Duke enters the 2013 season looking to garner a bowl bid for the second year in a row. The last time the Blue Devils went to a bowl game in consecutive seasons—never.
Head coach David Cutcliffe’s squad returns 32 players who have started games at the collegiate level, including four talented running backs, four offensive linemen, the entire defensive line and a stellar kicker and punter. But even with such a strong group of returners, graduating seniors left holes—especially in the secondary—that have yet to be filled.
“You start by looking and hoping that we grow up as much defensively as we can up front,” Cutcliffe said. “I think that’s our first ambition. The goal is that our defensive front plays older. I think they need to do that to help us break in somewhat of a new secondary, which is probably the biggest concern we have.”
Last season, Duke’s opponents often utilized the long ball to shred the Blue Devil secondary for quick scores and conversions on third and fourth down. It also didn’t help that Duke gave up more than 200 yards per game on the ground, forcing the Blue Devils to stack the line with eight or more men and play man coverage against some of the ACC’s most talented wide receivers.
“Giving up big plays, and giving up as many points as we did is unacceptable,” Cutcliffe said. “It’s very difficult to win this day and time. There’s a lot of talented teams, and it makes it a lot more difficult when you’re giving up a lot of points.”
But the 2013 squad returns all its playmakers on the defensive line, as well as experienced linebackers Kelby Brown, Kyler Brown, C.J. France and David Helton. A strong presence from a veteran front six in Duke’s 4-2-5 defensive scheme should allow the fairly inexperienced secondary—led by senior cornerback Ross Cockrell—to focus more on pass defense and less on crowding the line of scrimmage to stop the run.
With seventh-round draft pick Sean Renfree slinging the ball to senior receivers Conner Vernon and Desmond Scott, the 2012 Blue Devils were a scoring machine, scoring a program-record 410 points on the season. Despite losing three of its most important playmakers, Duke’s offense could be just as good, and maybe more balanced, than it was last year.
Anthony Boone takes over the leadership role that Renfree vacated at the quarterback position, but the redshirt junior is not without experience at the helm of the Blue Devil offense. Boone led Duke to a 42-17 victory against Virginia with Renfree sidelined due to a shoulder injury, throwing for 312 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions. Junior Jamison Crowder and sophomore Max McCaffrey will provide Boone with excellent targets on the outside, and redshirt juniors Issac Blakeney and Braxton Deaver are sizable and versatile threats at the tight end position, a spot where Duke saw limited production last season.
“He’s become a better leader every year that he’s been here,” said offensive coordinator Kurt Roper of his new starting signal-caller. “He’s become a better worker at the quarterback position every year that he’s been here. It’s a maturing process. He understands what it takes to be a starting quarterback in the ACC.”
Unlike last year’s offense, which struggled to consistently establish a running game to complement its pass-heavy attack, the 2013 Blue Devils will have a bevy of talented ball carriers running behind an experienced offensive line. Boone poses a threat to run the ball at the quarterback position, and Duke returns its top four running backs. The team’s new running backs coach, former Blue Devil Re’quan Boyette, will rotate his stable of runners throughout game, keeping fresh leg on the field and giving Duke the opportunity to do some damage on the ground.
“With the offense, there are fewer concerns [than with the defense],” Cutcliffe said. “We have an experienced quarterback with Anthony, we have all of our running backs back, we have the bulk of our offensive line plus some new depth there. We know we lost Conner and Demsond, but between our receivers and tight ends we have some playmakers. So I feel good about our offense’s ability to score points.”
With the bitter taste of a 48-34 Belk Bowl loss to Cincinnati still lingering, the Blue Devils will set out this season to go to back-to-back bowl games for the first time in school history. But entering his sixth year at the helm of Duke football, Cutcliffe does not view the challenges his team will face this season as pressure, but rather as another step to rebuilding the Blue Devil program.
“I view it as appropriate expectations. I never wanted to be involved in anything that didn’t have that type of expectations,” Cutcliffe said. “What is most important to me is to join together to do this.... I hope that our community understands how much fun Duke football can be over the next decade.”
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