NEW ORLEANS—As Duke headed into its season opener against Tulane Thursday night, there were question marks at several positions. A slew of injuries during fall camp as well the departure of key contributors from last year’s squad forced the Blue Devil coaching staff to reshuffle their roster during the summer.
One game into the season, some of the questions were finally answered. Despite Duke’s occasional struggles to capitalize on scoring opportunities in its 37-7 victory, the Blue Devils shut down the Green Wave on defense and moved the ball with a series of short passes on offense, keyed by big plays from new contributors. A leaping grab by Devon Breaux for a 76-yard touchdown pass was all that prevented a shut-out, as the Duke defense made life difficult for Tulane quarterback Tanner Lee all night and into the early morning.
In Duke’s meeting with Tulane last season, the Blue Devils struggled to stop the run, surrendering 231 yards.
Thursday night was a different story.
Although the Green Wave returned all three of their primary running backs from a year ago, it only managed to rush for a net total of 25 yards and only rushed 23 times. After the departures of more traditional pass rushers Dezmond Johnson and Jordan DeWalt-Ondijo, the Blue Devils relied on the speed and agility of the new-look line to make up for their lack of size.
“I thought our defense had a really good plan,” Duke head coach David Cutcliffe said. “Our front played well. We’re quicker, more athletic upfront. Certainly that had something to do with it.”
Defensive linemen Carlos Wray, Britton Grier and Kyler Brown had plenty of help from redshirt safety Jeremy Cash, who flew around the field, collecting five tackles, a quarterback hit and several plays on special teams.
Offensively, despite throwing 12 career passes in his first three years at Duke, redshirt junior quarterback Thomas Sirk looked like a seasoned veteran in his first career start. The Glen St. Mary, Fla., native displayed completed 27 of his 40 passes for 289 yards and a pair of touchdown passes, one of them a short pass to junior wide receiver Johnell Barnes that turned into a 29-yard score thanks to a huge block by tight end David Reeves.
When under pressure, Sirk chose to throw the ball away also used his athleticism and speed to minimize lost yardage in broken plays, racking up 68 yards on the ground for good measure.
“I thought Thomas played tremendous,” Cutcliffe said. “He’s in his fourth year with us, so he understands our system.... The game didn’t speed up for him. It was like he was at practice."
At receiver, there have been questions about who would fill the void left by the departure of last year’s leading receivers, Jamison Crowder and Issac Blakeney. Cutcliffe has assembled a talented unit on the recruiting trail, but Duke’s receivers struggled with inconsistency during fall camp.
But against Tulane, a collection of Duke wide-outs stepped up and made big plays when Sirk called their number.
Barnes led the Blue Devil receivers with 11 receptions for 109 yards and the touchdown, shaking off a rough initial sequence when he fumbled on Duke's first possession of the season. Freshman T.J. Rahming also lived up to the hype surrounding him as a freshman as he caught six passes for 70 yards. The former high school U.S. Army All-American used his quickness to separate from defenders in man-to-man coverage and consistently ran open in the flats and down the middle, and made eluded several would-be Green Wave tacklers in space.
“Our receiving corps played really well,” Cutcliffe said. “I was concerned going into this game. I still think we have a ways to go. But I was certainly very pleased with the start tonight. I thought [Barnes] grew up, just in that little bit. He played like a junior, which is what I told him. [Rahming] has a lot of talent. Max McCaffrey is a great leader in that group.”
Despite the strong performances from Sirk and the receivers, Duke struggled to finish drives. On several offensive series, the Blue Devils only came away with a field goal as their offense stalled once it crossed midfield and neared the red zone. Later on in the year, when Duke stares down Georgia Tech, Miami and others in the ACC, those missed opportunities may determine a win or a loss.
“Those are the things you learn from a first game,” Cutcliffe said. “You don’t get as much as scrimmage time as you would like. The offense hadn’t just consistently been in scrimmages where you’re driving the ball downfield. But we’ll learn from that.”
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