Duke head coach David Cutcliffe held his weekly press conference today. Cutcliffe talked about his team's 28-14 win last weekend against Memphis and the upcoming matchup with Georgia Tech. Here are some highlights from his 30-minute question and answer session. The Blue Devils play the Yellow Jackets Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Wallace Wade Stadium.
Duke managed to escape Memphis with a win last Saturday despite turning the ball over three times and losing starting quarterback Anthony Boone with a broken collarbone midway through the second quarter. Backup Brandon Connette stepped up and led the Blue Devil offense to score 21 points in the second half and secure the 28-14 victory over the Tigers.
"The first thing I told them was, 'This wasn't really a great win for our team, but it was a great win for our program.'"—Cutcliffe
Saturday's matchup against Georgia Tech will provide a much different challenge from what Duke faced against Memphis. The Yellow Jackets run one of the most unique offensive schemes in college football—the spread option. With a huge emphasis on time of possession and attacking with a variety of runners on the ground, Georgia Tech looks to wear down opposing defenses and completely control the tempo of games. The offensive scheme tries to confuse defenders by using misdirection and disguising who has the ball. On any given play two or three different backs, or the quarterback, can be called on to carry the ball. This uncertainty forces defenses to maintain discipline in their assignments in order to slow down the rushing attack.
"I guess the question would be, who has got the dive, who has got the quarterback and who has got the pitch? And then can we stop it?.... Stopping the option—just get one guy on the dive, one guy on the quarterback, one guy on the pitch, and let the other eight guys do whatever they want. What's so hard about that?"—Cutcliffe
The Yellow Jackets have already demonstrated this season that stopping the spread option isn't quite so easy. Georgia Tech pounded Elon in week one, scoring 70 points and racking up 368 yards on the ground with an average of 7.4 yards per rush.
Starting quarterback Vad Lee, who shared playing time with Tevin Washington at quarterback last season, showed off both his running and passing capabilities against the Phoenix, throwing two touchdown passes and rushing for another. Lee's big arm brings an element to the Yellow Jacket offense that Duke did not see last year—Washington took most of the snaps in Georgia Tech's November victory over the Blue Devils. The Yellow Jackets' potent rushing attack combined with Lee's ability to throw the deep ball and stretch the field should provide Duke's defense with one of its biggest challenges of the season.
"They've got a lot of returning starters on offense, a lot of weapons, they've played a lot of people.... This puts us in a situation with an ACC opener that is going to be one of the most challenging things we've faced as a program, playing this Georgia Tech team."—Cutcliffe
The Blue Devil defense has proved its worth so far this season, allowing just one touchdown through Duke's first two games. Sixth-year senior defensive end Kenny Annunike was a menace in the Tigers' backfield last weekend, and linebackers Kelby Brown and David Helton have led the Blue Devils in tackles with seven apiece against both N.C. Central and Memphis. All three will have to come up big against Georgia Tech if Duke is to stop the spread option attack.
On the offensive side of the ball, Connette will make just his second start at quarterback. In 2010 Connette started the last game of the season, but since then has been used as a running back, wide receiver and wildcat-style quarterback as much as he has been used as a traditional quarterback. In Boone's place against the Tigers, Connette threw for 198 and two touchdowns, leading Duke to a fourth quarter victory and a 2-0 start. With the Yellow Jackets' style of offense limiting the game's number of possessions, Connette and the Blue Devil offense must move the ball efficiently and minimize turnovers in order match Georgia Tech's high-scoring attack.
"On the offensive side of the ball, there may only be 10 series in the whole game. They are all huge."—Cutcliffe
Last year in Atlanta the Yellow Jackets put together 18-, 16- and two 13-play scoring drives against Duke and came away with a 42-24 win. Georgia Tech held the ball for more than 38 minutes in that contest and converted 13-of-20 third down attempts and 4-of-4 fourth down attempts, keeping the Blue Devil offense off the field.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.