Duke football head coach David Cutcliffe held his weekly press conference Tuesday, addressing Duke’s 37-7 victory against Tulane and the upcoming matchup against N. C. Central. The head coach touched on the renovations at Wallace Wade Stadium and recent NFL cuts of former Blue Devil players. Duke (1-0) faces the Eagles (1-0) in the fourth Bull City Gridiron Classic at Wallace Wade Stadium this Saturday at 6 p.m. for their home opener. Here are some of the more notable sound bytes from Cutcliffe’s press conference:
The Blue Devils opened the season last Thursday against Tulane in New Orleans and a lot of questions swirled around the team at the time. In particular, many questioned the readiness of a young defensive front and inexperienced corps of linebackers after the departure of David Helton and an ACL injury to Kelby Brown. Despite the concerns, sophomore linebacker Zavier Carmichael took charge in his first start at the mike position. He recorded five tackles and an interception—which landed him on ESPN’s SportsCenter Top 10 Thursday.
“I was a little nervous and I’ve been doing it a whole long time. I wasn’t a rookie, and [Zavier]’s a second year guy that’s somewhat of a rookie as a starter.”
Junior Ryan Smith debuted in week one as the starting punt returner for Duke and returned two punts for a total of 29 yards against the Green Wave. Although Smith won a wide open camp battle for the special teams position, the experience of redshirt junior DeVon Edwards was apparent in the kicking game as well. In his lone return, Edwards took the ball 95 yards to the house in the third quarter to break a tie with Randy Jones for most kickoff returns for touchdowns in program history. The Blue Devils’ next opponent, N.C. Central, also had a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the third quarter by redshirt senior Ryan Smith. In their opener, the Eagles combined for 209 punt return yards and a touchdown on eight punts against Division II opponent St. Augustine’s.
“Our kicking game was at a high level and I was excited about that until I watched [N. C.] Central’s kicking game. They went to a higher level. Talking about perfection, it was about as good as it could possibly get.”
The speed and agility of Duke’s roster was apparent in its opener at Tulane. Offensively, true freshman T.J. Rahming demonstrated his off-the-charts athleticism and hauled in six catches for 70 yards in his debut. On the defensive side of the ball, the implementation of the “devil position” and blitzes out of the secondary held the Green Wave to just 25 rushing yards on 23 attempts—the lowest mark by the Blue Devils in the Cutcliffe Era.
“I think recruiting has continued each year to grow. We said it from the very beginning we were going to recruit speed and I do think we run real well…. Athleticism is not just skill players. When your team really gets better is when you display athleticism at those lines of scrimmage. We got a ways to go yet still there, but it’s something that we’ve got to continue to grow.”
With the renovation of Wallace Wade Stadium in the offseason, Duke will enter a completely new environment at home for the 2015 season. The Blue Devils became the last Power 5 conference team to remove a track from its football stadium and also extended field-level seating, implemented new sod and added a 3,175 square-foot video board will be on display this week for Cutcliffe and his squad.
“That video board brings a lot of things to life. We’re all human. We’re all products of being marketed to…. That excites our players. I think we can generate with the crowd, with the video board [and] with the atmosphere a more exciting opportunity for Duke football.”
Entering the first week of the NFL season, the Blue Devils have 10 former players on professional rosters. In the seven years prior to Cutcliffe’s arrival in Durham, Duke placed 15 players on NFL rosters, but since he became head coach in 2008, 23 Blue Devils have achieved that distinction.
“I’m happy for those guys. I watched that very closely. We’ll be sending a little care package out and remind them where they came from. I’m proud of them. I’ve talked to a lot of them. A lot of hard work has gone into that for them. Those are really hopes and dreams. What I love, and I remind all of them all the time, you’re equipped for more. That’s not a career. That’s just an opportunity to play at the next level. As long as I’m in college football, I’m going to remind college football players that. The NFL is not a career. It’s a next level opportunity and after you finish that then you need to start a career.”
Stay with the Blue Zone for continued coverage of Duke football as the Blue Devils prepare for their home opener Saturday at the new Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium.
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