getting to the stadium at 10am. Already preparing myself for testicular retraction due to the cold.
 

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