Stat Chat: Duke football vs. Georgia Tech

The main storyline going into this past Saturday’s game against Georgia Tech was how Brandon Connette would do at starting quarterback filling in for Anthony Boone. Against the Yellow Jackets, it was made clear that Connette, one of the most versatile players on the roster, was not the man Duke should have at the helm.

Let’s look at the offensive game by the numbers:

13 – The Blue Devils managed only 13 first downs over the course of the game, a pretty paltry amount against a sub-par defense at home. Where the game really got out of hand was in the second quarter, when Duke moved the chains only twice. In the quarter, Georgia Tech outgained the Blue Devils 183-to-45 and outscored the home team 14-to-0. The score was 24-to-7 at halftime, but did anyone really believe this game was that close?

89 – Despite an underwhelming overall effort on offense, Jela Duncan showed some real promise. Duncan carried the ball 16 times for 89 yards and a touchdown, which may have further solidified him as Duke’s go-to runningback. If the Blue Devils want to continue to make waves in the ACC, they’ll need to have Duncan continue to run the ball as well as he did Saturday.

3/14 – Duke converted on three of its 14 third-down tries. A big reason for the lack of success may have been the play calling. Eight passing plays and six running plays were called on third down, with three successful passing plays and one successful rush. In short yardage situations with a versatile quarterback, I understand some running plays. Having said that, play action passing could have opened the door for more success. Connette has played in big games—he scored a touchdown in the Belk Bowl last year. If you don’t make some risky play calls, how will Duke ever see improvement in him?

1 – And yet despite everything I just said, Duke only has one loss and ample opportunity to improve. That starts this weekend with, in my opinion, a must-win game against new ACC foe Pittsburgh.

The defense played poorly, that was evident. Georgia Tech outgained Duke by more than 200 yards and, quite frankly, the Yellow Jackets could have accrued more yards had the game not already been in control by the end of the first half. But I have very little concern with the Blue Devil defense's ability to recover and come out angry this Saturday against Pittsburgh.

The offense, however, is now going to be a concern every time Duke takes the field. Like it or not, and I’m not sure Connette can lead this team to it’s second straight bowl berth. Maybe the last game was just getting the jitters out; maybe Connette comes back this weekend and plays like he did against Memphis in the second half a few weeks ago; bottom line: this weekend may be the make or break game for Duke’s season, and Connette has to play well in order for the Blue Devils to secure victory.