Duke football averaged 32.8 points per game last season. That was fifth in the ACC, 32nd in the NCAA, out of 131 teams.
The offense didn’t account for all of them. Sahmir Hagans returned a punt for a touchdown against Georgia Tech, Brandon Johnson had a pick-six against Miami and DeWayne Carter scored on a fumble recovery against North Carolina A&T.
Duke was fourth in total offense in the ACC, third in rushing and eighth in passing. About what you’d expect from a 5-3 ACC team, 9-4 overall.
Is there better this season?
There certainly are reasons to believe so.
One is the increased familiarity with the system by the players being asked to execute it. That’s been perhaps the most prominent theme of fall camp, building on the foundation laid last season in year one.
What has the team learned about Mike Elko?
“Coach Elko will make you the best version of yourself,” Riley Leonard said last Saturday. “He’s constantly coaching everyone on the field. There’s no room for error with him. He’s a very intense guy. Everyone wants to play well for him to make him proud, because he puts so much into this program, we want to pay it back.”
What’s different in year two?
“The biggest difference is just confidence. Last season we were a little bit hesitant at times. This year we’re full speed. Having some wins under your belt, having so many starters back, we’re going at each practice full speed, because we understand what’s at stake.”
There’s also the fact that almost everyone who learned that offense last season is back this season, especially the so-called “skill-position” players.
Let’s go to the scorecard. Leonard took every snap of consequence last season. Henry Beilin IV took some snaps at the end of the North Carolina A&T game and by all accounts he’s much improved this season.
Duke’s top four running backs return. Terry Moore moved over to safety but he was fourth in the rotation. Only two tight ends caught a pass last season and both return. Duke’s top five wide receivers return, although Eli Pancol is going to miss most, even all of the season, with an injury.
I’ll come back to the skill-position folks in a later article.
Because we all know that winning football begins with blocking and tackling and Duke does have some holes to fill on the offensive line.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to JimSumnerSports to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.