Duke’s red zone offense—which has been solid for most of the season—suffered a setback last time out against Maryland.
The inefficiency within the 20 was unexpected. And with Miami, an always athletic and physical team, just a couple of days away from visiting Wallace Wade Stadium, the Blue Devils will need to correct the problem.
The first step for Duke: taking the red zone offense back to its most basic elements. Head coach David Cutcliffe said Tuesday that he had done just this, likening the offense to playing as a kid in a backyard.
“When the field gets smaller in the red zone offense, I tell our kids, it becomes a lot like the backyard,” Cutcliffe said. “Playmakers have to make plays.”
Those playmakers have been in short supply so far this season. The coaching staff expected tight end Cooper Helfet to contribute on the playmaking front, but he has been hampered by an injured ankle and has produced little. Duke’s young and quick running backs have shown game-changing abilities, but could not get anything going on the ground against the Terrapins and only ran for 48 yards.
“We had the right calls, but we couldn’t finish the runs and the blocks,” Cutcliffe said.
Cutcliffe said things have not changed much since the backyard days—back then youngsters could pick out the winning team by looking at the playmakers on each side, and the college game is not that different.
“You have to be a great finisher down there,” he said. “And we’re not making the plays we have to make down there.”
Duke’s final statistic for red zone conversions against Maryland was 4-for-5, a statistic that did not accurately reflect the difficulties it faced when the end zone was easily in sight.
After taking the ball on the Blue Devils’ 12-yard line four minutes into the first quarter, Sean Renfree hit Donovan Varner for 28 yards, then found Josh Trezvant with a 25-yard toss a few plays later. The team marched down 86 yards and faced a 2nd and goal at the Maryland two-yard line.
But the Blue Devils could not convert.
Juwan Thompson rushed for no gain. Sean Renfree couldn’t find Austin Kelly. Three points instead of seven.
It was the same story in the second quarter. Buoyed by a 23-yard completion and a 19-yard hookup to Varner and Conner Vernon, respectively, Duke made it to the Terrapin 12-yard line. Then Desmond Scott was stuffed for a loss of a yard, Renfree was sacked for a loss of nine and Snyderwine was forced to kick again.
The Blue Devils made it to the red zone one more time in the first half, but Renfree was intercepted by Antwine Perez.
“You should finish every play absolutely,” Cutcliffe said. “It very easily could have been a 21-0 Duke lead.”
Converting in the red zone could have given Duke an insurmountable lead on the road against a good Maryland team.
If the Blue Devils can turn a short field into touchdowns, they will have a fighting chance against the 19-point favorite Saturday.
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