It is very difficult to make an assessment of a football team while watching a squad scrimmage itself, as Duke did in its annual Blue-White Game Saturday. The challenge in evaluation is prescient because every win is a loss.
For example, when Senterrio Landrum weaved through defenders before blasting to a 97-yard touchdown scoring run off the opening kick-off, my initial thought was "Wow, Duke looks really good." But immediately after that notion crossed my mind, I remembered that it was the Blue Devils' defensive special teams that allowed such an easy score.
While it is impossible to tell at this point if Duke will maximize on its chance to remove itself from the ACC basement--particularly after losing only two players from last year's squad that won two games and lost five heart-breakers on the heels of winless 2000 and 2001 seasons--a few things about Blue Devil football became apparent Saturday.
First and foremost, running back Cedric Dargan will add yet another weapon to Duke's increasingly potent running attack. Although Carl Franks came to Duke with a strategy known as "Airborne" that supposedly would create a dominating passing attack, he has quietly built one of the best running teams in the ACC. In 2001, sophomore running back Chris Douglas ran for an impressive 841 yards, and was predicted as an All-ACC candidate by several media outlets, including The Sporting News, for the 2002 campaign. Nagging injuries tarred the speed of Douglas in the beginning of 2002, before he eventually racked up 640 yards on the ground, good for fifth place in the conference.
Douglas' initial struggles allowed the development of Alex Wade, whose thunder to Douglas' lightning helped Duke finish fifth in the ACC in team rushing. Wade finished third in the league individually with 979 yards on the ground, and was voted second-team All-ACC.
After Dargan's sometimes explosive, eight-carry, 37-yard spring game, it seems that Duke has yet another weapon. Bigger, yet slower than Douglas and smaller, yet quicker than Wade, the red-shirt sophomore should receive plenty of opportunities to prove his talent in next year's loaded ACC conference.
Franks seems to have no problem switching his normally pass-first strategy to take advantage of his backfield.
"If the team runs the ball best, that's what we'll do," Franks said.
Wade and Douglas also looked impressive, running for 38 and 22 yards, respectively, with limited carries. The positive signs the running game showed are all the more respectable when one takes into consideration that Duke owned the best rush defense in the ACC a season ago. The Blue Devils showed no signs of dropping off in their ability to stop opponents on the ground Saturday, as the loss of emotional team captain Jamyon Small to graduation and All-ACC first-teamer Shawn Johnson to transfer, seem to only be bumps in an otherwise smooth defensive road.
Brendan Dewan, who missed a chunk of the season with a broken leg, led Duke with nine tackles Saturday, and although his three take downs are hardly impressive, Ryan Fowler showed with his speed and strength why he has the best chance among this crop of Blue Devils of having a productive NFL career.
While last season's run defense was tremendous, the pass defense struggled. Finishing last in the ACC in pass defense, the Blue Devil secondary does not appear to have improved much. Many Duke passes seemed to hover in the air for extended periods of time with the cornerbacks and safeties making little ground on these prime defensive opportunities. Two of the Blue Devils' best receivers did not play in the game, which makes the situation all the more depressing.
As for the offensive passing game, questions still persist. After two-year starter D. Bryant transferred before last season, then sophomores Adam Smith and Chris Dapolito intensely competed for the starting job. Smith eventually became the starter, and proceeded to be consistently inconsistent for the remainder of the season. In an almost perfect pattern, he would follow every good game with a horrendous one. For example, after his masterful 28-for-41 for 353 yards and zero interceptions performance in a 24-22 loss to then No. 10 N.C. State, Smith went 12-for-23 for a meager 109 yards and two interceptions in a 45-12 loss to Maryland.
It was more of the same for Smith Saturday. While he looked ever impressive on a 43-yard, hitch-and-go connection to Lyon Scott, many times Smith's passes would hover in the air long enough for even the ACC's worst pass defense to cause unfortunate incompletions.
One plus for the future of the Duke passing game was the play of senior wide receiver Reggie Love, who caught seven passes for 128 yards. Franks said Love was one of his biggest disappointments earlier last season, making solely pejorative comments about him in the press.
But after his six-catch, 67-yard performance against Virginia last October, Love was a different player. Before he could build on his new found success, Love was out for the season with tears to the medial collateral and posterior collateral ligaments in his left knee.
Love seems to have retained all of his athletic ability from the damage to his knee, however, and looks to make a run at an All-ACC team slot.
"Not playing in those last few games made me work even harder," Love said. "It motivates me to come back even stronger."
While a complete evaluation of the football team is impossible at this time, the Blue Devils are at a possible turning point. Although all but two starters return to improve on last seasons season, the problems that led to all the close losses of a year ago still persist. If these are not improved, Duke will continue to struggle through its schedule for years to come.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.