Duke football head coach David Cutcliffe held his weekly press conference Tuesday, addressing the Blue Devils' recent 66-31 loss to North Carolina and the upcoming matchup against Pittsburgh. Duke (6-3, 3-2 in the ACC) faces the Panthers, (6-3, 4-1) on Senior Day at Wallace Wade Stadium Saturday at noon. Here are some of the more notable sound bytes from Cutcliffe’s press conference:
Pittsburgh’s record is misleading. Two of the Panther’s losses came against now No. 6 Notre Dame and now No. 8 Iowa, along with a close loss to No. 17 North Carolina. Led by quarterback Nathan Peterman and All-American wide receiver Tyler Boyd, the Panthers score 26.6 points and net 368.6 total yards per game. Defensively, Pittsburgh is physical upfront and aggressive in the secondary. Defensive end Ejuan Price has captured ACC Co-Defensive Lineman of the Week Honors over the last week against Notre Dame and leads the team with 11 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. Freshman safety Jordan Whitehead—who also appeared at running back against the Irish—leads the team with 73 tackles.
“We’re playing a really gifted and good Pitt team. Pitt is well-coached. They play really hard, really physical. They’ve got a lot of weapons on their entire team. They have an outstanding quarterback that is playing better and better and better and as good a receiver as there is in the country. And they have a defense.”
After a successful start to the season—allowing just 6.8 points per contest through its first six games—the Blue Devil defense has surrendered a combined 139 points over the last three games. In last week’s loss to North Carolina, Duke defenders were continuously out of position as the Tar Heels registered 704 yards of total offense. Among the main concerns for the Blue Devils has been their inability to create turnovers. Duke ranks 79th in the country with a minus one turnover margin and has just 11 forced turnovers this season.
“You have to face the reality of what we didn’t do well. You’re not going to overreact and fix everything at one time. They’re were some very evident things to me [watching the tape]. I had a priority list that I came out with early. We’ve worked actually starting in Spring practice on drills on taking the ball away. So it’s an interesting dilemma. It’s a little bit of a surprise. ”
Despite the defense’s struggles and the absence of sophomore running back Shaun Wilson with a leg injury, Duke’s running attack excelled against the Tar Heels with a season-high 304 yards. Redshirt junior running back Jela Duncan led the way for Duke with a career-high 115 rushing yards on 13 carries and gashed North Carolina on a 52-yard touchdown. Senior running back Shaquille Powell also ran 13 times for a total of 98 yards.
“There were a lot of good things [running the ball]. I think part of it is… there was an edge a little bit on North Carolina’s defense. I’m looking at that too. I thought Shaquille and Jela ran the ball extremely well. Our blocking was better than it had been in recent time. That is something that we maintain a real desire and hunger for.”
Over the last three seasons, Duke remained in the hunt for an ACC Coastal title midway into November. But after two consecutive conference losses this season, the Blue Devils no longer appear to be in contention for a coastal crown. That being said, Duke coaches and players are anxious to receive a quality bowl-game bid and finish the season with double-digit wins.
“Every win for our seniors is a milestone. Don’t ever underestimate that. Goals are goals. Goals are never completely lost. We do control the opportunity for whatever level of bowl game we can get to. We better be good over these next three ballgames. Every one of these games is meaningful.”
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