Although it's a new season for the Blue Devils, the same old story prevails: no matter what strategy is implemented, it's execution that wins games.
In Saturday's season-opening loss to the Wolfpack, Duke was simply out-executed in all facets of play. State's offense dominated the line of scrimmage as Duke's defense could only try to react.
"I have got to give N.C. State credit," Duke coach Fred Goldsmith said. "They blocked well, ran well and ran hard. They threw the ball well in key situations. The more we blitzed the more it opened cracks for them. We guessed and missed a couple times, but it was because of the things he [Barnette] was able to do."
The key to any offense's execution is in whether or not the offensive line does its job of protecting the quarterback and creating running lanes for its backs. Saturday night, N.C. State was able to do both as its offense was able to rack up a total of 531 yards.
"Again, you have to attribute it to the offensive line," N.C. State coach Mike O'Cain said. "I thought our running backs ran as hard as I've ever seen them run at NC State-and that's an awful long time. Carlos King made some great runs. Tremayne [Stephens], Rahshon Spikes, Theo Chavis-they all ran very hard and they broke tackles."
The Wolfpack also dominated in its ability to convert an astonishing 11 out of 16 of their third down opportunities compared to Duke's 40 percent (4 of 10) success rate. Quarterback Jamie Barnette keyed State's third down success with his poise under pressure and his ability to find the open receiver when not pressured. On State's first touchdown drive and facing a 3rd and 5 from Duke's 14, Barnette was able to elude the pressure of Blue Devil linebacker Kevin Lewis and found tight end Mark Thomas wide open in the right corner of the end zone, capping a Wolfpack 90-yard drive.
Converting so many third down chances also lengthened the Pack's offensive drives. With their running game amassing a monstrous 297 yards, they were able to keep the Duke defense on the field for 39 minutes of the game and more importantly wore the Blue Devil defense down since they were on the field for long stretches.
"They got tired in the 3rd and 4th quarters and the line men did a great job," N.C. State running back Tremayne Stephens said. "On one play, I didn't even see blue jerseys until I got 10 or 15 yards downfield."
As the Pack offense seemed to be running on all cylinders, the Blue Devils however wrestled with inconsistent play from their own offense. Several dropped passes and turnovers at inopportune times stalled the Blue Devil's efforts to stay in the game.
A key blow to the Duke offense occurred as the Blue Devils were trying to escape the first half with only a 21-7 halftime deficit. Running back Lay Marshall, however, coughed up the football at Duke's 15 yard line, resulting in a State touchdown and sending the Blue Devils into the locker room down by 21.
Also, in the 3rd quarter as Duke was putting together an impressive 73-yard drive and attempting to cut State's 35-7 margin, freshman quarterback Bobby Campbell under-threw a pass to Reco Owens in the right corner of the end zone. N.C. State cornerback Tony Scott made Campbell pay for the mistake, picking the ball off and ending the Duke threat.
However, Duke did show some signs of life as they were able to rebound from a few of their mental mistakes. On Duke's 73-yard 3rd quarter drive, freshman tailback Duane Epperson dropped a wide-open pass in the flat that would have resulted in a big gain. A few plays later, quarterback Bobby Campbell looked again to Epperson in the right flat and this time the freshman caught the pass and wound up streaking down the sideline for a pick up of 48 yards.
This week Duke heads back to the practice field working on execution-something that killed them all of last year and that could continue to haunt them this year if improvements aren't made. Coach Goldsmith can only do so much in preparing the Blue Devils, it's the players who are responsible for making the plays on Saturdays and who must own up to their own mistakes.
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