Before you ask, Riley Leonard is day-to-day. So is Myles Jones.
That’s going into Duke’s biggest football game in years, Saturday at Louisville.
Yes, I realize this is the fourth game-of-a-generation Duke has had this season.
Mike Elko told the media today that is a consequence of all the work Duke has done to get where it is now.
“That’s really hard to simulate,” he said of the FSU environment, “how much it feels frenetic when they start making plays in that type of environment and that’s something we probably haven’t experienced before. Certainly a lesson we’ll learn because we’re going to go right back out in that environment again this weekend.
“That’s kind of the nature of what these kids have built, the hard work they’ve put in. They’ve now created these games and these matchups that are in prime slots, that are on national television, that are drawing huge crowds and that’s just a different experience for them to go through on the road.”
As disappointing as Saturday’s loss was Duke still controls its ACC destination. Florida State is 5-0 in the ACC and barring an unfathomable collapse, they’ll be in Charlotte for the ACC title game.
Duke, Louisville, UNC and Virginia Tech all have one ACC loss. The Hokies appear to be something of an outlier. They are 3-4 overall and their two ACC wins are against Pittsburgh and Wake Forest, who have a combined 2-6 ACC record. Tech’s remaining schedule is pretty meh but road tests at Louisville and Boston College and a home game against NC State look like they may be beyond their grasp.
Assuming VT doesn’t make me out to be a liar, Duke can clinch a shot in Charlotte by running the table. But that would require road wins against Louisville and UNC, sandwiched around a home game next Thursday against Wake Forest, with Virginia and Pitt finishing it out.
Without putting too fine a point on it, losing to Louisville this Saturday would put a big dent in Duke’s title-game hopes.
Elko saw the same things at Tallahassee that most of us saw. A Duke team that went toe-to-toe with one of the nation’s top teams for three quarters but didn’t have the answers when things started going bad in the final quarter.
“For three quarters that was a heavyweight showdown for first place in the ACC. I thought we gave as good as we got, toe-to-toe-with them. Then, in the fourth quarter things got away from us. I told the guys I was proud of the way we played for three quarters. But we didn’t finish. We’re in this to finish.”
Elko said one thing is wasn’t worried about was Duke’s response to the loss.
“The one thing I don’t question about this group is response. We’re certainly going to respond the right way. We’re wired in a really good way right now in that locker room because these kids understand that they’ve got a really small window to represent Duke football and they want to take advantage of it as best they can.”
Which brings us to the Cards. They had an open date last week, a week to lick their wounds after a stunning 38-21 loss to Pitt, a week to get fresher and healthier, a week to dig deep into Duke game film and maybe had some funky new stuff to their arsenal.
“They have time and we don’t have, extra time to look at us and look at them. You obviously try to think about how they’re thinking about things but at the end of the day you have to be ready to adjust on the fly.”
Duke has to improve on a lot of things this Saturday but throwing and catching the ball has to top the list.
Duke completed only 8 of 22 passes, for 76 yards, Leonard 7 for 16, Henry Belin IV 1 for 6 in an emergency role under difficult circumstances.
According to Elko it was a systemic breakdown.
“We just have to find a better rhythm at every level. When you don’t throw the ball well, everything starts with the quarterback and it goes to the receivers. The timing of it is just off. We’re not getting the routes open, which is certainly happening some. We’re not delivering the ball on time and accurately. We’re not protecting well enough and when things are coming open, we’re not able to get rid of the ball in the timely manner we want to and it just seems to be breakdowns at different times at all three of those levels.”
Cure?
“When that happens, you’ve got to go back to the basic fundamentals. We’ve got to protect, create clean pockets, get back in rhythm, separate and get open on the perimeter. I don’t think there’s a magical answer to it. It really is a rhythm thing and we’re very much aware of the fact that this is something that needs to get better for us to have the success we want down the stretch.”
Louisville ranks second in the ACC in rushing defense, seventh in passing defense. Their M.O. is to load the box and “really make it challenging for you to run the football.”
Duke is going to have to throw the ball to move the chains and put points on the board.
And stop Louisville. The Cardinals have a balanced attack. Elko uses the word “dynamic” and it’s hard to argue. Quarterback Jack Plummer--he’s a transfer from Cal--has passed for 271 yards per game and thrown 13 TD passes. Jamari Thrash is one of the ACC’s best receivers. He’s averaging over 16 yards per reception. Running back Jahwar Jordan is second in the ACC with 661 rushing yards and averages 7.4 yards per carry.
Elko says Jordan “is one of the more talented running backs in this league, if not the most talented, certainly the most explosive from a speed standpoint, from a make-you-miss standpoint that we’ve seen to this point.”
A tough task.
“It’s a complete football team. They’re playing at a really high level. They’re going to be hungry to come out and play their best football. We’ve got a lot on the line, so we’re going be hungry to come out and play our best football. Should be a great game between two really good football teams.”
A lot to chew on in this article:
1. Team response - I am confident the team will respond because they believe in themselves. Confidence is empowering.
2. Pass game - this is a concern because we are obviously struggling to throw the ball and Louisville has a strong run defense so they will load the box and force us to pass to beat them. Hopefully the staff figures something out in the schematics. We must get better quickly.
3. Louisville offense - I’ve only watched one game which was the 13-10 win over NC State and Louisville was not impressive. Give credit to State’s defense but I’m convinced Duke’s defense is better than State’s defense.
Thanks for the continued great coverage!