Grade Report and Viewing Thoughts: Duke

I was on a flight back from a funeral during the game, so I was only able to watch the game once via Tivo on Sunday. I don't think Duke merits a second viewing. One note to those who saw the game: how bad was ESPN U? I hold a special place in my heart for Mike Adamle's work on American Gladiators, but he was terrible. Wrong names, wrong players. It almost seemed like he found out he was doing the game five minutes before kickoff. Now to the game...the win is nice, but Wake and Maryland both looked strong. I have very little hope for Jacksonville. I think the best we can hope for is the Peach Bowl, but we are likely headed to Music City. Same old, same old.

Offense: B+

Matt Ryan played well. Certainly not his best game. He wasn’t under much pressure, yet his throws were not especially sharp. He was lucky he wasn’t picked on some of his deep balls. I think he is feeling better because his short passes are certainly crisper. He also mishandled two snaps.

You’d think after Saturday’s performance, I would be happy with the running game. I’m not. I know Whitworth got hurt, but there were numerous open field moments where he should’ve taken it to the house and didn’t. He does deserve credit for running with more authority and hitting his holes. AC had a nice game. I was surprised that he looked better running between the tackles rather than around the edges. His touchdown run was nice and showed some toughness. Unfortunately there were a few other moments where I felt he should’ve broken tackles. A.J Brooks looked good late and it should be noted that most of Duke’s starters were still in when he was piling up yards.

The Wide Receivers were obviously not as active as last week. Because Ryan spread the ball so well, we got to see contributions from the young guys too. Challenger and Lotye’s TDs were both nice catches.

The offensive line opened holes, but I never felt like they were challenged by Duke. The pulling was better. The best part about the game was for the first time in weeks they didn’t have a drive killing false start or holding penalty.

The play calling was solid. Bible and TOB obviously wanted to establish the run and did. I also like going back to the play fake on first and Toal. Nothing else stood out. Although it only amounted to a 3-yard gain, I am glad they designed a play for Jeff Smith.

Defense: B

Although they only allowed 7 points, the defense did not play that well.

For the second straight week Brady Smith did not maintain his assignment and allowed a few big plays. Larkin was a non factor. Raji and Brace played pretty well. Giles had a strong game. Rossi even got some PT. Willis was MIA for most of the game without explanation.

Toal continued his high level of play. Akins was awesome again. Dunbar missed a few times, but nothing costly. His leap on the 4th down try proved huge. Francois and Pruitt had quiet evenings. All the linebackers looked better in pass coverage, but it might have been due to the slow and inept Duke offense.

The secondary worried me. Anam got beat bad on what should have been a Duke TD. Davis got burned an a few tackles. Rollins had trouble too. These guys have looked good lately. What the heck happened Saturday?

I thought Spaz should’ve pressured Duke more. We allowed a bad offensive team to move the ball fairly effectively. If he doesn’t mix things up, Maryland will kill us.

Specials Teams: B

Sid Vicous’ long field goal was online, just not enough leg.

Ohliger keeps leaving his kickoffs short.

Tribble made much better decisions on which punts to let drop and which ones to catch.

Smith only had one return and he got clocked.


Overall: B

I am glad we won and only suffered one injury (Sheridan). I was hoping they would come out and really try to prove a point. Maybe they are saving it for Maryland.