Resurrecting Duke Football (NCAA 10)

[superjames1992]

Quote: Originally Posted by jayenomics

after NC Central? That schedule looks tough.

Yep, it's going to be just about possible to go bowling this year, especially since we're in the Coastal Division of the ACC. The ACC Atlantic is pretty weak, except for Florida State, but the ACC Coastal is brutal with Virginia Tech, North Carolina, and Georgia Tech all being ranked.

Quote: Originally Posted by crques

I'm following my friend. Carry on.

Thanks, crques. I initially was going to go with a WVU dynasty, but after I had to start over due to massive slider adjustments, I just decided to run with Duke. When I play with WVU, I always find myself trying to compare my season with what would have happened in real life and since I know a lot about the team, the smallest things make it seem more unrealistic. I don't get that with Duke since the only guy's name I knew before starting this was Thaddeus Lewis. I get a fair amount of locally televised Duke games on down here, so perhaps I will try to catch them on sometime.

Plus, I kind of wanted to build up a team and I don't get to do that with WVU.

[superjames1992]

Preseason Top 25
1. Florida
2. Oklahoma
3. Texas
4. USC
5. LSU
6. Alabama
7. Ohio State
8. Penn State
9. Oklahoma State
10. Virginia Tech
11. Mississippi
12. Oregon
13. Georgia
14. Boise State
15. California
16. North Carolina
17. Brigham Young
18. Georgia Tech
19. Texas Christian
20. Florida State
21. Nebraska
22. Iowa
23. West Virginia
24. Utah
25. Kansas
30. Miami
36. Boston College
38. Clemson
44. N.C. State
57. Maryland
61. Wake Forest
64. Virginia
83. Duke

ACC Conference Outlook

Atlantic
1. #20 Florida State
2. Boston College
3. Clemson
4. N.C. State
5. Maryland
6. Wake Forest

Coastal
1. #10 Virginia Tech
2. #16 North Carolina
3. #18 Georgia Tech
4. Miami
5. Virginia
6. Duke

Duke Preseason Honorees
DT Vince Oghobaase - 1st Team All-ACC
P Kevin Jones - 1st Team All-ACC

[superjames1992]

Duke Shuts Out Richmond to Kick Off the Season

Durham, NC (AP) - The Coach Frizzell era got underway in Durham as the Duke Blue Devils (1-0, 0-0 ACC) demolished the Richmond Spiders, as expected. However, the margin was expected to be closer by most analysts. Duke was not supposed to win 44-0.

"I was really impressed by our defense," stated Duke head coach James Frizzell in a post-game interview. "I really didn't expect us to shut out the Spiders like we did."

The Blue Devils allowed Richmond to collect 275 offensive yards, but it didn't lead to anything on the scoreboard.

"We bent, but didn't break," stated Lee Williamson, Duke's new offensive coordinator, whose 4-3 scheme worked well in this game.

Perhaps the most unusual event of this game occured twice and was an extreme rarity. Sophomore wide receiver Johnny Williams lined up deep as Richmond attempted a long field goal in the second quarter. Richmond's kicker missed the kick short and Williams returned the kick 108 yards to the house to give Duke a 23-0 lead (Maggio missed the extra point). And with time expering, Richmond attempted a field goal from more than 50 yards out. The same result occured as Williams took another field goal return to the house to put the Blue Devils in the drivers' seat with a 30-0 halftime lead. Williams totaled two field goal returns for 215 yards and two touchdowns. Note that the game scored both plays as fumble recoveries, for whatever reason.

The Duke offense was impressive as Requan Boyette tallied 226 rushing yards and two touchdowns on just 13 carries. That adds up to a 17.3 YPC average. Many of those yards came in the first quarter, when Boyette reeled off a 59 yard touchdown run and a 79 yard run, which set up the Blue Devils at the one-yard line. Jay Hollingsworth would punc it in for a touchdown one play later.

Duke will get another relatively easy game next week against Army. While Army is considerably better than Richmond, they still are nothing like the caliber of the Kansas Jayhawks, who the Blue Devils will face in two weeks in Lawrence, KS.

Duke - 44, Richmond - 0

RIC: 00-00-00-00
Duke: 14-16-07-07

Box Score
1st Quarter:
Duke: 59 yard run by Boyette (7-0 Duke)
Duke: 1 yard run by Hollingsworth (14-0 Duke)

2nd Quarter:
Duke: 28 yard field goal by Maggio (17-0 Duke)
Duke: 108 yard field goal return by Williams (Extra point missed) (23-0 Duke)
Duke: 107 yard field goal return by Williams (30-0 Duke)

3rd Quarter:
Duke: 17 yard run by Boyette (37-0 Duke)

4th Quarter:
Duke: 22 yard pass from Renfre to Bell (44-0 Duke)

Team Statistics (RIC/Duke)
First Downs: 16/12
Total Offense: 275/390
Rushes-Yards: 30-121-0/30-253-3
Comp-Att-TD: 12-24-0/12-15-1
Passing Yards: 154/137
Turnovers: 0/1
Total Yards: 349/454
Penalties-Yards: 2-10/1-15
T.O.P.: 14:39/15:41

Individual Statistics
Richmond Spiders
No individual statistics for FCS teams.

Duke Blue Devils
S. Renfree: 6-7, 83 Yds, TD
T. Lewis: 6-8, 54 Yds, Int
R. Boyette: 13 Car, 226 Yds, 2 TD
J. Hollingsworth: 9 Car, 31 Yds, TD
S. Bell: 2 Rec, 45 Yds, TD
A. Kelly: 3 Rec, 37 Yds

C. Gainey: 12 Tkl, TFL
D. Thorton: 8 Tkl, 3 TFL, Sck
M. Daniels: 7 Tkl
V. Rey: 7 Tkl
A. Okpokowuruk: 6 Tkl, TFL, Sck

*NOTE TO SELF: NO MORE FIELD GOAL RETURNS. THEY ARE A BIT ON THE CHEESY SIDE, AT LEAST AGAINST FBS TEAMS.*

[superjames1992]

Top 25 Losses

#12 Oregon (1-0) - 19
#14 Boise State (0-1) - 8

Memphis (1-0) - 24
#11 Mississippi (0-1) - 14

#13 Georgia (1-0) - 45
#9 Oklahoma State (0-1) - 14

#17 Brigham Young (0-1) - 6
#2 Oklahoma (1-0) - 38

#10 Virginia Tech (1-0) - 27
#6 Alabama (0-1) - 7

Top 25
1. Florida (34) (1-0)
2. Oklahoma (24) (1-0)
3. Texas (2) (1-0)
4. USC (1) (1-0)
5. LSU (1-0)
6. Ohio State (1-0)
7. Virginia Tech (1-0)
8. Penn State (1-0)
9. Georgia (1-0)
10. Oregon (1-0)
11. Alabama (0-1)
12. California (1-0)
13. North Carolina (1-0)
14. Oklahoma State (0-1)
15. Georgia Tech (1-0)
16. Texas Christian (0-0)
17. Florida State (1-0)
18. Boise State (0-1)
19. Nebraska (1-0)
20. Iowa (1-0)
21. West Virginia (1-0)
22. Brigham Young (0-1)
23. Utah (1-0)
24. Kansas (1-0)
25. Rutgers (1-0)

Others Receiving Votes: South Florida, Mississippi, Minnesota, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Boston College, Oregon State

Dropped Out: #11 Mississippi

ACC Atlantic Division Standings
1. #17 Florida State 1-0 (1-0)
2. Clemson 1-0 (0-0)
3. Boston College 1-0 (0-0)
4. Maryland 0-1 (0-0)
5. N.C. State 0-1 (0-0)
6. Wake Forest 0-1 (0-0)

ACC Coastal Division Standings
1. #7 Virginia Tech 1-0 (0-0)
2. #13 North Carolina 1-0 (0-0)
3. #15 Georgia Tech 1-0 (0-0)
4. Duke 1-0 (0-0)
5. Virginia 1-0 (0-0)
6. Miami 0-1 (0-1)

[Kahuma]

About time there's a North Carolina Team!

It sees we've been left out.

Though ECU is wayyyy better.

[redwings123]

Looks good, I'll definitely be following

[superjames1992]

Quote: Originally Posted by Kahuma

About time there's a North Carolina Team! It sees we've been left out. Though ECU is wayyyy better.

ECU's cool ... as long as they don't beat WVU again this year!

Quote: Originally Posted by redwings123

Looks good, I'll definitely be following

Thanks!

[superjames1992]

Damien Thorton's Intercepted Pitch Saves the Day

West Point, NY (AP) - Damien Thorton made one of the greatest plays in recent memory for the Duke Blue Devils (2-0, 0-0 ACC) this afternoon as the 6-2 junior linebacker intercepted an option pitch from Army quarterback Chip Bowden and took it 40 yards to the house to give the Blue Devils a 30-23 lead late in the fourth quarter over the Army Black Knights (0-2).

Duke held on to win 30-23 as the Blue Devils managed to fend off the Army offense, which, after scoring 23 points in the first half, had stagnated in the second half as the Black Knights were shut out in the final two frames of play.

Still, Duke allowed the Black Knights offense 418 yards of total offense.

"We allowed way too many yards, but a lot of that has to do with us not seeing very many triple option teams like Army," stated Duke defensive coordinator Lee Williamson. "At halftime, I formulated a gameplan to help slow them down and it worked pretty well. I don't think this performance is any indication that we will perform poorly on the defensive side of the ball in other games; we just aren't used to seeing the option attack and we won't see it again this year."

One concerning aspect of this game was Duke's inability to run the football. Requan Boyette managed just 43 yards on 21 carries, a 2.0 YPC average. Overall, the Blue Devils ran for 106 yards on 31 carries, but a lot of those yards came off of unorthodox scrambles by quarterback Thaddeus Lewis, who rushed for 44 yards on five carries.

With the run virtually shut down, the Blue Devils looked to the passing game and it delivered, especially in the first half. Thaddeus Lewis completed 25 of 37 passes for 268 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception as he had a fine day.

"[Lewis] is the leader of our offense and of our team and he showed why today," stated Duke head coach James Frizzell.

A common, and somewhat unusual, target was junior tight end Brett Huffman, who led Duke in both receptions and receiving yards today. Huffman totaled 82 receiving yards and a touchdown on six receptions and 35 of those yards came after the catch.

Duke - 30, Army - 23

Duke: 07-13-03-07
Army: 10-13-00-00

Box Score
1st Quarter:
Army: 30 yard field goal by Carlton (3-0 Army)
Duke: 6 yard pass from Lewis to Huffman (7-3 Duke)
Army: 69 yard pass from Bowden to Williams (10-7 Army)

2nd Quarter:
Duke: 14 yard pass from lewis to Varner (14-10 Duke)
Army: 14 yard run by Smith (17-14 Army)
Duke: 21 yard field goal by Maggio (17-17)
Army: 62 yard run by Williams (Missed kick) (23-17 Army)
Duke: 20 yard field goal by Maggio (23-20 Army)

3rd Quarter:
Duke: 48 yard field goal by Maggio (23-23)

4th Quarter:
Duke: Thorton returned fumble 40 yards (30-23 Duke)

Team Statistics (Duke/Army)
First Downs: 21/17
Total Offense: 374/418
Rushes-Yards: 31-106-0/45-263-2
Comp-Att-TD: 25-37-2/5-15-1
Passing Yards: 268/155
Turnovers: 1/1
Total Yards: 485/474
Penalties-Yards: 1-5/3-40
T.O.P.: 14:59/13:23

Individual Statistics
Duke Blue Devils
T. Lewis: 25-37, 268 Yds, 2 TD, Int, 5 Car, 44 Yds
R. Boyette: 21 Car, 43 Yds
B. Huffman: 6 Rec, 82 Yds, TD
S. Bell: 5 Rec, 64 Yds
D. Varner: 4 Rec, 53 Yds, TD

Catron Gainey: 9 Tkl, TFL
A. Kromah: 8 Tkl, TFL
M. Daniels: 7 Tkl, TFL
L. Wright: 7 Tkl
D. Thorton: 4 Tkl, TFL, FR, TD

Army Black Knights
C. Bowden: 5-15, 155 Yds, TD
C. Williams: 17 Car, 150 Yds, TD, Rec, 69 Yds, TD
I. Smith: 11 Car, 80 Yds, TD
P. Mealy: 3 Car, 30 Yds
E. Bernal: 2 Rec, 53 Tds

D. Dixon: 17 Tkl, TFL, Int
M. Hilton: 8 Tkl, TFL
D. Travis: 7 Tkl
S. Anderson: 7 Tkl
M. Gann: 6 Tkl, 3 TFL
M. Hill: 6 Tkl, 2 TFL
S. Erzinger: 5 Tkl, 2 TFL, Sck