A day removed from a 9-7 win against Boston College, Duke hit the film room to study its offense, which put kicker Ross Martin in position to drill three field goals but struggled to move the ball in the second half.
After watching film of Saturday’s contest, head coach David Cutcliffe acknowledged on a Sunday teleconference with reporters that the offense left points on the field.
“We just watched the tape as an offensive unit. Our guys see and will continue to see we had things that we just didn’t execute and that we can execute better,” Cutcliffe said. “Sometimes that’s a mysterious thing how you can get caught in that. We will work this thing out, but we left a lot of… opportunities on that field. Whether it's technique or assignments, you’ve got to get to a point where you’re 100 percent in both of those categories. So that’s the challenge as we move forward.”
The Blue Devil offense could not sustain drives against Boston College’s defense, which entered Saturday's game ranked first in the nation in total yards allowed. Although starting quarterback Thomas Sirk rebounded from his two-interception performance against Georgia Tech, completing 18 of 36 passes for 195 yards and no interceptions, Duke did not score a touchdown and collected 228 total yards of offense.
Duke’s rushing attack never found a groove, gaining just 33 yards on 35 carries. Running backs Shaquille Powell, Shaun Wilson and Jela Duncan missed several holes and the offensive line missed blocks when the Eagle linebackers shot the gaps.
“I think they see, with better execution, we should have run the ball better than we did,” Cutcliffe said. “We had a combination of not finishing a block or a back missing a hole or in certain circumstances not being 100 percent from assignment circumstances.... Systematically, we should be able handle that better."
The Blue Devils will look to rectify those mistakes Saturday on the road against Army.
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