When talking about Duke’s attempt at running the ball last year, head coach David Cutcliffe doesn’t mince his words.
“I don’t think I’d call what we were a year ago a running game,” Cutcliffe said.
Regardless of what it’s named, Duke’s 2009 rushing unit averaged 63.5 yards per game, the lowest average out of all 120 teams in the FBS. In contrast, defending ACC champion Georgia Tech averaged 295.4 yards per game in its run-oriented offense, more than quadruple the Blue Devils’ figure.
The coaching staff expects to improve on the performance of last season, with Cutcliffe saying this year’s set of backs is the strongest the team has fielded in his three years. He has also said that an added emphasis on the running game, which includes screen plays and “the little stuff” often forgotten, will hopefully develop a balanced offense to take some of the pressure off new starting quarterback Sean Renfree.
Part of the offseason improvement plan focused on what happens before the running back receives the ball. The offensive line needed to change its mindset to one more focused on running plays, and offensive coordinator Kurt Roper helped by simplifying the blocking assignments. There is a huge difference in technique between protecting the pocket so the quarterback can throw—which the Blue Devils were able to do last year—and creating holes for a running back, said starting left tackle Kyle Hill.
‘’Every play you want to win,’’ the redshirt junior said. “When you get that run play, it’s time to gear it up and hit this guy and move him. It’s a little bit of a mentality you have to get used to and use to move that other guy.”
The offensive line, which has the advantage of returning four starters, spent time with the running backs getting back to basics and focusing on footwork. The repetition has prepared the line and the backs to get out of their pre-snap positions faster, Hill said, and “cut loose.”
Like the offensive line, the running back corps will feature many familiar faces. Duke’s top three rushers from last season are all back, with sophomore Desmond Scott, last year’s leading rusher, assuming the starting role. Scott turned 70 attempts into 262 yards last season, a figure he plans to better this year.
“Being 120th is unacceptable,” Scott said. “We are coming out in practice and competing every day, and once you compete, it makes everyone better. It’s going to make us better on game day on those Saturdays because you are going to see how hard we have been working.”
Scott, junior Jay Hollingsworth, redshirt sophomore Patrick Kurunwune and true freshmen Josh Snead and Juwan Thompson spent more time in the film room as well. Cutcliffe expects both Snead, who enrolled early last spring, and Thompson to make film of their own right away.
A reliable running game will make redshirt sophomore quarterback Renfree’s job easier. He said a reliable running game can be a quarterback’s best friend, because it can keep the defense off-balance and open passing lanes.
“We’ve done a great job, at least in this camp, improving the running game and making sure it plays a big factor in this first game, and I think it really will help sell the offense,” Renfree said. “I would expect about a 50-50 balance—at least that’s what the plan is.”
In order to achieve that parity, the coaching staff will need to stay true to the game plan of limiting Renfree’s throws. If Renfree proves to be as effective at completing passes as his predecessor Thaddeus Lewis, though, this might be difficult.
“It’s kind of hard for coach Roper, when you feel like you can complete passes, it’s hard not to want to throw 70 balls a game and stop and run,” Cufcliffe said. “But we have to run the football to make ourselves better as a team. We have to call it and stick to it enough to find out just how good we can be running the ball. We have some threats back there in the backfield right now.”
The offense as a whole takes the questions about Duke’s ability to run the ball as a personal challenge, Hill said. The offensive line, Scott and his fellow backs are ready to show the fruits of their offseason labor—after all, no one likes dwelling in the cellar.
“Coach Cut really believes in the running game,” Kurunwune said. “That’s where most of our focus has come from because no one wants to be 120th running the ball. That’s where our motivation has come from.”
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