Duke football head coach David Cutcliffe held his weekly press conference Tuesday, addressing Duke’s ability to overcome a controversial loss to Miami and the upcoming matchup against rival No. 21 North Carolina. The Blue Devils (6-2, 3-1 in the ACC) face the Tar Heels (7-1, 4-0) on the road at Kenan Memorial Stadium in Chapel Hill this Saturday at noon for a chance to bring home the Victory Bell for the third time in four seasons. Here are some of the more notable sound bytes from Cutcliffe’s press conference:
Following a crushing defeat as time expired on a controversial 91-yard, eight-lateral kickoff return for a touchdown against Miami last week, Duke is looking ahead to its matchup with North Carolina. Despite the loss against the Hurricanes, the Blue Devils control their own destiny in the ACC, and can punch a ticket to Charlotte by winning out. Cutcliffe has stressed moving forward to his players, and said that captains Jeremy Cash and Matt Skura have been instrumental in propelling the team forward and not dwelling on the what-ifs of the past week. For Duke, moving on was as simple as getting back to the weights Sunday.
“[I knew they would be okay] after they worked in the weight room…. It’s remarkable what you can tell sometimes by the sound of steps, whether they’re bouncing a little bit or whether they’re moving a little slow.”
Despite falling behind 14-3 before entering the locker room at halftime, the Blue Devils were still in a position to win the game against Miami due to clutch offensive execution and timely defensive stands. Duke’s defense held the Hurricanes to 10 points in the second half—excluding the kickoff return for a touchdown as time expired—and forced an interception, two punts, a safety and a field goal on five of six Hurricane possessions before the last play of the game. For the game, the highly-touted Blue Devil defense held Miami to 119 yards rushing and 272 yards passing. The defense remains ninth in the country in yards per game allowed, with 295.0 given up per game.
“Our defense had a possession in between [the two fourth quarter touchdown] drives that was done to perfection. We give up a first down right there, we’re done. I certainly congratulated our entire squad in that regard, for putting ourselves in position to win that game…. You measure defense by giving yourself a chance to win.”
With the strength of the defense on display when it was most needed last week, Duke will have to have a complete game against a dynamic Tar Heel offense this week in order recapture the Victory Bell. The biggest threat on the North Carolina offense may be starting quarterback Marquise Williams. As a dual-threat signal caller, Williams has amassed 1,623 yards passing for 11 touchdowns, as well as 528 rushing yards for five touchdowns this season. Even though stopping him may not be possible for four quarters, Cutcliffe stressed minimizing his explosive playmaking abilities to capture the victory.
“I hope that we defend [Marquise Williams] decently well at times. You just can’t let him emotionally defeat you. He’s going to make plays…. There’s not a lot that you can do. You can’t assign one guy to the quarterback.”
Since there are only four games left in the season and the race for the ACC championship is heating up in the Coastal Division, all eyes are on the Duke-North Carolina matchup this week. With Coastal-leading implications surrounding the game, the Tar Heels can essentially eliminate the Blue Devils from ACC contention with a victory, as well as place themselves in the driver’s seat with victories against Pittsburgh and Duke—the other two teams squarely in the Coastal race. On the other hand, if the Blue Devils leave Chapel Hill with a victory and newly painted bell in tow, the division returns to its wacky and unpredictable self as the season heats up. But Cutcliffe is quick to dismiss the vast importance of one game or one goal in the bigger picture.
“I’m not even going there yet with our team, worrying about the Coastal Division. We’ve got November left to play…. I’m not a big believer in just making all of these ‘goal boards’ when the goal board says ‘win the ACC championship.’ 14 teams have that goal. That’s unique, isn’t it? We try to stay away from it, honestly.”
It was announced Sunday that Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer is retiring from coaching following the completion of the 2015 season. Beamer is in his 35th year as a head coach—29 of which were with the Hokies—and holds the most victories of any active coach in the FBS with 277. He will finish his career with seven conference championships, and will look to extend his 22 consecutive bowl berths—the longest active FBS streak—by winning two more games this season. Due to their close relationship, Cutcliffe commented on how impressive Beamer is not only as a coach, but also as a personal friend.
“Coach Beamer is one of my favorite people, first. He’s just real…. He has done it so well for so long that the profession is going to miss him. I’m going to miss him. I like being with him in meetings. I may kid with him, but I’m getting tired of being—now I’m looking maybe the oldest guy in the room. In all seriousness, you never heard anybody in our profession say anything disparaging about Frank Beamer.”
Stay with the Blue Zone for continued coverage of Duke football as the Blue Devils prepare for a key contest for determining the leader of the Coastal Division as November progresses.
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