After a week off to regroup, the Blue Devils are gearing up to play Florida State Saturday. Head football beat writer Matthew Iles caught up with offensive coordinator Peter Vaas.
Matthew Iles: Did you get a chance to be a fan and watch some games last weekend?
Peter Vaas: Yeah, it was great. I slept late. I got up and went for a run. Put myself on the couch and watched the game in the afternoon and watched the Red Sox at night. It was very relaxing.
MI: Are you a big Boston Red Sox fan?
PV: You can't tell by my accent? Of course I am. I grew up just outside Boston. In fact, that's probably what I'll do tonight, too, is watch the Red Sox.... [Wednesday's game] was so good I got to go to bed before it was over.
MI: How did you use the week off to prepare for Florida State?
PV: You use an open date in two fashions. The week that you're not playing is an opportunity to refine some fundamental stuff and enables some players to get some rest. Once that week is over, you get back to game preparation. You take the whole week and you start zeroing in, you get back to your normal routines, and you get ready for Florida State.
MI: So, do you put off even thinking about Florida State until the second week?
PV: It's more of an emphasis on Duke versus Duke, if you will. We look internally. But for me to say that we didn't do any preparation for Florida State would be an exaggeration.
MI: Did the week off help your injured players get heathier?
PV: Just watching practice this week, I noticed that there seemed to be more spring in their step. Certainly, them having the opportunity to get some rest last week will do nothing but benefit us down the stretch.
MI: What is your scouting report on Florida State's defense?
PV: We've played some good defenses this year, but when you talk about what's the best defense that we've played to date, I think you're going to have to put Florida State into that conversation.... Virginia Tech was bigger and more physical, but Florida State is faster. I mean, they are quick, and they have good team speed.
MI: What are some things you've found Florida State might be susceptible to?
PV: Because of their quickness, throwing the long ball is not something we can make a living at. We're probably going to have to get the ball out of our hands relatively quickly. In other words, we've got to protect [quarterback] Thad [Lewis], and he has to be aware that, because of the quickness that Florida State has, we're going to have to condense our pass routes and throw them a little quicker. You want to use some of their quickness and aggressiveness to their disadvantage. There's probably going to be a little bit more misdirection involved in our thought process, a little bit more play-action in our thought process than we've had in the last few weeks.
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