At his weekly press briefing Monday head coach Ted Roof did not blame the Blue Devils extensive injuries at skill positions for Duke 0-3 start. Schneider, who was cleared to practice Monday following a concussion at Virginia Tech, and some of the other Blue Devils will likely be ready to go this week in the home opener against Maryland.
When Ted Roof accepted the Duke head coaching position he never expected the job to be easy. But three weeks into his first full season and three disappointing losses later, Roof is not making any excuses even when he could easily point to the onslaught of injuries that have plagued the Blue Devils.
“We’ve certainly had our share of bad misfortune, but we’ve got to play our way out of that,” Roof said of the injuries. “That happens to everybody and that’s part of the deal. I’m not going to focus on that, I’m going to focus on how we can try and improve so that we can win a football game.”
Five players that had made significant impacts earlier in the season sat out Saturday as Virginia Tech pounded the Blue Devils, 41-17.
On offense, running back Cedric Dargan, who sat out his second straight game with a leg injury, and two members of the receiving corps, Deonto McCormick and Senterrio Landrum, did not even make the trip to Blacksburg, Va. The offense suffered desperately as it mustered just 197 yards and only six completions.
On the other side of the ball, captains Kenneth Stanford and Phillip Alexander also did not play.
With the exception of Alexander, who will miss the rest of the season with a broken leg suffered against Connecticut, each of the other four players is listed as day-to-day and Roof is optimistic that some of his injured athletes will play this weekend in the home opener against Maryland.
Roof does not want to make excuses, but he admitted that he never had witnessed such a large number of injuries to skill players at the same time.
During Saturday’s game, quarterback Mike Schneider suffered a concussion in the first quarter. He did not return to action against the Hokies but has since been cleared to practice.
His absence and Chris Dapolito’s poor production led Roof to use Curt Dukes under center in the third quarter even though he had taken few snaps in practice.
“I wanted to see Curt Dukes in competition, I wanted to find a way to get him the ball more and see what he did when he had his chance,” Roof said. “I thought he did some good things and provided a spark and provided some energy for our offense.”
Dukes, a quarterback who transferred from Nebraska, passed for 73 yards, including a 35-yard touchdown to Jomar Wright. He also threw an interception.
“[Dukes] made some mistakes, but the thing I was most proud of is that he kept going,” Roof said. “He took it by the reins and ran with it. I was pleased to see that.”
With the addition of Dukes to the quarterback carousel, the players performance on the practice field will decide next week’s starter, but Roof said it is “incredibly possible” that Dukes may see some action as quarterback against the Terrapins. Roof said he hopes, however, that eventually one quarterback will separate himself from the trio.
“I’d really like to be a one quarterback team,” Roof said. “Right now its just not something we’re ready to do.”
Filling the void at the skill positions, a number of young and inexperienced players have gained valuable playing time.
“You try and look for the silver lining in every cloud,” Roof said. “From an injury perspective, the way I look at it right now is that some of these young guys are getting reps right now that’ll give us some quality depth when we get everyone back.”
Although the team’s play has yet to translate into wins, Roof has been impressed with the development from week to week.
“I think we’re improving,” Roof said. “I’ve seen big strides. I think we’ve had a lot of kids that have gotten some real experience in some close ball games, but we’re not where we wanted to be.”
The effort has also been outstanding, Roof said, considering that there have been so many potential excuses for the players to lose their focus.
“You’re not negative with kids on game day,” Roof said. “You ask them what they saw, what their thought process was and try and make corrections. You keep them pumped up and keep them going.”
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