EVANSTON, Ill. - The place and the opponent may have changed, but the result was eerily familiar for the football team this weekend.
For the second time in two weeks, Duke's offense made untimely mistakes and failed to mount a consistent attack. For the second time in two weeks, the defense missed key tackles and allowed the opponent to drive down the field almost at will.
And, for the second time in two weeks, Duke muddled through a blowout defeat, this time by a score of 38-5.
Although one can point to a few good drives, improving players and positive plays for the Blue Devils, the overriding message pounded home Saturday afternoon is that this team has a ways to go before it is competitive.
On the defensive side of the ball, the star of the day for Duke was clearly defensive tackle Charles Porter, who registered a safety in the first quarter and a blocked field goal in the second.
"Charles has been a player that's really improved this year," Franks said. "He plays with a lot of emotion."
With 9:27 left in the first quarter, Northwestern quarterback Zak Kustok tried to audible in the shotgun formation on his own three-yard line. The resulting confusion allowed Porter to sneak in between the center and left guard and tackle running back Damien Anderson in the end zone.
"Coach made a great call," Porter said. "I blew the guy off the ball, and I had a great shot."
But Duke's defensive performance was marred by sloppy tackling. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Anderson plowed straight into the middle of Duke's defense at the line of scrimmage. Several Blue Devils failed to wrap him up and he bounced to the outside and outran the secondary for a 66-yard touchdown. On the day, the Wildcats put up a staggering 259 yards on the ground.
Duke's defense seemed to tire as the game wore on and Northwestern's fast-paced offense limited the Blue Devils' opportunities to substitute. Afterwards, they said that the Wildcat attack was more of a mental than physical problem.
"We were really fired up to begin with," Porter said. "We had trouble maintaining it throughout the game."
On offense, the beginning of the game was promising for the Blue Devils. Duke opened the game with a four-wideout set, spreading Northwestern's defense thinly across the field. Running back Duane Epperson led the attack on the impressive drive, which reached Northwestern's 39 yard line but failed to score.
The Wildcats quickly adjusted, concentrating its attack at the line of scrimmage and forcing Duke to work the ball to the outside of the field. But Duke's receivers were unable to get open down the field.
"We are having a a hard time hitting deep balls," Franks said.
The result was ugly-there weren't enough blockers to effectively run the ball or protect the quarterback for the rest of the day. The Blue Devils rushed for a total of 26 yards from then on, while they gave up six sacks.
"We've got to run the ball better to take more heat off the quarterback," Franks said. "We can't keep our quarterback protected."
Even when the Blue Devils' signal-callers were able to evade the sack, they were constantly knocked to the ground.
Starter Spencer Romine's day ended in the closing moments of the first half, when he was hit in the helmet trying to complete a pass to Ben Erdeljac. Franks described his starter as "woozy," and said he didn't want to risk hurting him any further.
Franks did not name Romine his starter for next week because he didn't have a chance to talk to the training staff after the game. However, he said he didn't believe Romine's injury was serious.
Romine was sacked five times on the day. He wasn't taking deep drops in the pocket-most of the sacks came from missed assignments by the offensive line.
These frustrations are to be expected throughout this season, as Duke will continue to play a number of inexperienced players. The challenge for the coaching staff is to continue molding Duke's talent while staying upbeat about the results on the field.
"I'm learning that we have to stay positive," Franks said.
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