Is Duke better than last season? Saturday’s game with Northwestern is a measuring stick
As soon as Duke finished off its 45-17 romp over N.C. A&T on Friday night, the remainder of the Blue Devils schedule became more difficult.
The first two games, which the Blue Devils split, were against a tough Football Championship Subdivision team in N.C. A&T and a Football Bowl Subdivision team from a Group of Five conference in Charlotte.
Beginning with Saturday’s 4 p.m. game at Wallace Wade Stadium against Northwestern, the Blue Devils face nothing but teams from Power 5 leagues the rest of the season.
Defensive lapses in the fourth quarter cost Duke in a 31-28 season-opening loss at Charlotte. The Blue Devils played far better, particularly on defense in the second half, to post the win over N.C. A&T.
But now Duke (1-1) has to ratchet up its play over its final two nonconference games, against Northwestern from the Big 10 and Kansas from the Big 12, before its eight ACC games.
While Duke coach David Cutcliffe discussed this with his team with a focus keenly on Northwestern, he also knows his players can read a schedule so they know what lies ahead over the next 10 games.
“I think they understand,” Cutcliffe said. “They know that, if you’re going to have a really good football team, you’re going to be a consistent football team, you got to compete at a high level every down. When you talk about Northwestern, you talk about that in those terms.”
Offense looking good
For the most part, Duke has played consistently well on offense this season, especially in ball security. Duke turned the ball over 39 times, including 19 interceptions, while going 2-9 last season. So far this season, Duke has just two turnovers — both fumbles — and one of those came on a desperation final play at Charlotte that included numerous laterals.
Duke’s turnover-free performance against N.C. A&T ended a streak of 18 consecutive games with at least one turnover. The last time the Blue Devils avoided a turnover was in a 41-23 win over Georgia Tech on Oct. 12, 2019.
Starting quarterback Gunnar Holmberg has yet to thrown an interception.
So far, so good on that important area this season.
“A big part of that is your team and, slash, quarterback and every skill player buying into what you’re teaching,” Cutcliffe said. “And, as a staff, it’s an easy thing to get to where you’re telling. And telling and teaching are two different things. You know, I used to hate to hear coaches say, `Well, I told him.’ Really? That’s not what I’m seeing. He didn’t hear you. And so I’m telling on myself, to be honest with you. We’ve done a better job of teaching, or I shouldn’t say we. I should say I’ve done a better job of teaching. And the student is listening better.”
With better ball protection, Duke has averaged 36.5 points per game. Admitting to a small sample size of just two games, Duke leads the ACC in rushing yards per game at 251.5 thanks to strong offensive line play and senior running back Mataeo Durant’s hot start. He’s already rushed for six touchdowns and 296 yards.
“Durant is outstanding,” Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said during a Zoom press conference Monday. “He’s played a ton of games. He is a complete back. He’s got great patience. He’s got home run speed. He can catch the ball. He helps in protection. You can see how they trust him.”
Defense needs improvement
Defensively, Duke has plenty to clean up. After Charlotte put together four touchdown drives of 75 yards or more to beat the Blue Devils, N.C. A&T had first-half touchdown drives to that covered 86 yards on 20 plays and 59 yards on 14 plays.
But the Blue Devils clamped down after halftime to hold the Aggies to just three points. After N.C. A&T converted nine of its first 10 third-downs plays into first downs, the Aggies were just 1 of their final 7.
“Defensively, we got better as it went along,” Cutcliffe said. “We tackled better. But we got to tackle better right out of the chute.”
With three new starters from last season, Duke’s defensive line remains a work in progress and is still missing a projected starter in defensive tackle Gary Smith, who is recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery. The time to take a big jump in consistency and production has arrived with the level of teams Duke plays the rest of the season.
“I think we’ve got another level we’ve got to reach and get to,” Cutcliffe said. “It kind of goes with the whole consistency thing. You know, defeating blocks is where that all starts. Not just quote making plays, you know, we’ve got to defeat more blocks at the point of attack before you can make plays.”
Northwestern has already experienced facing a Power 5 team this season. The Wildcats opened the season Sept. 3 with a 38-21 loss to Big Ten foe Michigan State. Northwestern defeated Indiana State, a Football Championship Subdivision team, 24-6 on Saturday.
Fitzgerald played a similar tune to Cutcliffe when talking about his team on Monday.
“We’ve got to get a lot better and a lot more consistent if we want to win,” Fitzgerald said.
This story was originally published September 14, 2021 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Is Duke better than last season? Saturday’s game with Northwestern is a measuring stick."