Despite an outstanding special teams effort that gave Duke several opportunities with a short field, the Blue Devil offense struggled to put up points Saturday against Virginia. And when asked Tuesday if Duke's offense was pulling its weight, senior tight end Nick Stefanow did not pull any punches.
"Obviously, no, because we haven't been winning the games," Stefanow said. "I don't think the offense has done its part yet."
Duke struggled in the passing game Saturday, going 15-for-35 through the air with one touchdown and one interception. A lack of sustained execution and trouble throwing the ball deep plagued Duke's offensive effort against the Cavaliers, a problem that head coach Ted Roof feels does not have just one cause.
"At times we need to protect the passer better, at times we need to run better routes and at times we need to throw better balls," Roof said. "It's a combination of a bunch of things. And the disappointing thing, like I said, is that I would have expected more points Saturday with the field position that we had offensively."
Stefanow said he believes the team has improved offensively since its opening game. But to take it to the next level, the unit must cut down on the mental mistakes that have crippled it so far.
"Every play, you need to be perfect," Stefanow said. "All coaches say they don't remember the wins, but they remember the losses. It's like that with players, too. I could have had a great practice this morning, but I missed a call in the third period, and I'm not going to forget that until tomorrow."
Using that sort of motivation, Stefanow and his teammates will have a chance at redemption Saturday at Northwestern.
"We feel that we have something to prove, and we haven't shown that yet," Stefanow said.
Kicking Competition?
In the wake of junior kicker Joe Surgan's struggles against Virginia, Roof mentioned that there is a possibility for a change at that position if Surgan does not improve. Surgan missed three of his four field goal attempts Saturday, including a 26-yarder.
As a reult of Surgan's in-game performance, senior backup kicker Greg Meyers and freshman punter Nick Maggio-who handled field goal duties in high school-were mentioned as potential alternate options at the position. According to Roof, both saw additional reps in practice Tuesday.
No Blues for Blue Devils on road
Looking ahead to game two of a four-game road trip, senior safety Chris Davis said he is not worried about playing on the road.
In fact, he relishes the opportunity.
"When we go on the road, we're in big stadiums, a lot of adrenaline is rushing, big crowds," Davis said. "Once you have some success and shut those big crowds up, we kind of get our momentum off of that. Our sideline gets pretty rowdy, and you just want to stay on the field and make plays all day."
Roof said that he feels that his team performed much better on the road at Virginia than it did in the home opener against Connecticut. Although he attributes this performance gap in part to his team's natural improvement between its first and second games of the year, he noted that playing on the road sometimes allows players to focus more on the game.
"As a coach, all you can do is try to minimize distractions," Roof said. "And sometimes when you go on the road there's less ticket hassles, there's less someone staying at your apartment. There's less of that, so sometimes being on the road is a good thing."
Roof Remembers Walker
Last June, Northwestern was struck by tragedy when head coach Randy Walker died from an unexpected heart attack. But a few months earlier, Roof crossed paths with Walker at the 2006 American Football Coaches Association convention. Duke and Northwestern shared the 2006 AFCA Academic Achievement Award, giving Roof an opportunity to get to know the late coach.
"He and I had about an hour and a half together," Roof said. "Really a good man, and a fundamental football coach that had done a great job. Just way too young to pass."
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