Duke opens ACC play

Time to turn some losing streaks into winning streaks

What we have is a failure to communicate.

No, I didn’t watch Cool Hand Luke this weekend, although there are worse ways to spend a couple of hours.

And no, I’m not equating anyone associated with last Saturday’s Duke-Kansas football game with a sadistic prison boss.

But the thought crossed my mind in the post-game media Zoom when Duke coach Mike Elko, quarterback Riley Leonard and safety Darius Joiner all referenced communication issues as a major contributory to Duke’s 35-27 loss.

Joiner even said that Duke’s defense was “keeping secrets.”

Lots of communication goes on during a football game.  Coordinators in the press box relay their calls to the sideline, who relay them to the players, who may have to adjust in real time based on what the other team does.  If 10 players get it right and one player doesn’t, it blows up in a hurry.

Now add a new coaching staff and schemes and take the show on the road in front of a large, loud, hostile crowd and you can see the potential for some communication miscues, especially when Duke’s defense is facing an offense that always seems to have a man in motion.

Elko addressed those concerns in Monday’s media conference.

“I just think we’re playing this thing together for the first time,” he said, “so every game we’re getting put in situations we haven’t seen before as a unit.”

Defense?

“These kids in the secondary, a lot of them are first-time starters. The ones that transferred in that are experienced starters have never started at Duke and have never played with the guys that they’re playing with. I think what he [Joiner] meant by ‘keeping secrets’ is that we’re not verbalizing with each other. If you and I have to get on the same page and I just assume we’re on the same page and I don’t talk to you, then there’s a chance we’re not on the same page because you may think one thing and I may think another and we don’t get it right.”

Offense? “It was loud. We knew it was going to be loud. We practiced for it to be loud. But it’s the first time our group has played in a loud environment like that. It’s the first time we’ve gone on the road in a really competitive football game in a while in a full football stadium that was trying to effect the game.”

Presumably an issue that will get better with time and experience. And Duke may not face a crowd as big as the one Duke faced in Lawrence. Duke’s remaining road games are at Georgia Tech, Miami, Pittsburgh and Boston College, none of which are likely to have a full house approaching 50,000 for a non-rivalry opponent like Duke.

Which brings us to Saturday night, a 7:30 kickoff for Virginia. Duke has a 13-game ACC losing streak that includes a 48-0 thumping last season in Charlottesville.

That win brought Bronco Mendenhall to 7-0 against Duke. But Mendenhall stepped down after the season and was replaced by Tony Elliott, another first-time head coach. In fact, Elliott was on Duke’s short list. Or Duke was on Elliott’s short list.  

In the time-honored tradition of head coaches from time immemorial Elko made Virginia sound like the 1972 Miami Dolphins.

“I think they’re an exceptionally talented offense. They have a lot of options. They have skill players. They have weapons on offense and they certainly have our attention. Defensively, I think they’re one of the most improved defenses in the country. They’re doing a really good job with their scheme, I think they know what they want to do, their kids are playing very fast and very physical.”

Long bodies in the secondary, quick-twitch athletes along the defensive line, play-makers on offense. You get the drift.

The reality has been something less imposing, at least on offense. Virginia has wins over Richmond and Old Dominion and losses to Syracuse and Illinois, the latter a 24-3 setback.

But make no mistake, Virginia quarterback Brennan Armstrong is a stud.

Elko’s assessment of the senior left-hander.

“He throws the ball really well. He’s got a really elite wrist. The ball comes out of his hand with a really tight spiral and he throws it on time. We have to do a much better job up front of disrupting the quarterback, getting into throw windows, pressuring him, making him uncomfortable back there. We’ve got to be able to change the looks up a little bit so he’s not getting the same clear picture.”

And Armstrong has weapons, running back Perris Jones and receiver Keytaon Thompson among them.

So, why isn’t Virginia lighting up the scoreboard? Well, they lost their entire starting offensive line for one thing and fixing that isn’t an overnight thing.

But their defense is for real. Elko called linebacker Nick Jackson one of the best linebackers in the country and tackle Chico Bennett was just named ACC defensive lineman of the week after notching two sacks in Virginia’s 22-20 loss to Syracuse.

But Jackson will miss the first half of the Duke game after a targeting call in the Syracuse game.

There’s another fly in the ointment. Hurricane Ian is still five or so days away and there are a lot of scenarios. But some of them have Duke and Virginia playing in some pretty gnarly weather.

“We certainly will take preparations for the worst-case scenario. Wet ball work will be incorporated into practice this week and making sure we have a plan if the weather doesn’t allow us to execute as we’re accustomed to.”

Elko said there was a lot of good things to build around from the Kansas game, including Duke’s refusal to get blown out. But he repeated what he said Saturday, which is that Duke isn’t looking for moral victories. Competing hard is great but competing hard with better execution is greater.

And better communication is always a good thing.

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Some business talk. It’s going to be October soon and I’ll be introducing some premium options later this week. Nothing too pricey. More like burgers and fries for the family. And, yes, I will continue to have free content and yes, I will continue to cover football, even when hoops starts.

And I still want to grow my subscriber base. If you’re a Duke fan, you know other Duke fans, who know other Duke fans and we all know how compound interest works. So, spread the word.

It’s not always easy being a Duke fan surrounded by all those large, state-supported universities. I’m still figuring out how all this works but I’m certain we can build a vibrant Duke community here.