After one of Duke's most prolific offensive explosions in school history, football beat writer Matthew Iles caught up with offensive coordinator Peter Vaas to discuss the team's successes heading into this weekend's game against Miami.
Matthew Iles: What were the positive and negative aspects of the offense's performance last weekend against Navy?
Peter Vaas: Well, the bottom line is we didn't win. So, the bottom line is we didn't score enough points. I was disappointed with the two turnovers we had in the second half and the penalties we had in the second half. Anytime you lose, you generally look at self-destruction and that's what that was. The positive part was we threw and caught the ball pretty well for the better part of the game.
MI: What do you attribute the offense's improvement to since the first game of the season?
PV: I think it's just the execution's better. We change a lot of stuff every week, but its more the schematic and philosophic approach to an opponent rather than it is fundamentals. We're throwing and catching. We've had less dropped passes, we've had more accurate throws, we've had better pass protection and all those things go into better execution.... [Also,] I think our offensive productivity out of the shotgun in general has been better as the season has moved along. I think we've all become a bit more comfortable with the things we can and can't do out of that formation.
MI: How has quarterback Thaddeus Lewis progressed so far this year?
PV: I think Thad's just more comfortable in his surroundings.... It's like your first day on a new job. You walk into the office, you're a little nervous, and you're looking over your right shoulder, looking over your left. As time goes on, you feel more and more comfortable, more and more at ease and more and more confident. I think that's what's happening with Thad. One of the things you have to have with a quarterback is experience. Well, how do you get experience? You have to go through the growing pains of playing early.
MI: Given the offense's fourth-quarter struggles this season, what do you have to do better to improve execution late in the game?
PV: I don't know exactly what to attribute it to. We've been making it a point of emphasis to execute better in the fourth quarter. Whatever the cause has been, we're trying to rectify it by making a significant emphasis on concentration in the fourth quarter so we don't self-destruct.
MI: Are you looking forward to playing against Miami in the Orange Bowl's final season?
PV: I look forward to every Saturday. It doesn't matter where we play.
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