Following a nearly completed comeback bid against Wake Forest last Saturday, head football beat writer Matthew Iles caught up with offensive coordinator Peter Vaas to talk about the weekend that was as well as this Saturday's tilt with No. 12 Virginia Tech.
Matthew Iles: After scoring on the team's opening drive, the offense stalled until the end of the third quarter. What contributed to this?
Peter Vaas: It's funny. During the course of that first half, we just felt like we were in a funk. I think there are a variety of reasons for it. It's never just one individual, it's never any one play, but it's always just an accumulation of things that you're just not functioning on all cylinders.
MI: What ignited the second-half scoring explosion-20 points in less than seven minutes-that got Duke back in it?
PV: The thing that sparked us was [running back] Re'quan [Boyette] broke that big, big run. We didn't score on that drive, but it was a big play that kind of woke us up a little bit, and from there on we started to click pretty good.
MI: What do you think of quarterback Thaddeus Lewis' ability to rebound and lead the comeback effort after throwing two interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown, earlier in the third quarter?
PV: Playing that position, you better have an extremely short memory, and that goes for the positives and the negatives. If something good has just happened, you can't dwell on that because you've got to go get the next play. Same thing goes for a negative play-you can't dwell on it. You can't let that one play determine your whole career. So the sooner you can put it behind you the better, that's basically how we reacted on the sideline and how we talked to him about it, 'Alright, just forget it.'
MI: Duke's last three losses have all seemed to come down to one chance for the offense score and win, but so far you have come up short. Is there any underlying reason for that?
PV: To be perfectly honest, we just have to believe we're going to make the next play. You can never become complacent and you have to have a short memory.... We just have to have a killer instinct on each and every play of the game and sustain that for 60 minutes.
MI: What's your scouting report on Virginia Tech's defense?
PV: They're probably the most formidable defense we've played to date. They've got a tremendous pass rush with the front four. Their linebackers are probably stronger and faster than Miami's and their secondary is every bit as good as Miami's.
MI: How important is it to get ahead early against Virginia Tech?
PV: It's always important in any game. One of the things we want to avoid this week is to start slow. In the last couple of weeks, we have started slow, and it's been a point of emphasis that we have to be mentally prepared from the opening whistle. The speed of a game is a lot different than the speed of a practice.
MI: Is there one critical thing that you have to improve on from last week's loss in order to compete for a win Saturday?
PV: One of the things we have to do, and it's been a part of us all year along, is we have too many negative plays. It could be a run that goes for minus-one yard. So now instead of 2nd-and-9, you're at 2nd-and-11. If we can eliminate some of those negative plays, we'll put ourselves in better down-and-distance situations throughout the course of the game and be able to manage the game better.
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