Duke Football: The Dan Orlovsky Era

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Quote: Originally Posted by kesleypro

yeah, make it a little big bigger, pretty good season, not great, but not bad. over 500 at least.

How about now? Still too small?

Yeah overall I was ok with the season, especially considering it was with my backup quarterback for the majority. Would have definitely liked to win the bowl game though, that sucked.

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The 2012 Season
An Overview of What Happened in 2012
Around the Nation


WR Chris Given's record-setting year earned him a Heisman trophy.

National Championship: Utah 28, Arizona State 25
Rose Bowl: Ohio State 38, USC 10
Sugar Bowl: Alabama 52, Wisconsin 28
Orange Bowl: Oklahoma 38, Boston College 27
Fiesta Bowl: Nebraska 52, West Virginia 24
Heisman Winner: Wake Forest WR Chris Givens
Top Recruit: WR Trevor Washington (Westminster East, CO) - Committed to Oklahoma
#1 Recruiting Class: Texas
Coach of the Year: Steve Sarkesian (Washington)

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Year of the Red - every team who won a BCS bowl game is either Red or Dark Red.

[PocketSizeSun]

Wisconsin got smoked in the Sugar Bowl.

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Quote: Originally Posted by PocketSizeSun

Wisconsin got smoked in the Sugar Bowl.

I know, I was surprised by that score. At least they're consistently competitive though, they've been good every year so far.

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2013 Schedule
A look at Duke's 2013 opponents.


NU QB Evan Watkins knocks out CB Will Canty after an INT. The Duke-Northwestern series comes to Durham this season.

July 6, 2013

Durham, NC - The 2013 football season will begin with familiar faces for the Blue Devils, as the Duke-Iowa State series will hold its last game of the 4-year series in Ames, IA in week 1. The following week the Blue Devils will host the Northwestern Wildcats in the 2nd year of a 4-year series. Last year's game was a 3-point win for Duke in double-overtime, so NU QB Evan Watkins and the Wildcats will be looking for revenge.

Conference play will begin in week 3 with the North Carolina State Wolfpack coming to town. As always, the Blue Devils will play the entire Coastal division: Miami, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Virginia, and rival North Carolina. In the Atlantic division, the Blue Devils will have their annual rivalry game with Wake Forest, as well as dates with Clemson and North Carolina State.

Near the end of the year, right before the North Carolina game, Duke will travel to Greenville, NC for the first game of a series with the East Carolina Pirates. The Blue Devils will play the Pirates every other year, with the last game in Durham in 2017. Finally, in Week 14, Duke will travel to Tuscaloosa, AL to take on the #2 Crimson Tide. Next year Duke will host Alabama to end the 2-year series.

Our Thoughts: With a fairly challenging out-of-conference schedule, the Blue Devils may struggle to match last season's 8-5 effort. We expect Duke to split the Iowa State-Northwestern games, beat ECU, and lose to Alabama, giving them a 2-2 out-of-conference record. As for ACC play, we see wins over NC State, Virginia, Georgia Tech, and Wake Forest with losses to Miami, Clemson, Virginia Tech, and North Carolina State for a 4-4 record in-conference. This would give the Blue Devils a record of 6-6 (4-4) - good enough for a bowl game, but not a great season overall. However, anything can happen - as we all know, the games aren't played on paper. Here's to a great season of Duke Football under Coach Orlovsky.

Duke Blue Devils 2013 Schedule
DATE	OPPONENT	RESULT
Sep 1	at Iowa State
Sep 8	vs Northwestern
Sep 15	vs North Carolina State
Sep 22	at University of Virginia
Sep 29	vs Virginia Tech
Oct 6	at Miami
Oct 13	vs Georgia Tech
Oct 20	at Clemson
Oct 27	vs Wake Forest
Nov 3	at ECU
Nov 18	at North Carolina
Dec 1	at Alabama

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2013 Depth Chart
Duke's Depth Chart for the upcoming season has been released.

August 10, 2013

Durham, NC - Coming off an 8-5 campaign, the Blue Devils return only 5 offensive starters to go along with 7 defensive starters. Here's a look at the newly released depth chart for the 2013 season:

Duke Blue Devils Depth Chart - 2013
Regular Offense
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
WR	Corey Gattis - 78	Brandon Daze - 69	Brandon Deaver - 67	Robert Childress - 61
TE	D. Andrews - 63	Brandon Braxton - 67
LT	Takoby Cofield - 76	AJ Callahan - 63
LG	Dave Harding - 83	Willie Morris - 64
C	Curtis Davis - 67	Josh Carter - 62
RG	Paul Richard - 66	Brett Fields - 64
RT	Perry Simmons - 77	Andrew Foster - 64
WR	Josh Snead - 70	Paul Miller - 66	Skyler Brant - 68
QB	Sean Schroeder - 87	Conor Young - 69	B. Connette - 76	Anthony Boone - 72
FB	Ryan Hall - 71	Joe White - 54
HB	Derek Justice - 74	James Gibson - 70	Tim Jamison - 65
Base 4-3 Defense
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
LDE	Justin Foxx - 80	Gerald Romero - 69
LDT	S. Sarmiento - 79	Chad Cabral - 64
RDT	Antoine Smith - 68	Gerald Romero - 63
RDE	Jama Wallace - 73	Jesse Hickman - 67
WLB	August Campell - 73	Kelby Brown - 71	Charles Howard - 65
MLB	Davon McDonald - 67	Michael Griffin - 65	Max Kent - 62
SLB	Tyree Glover - 74	Kevin Rojas - 68	Marcus Ferguson - 62
CB	Lex Butler - 78	Taylor Sowell - 73	Terry Quinn - 65
SS	A. Weissman - 69	David Harwell - 66
FS	David Jordan - 72	Michael Walker - 60
CB	Will Canty - 75	Gary Patterson - 70	Jerome Brown - 62
Special Teams
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
K	Early Spurlock - 67
P	Chris Bain - 46
PR	Josh Snead - 87	Gary Patterson - 88
KR	Josh Snead - 87	Gary Patterson - 88	Corey Gattis - 89
LS	Brett Fields - 64

In addition, the following players have been red-shirted for the 2013 season:

Redshirts
QB John Robinson - FR - 66
RB Derrick Jensen - FR - 63
RG Melvin Lee - FR - 60
RT Sam Smith - FR - 61
LE John Dorsey - FR - 65
RE Xavier Fine - FR - 63
DT Derek Scott - FR - 65
ROLB Daniel Hill - FR - 64
CB Anthony Levine - FR - 61
CB Justin Bennett - FR - 61
FS Brian Humphrey - FR - 63

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2013 Season Preview - Offense
This year's offense returns only 5 starters from last season.

August 14, 2013

Durham, NC --- Last year, Sean Schroeder and the high-flying passing attack were the only reason Duke was able to compete. This year, all facets of the passing game will return with the exception of wideout Tony Foster, who has since graduated. Here's a position-by-position look at the 2013 Duke Blue Devils offense.

QB: For the first time in his career, Schroeder (a redshirt senior) will enter the season as the unquestioned starter. Schroeder has a live arm, but his best attribute is his accuracy - perfect for Coach Orlovsky's offense. Schroeder also has enough athleticism to move around in the pocket and even pick up a few yards on the ground when needed. However, the biggest surprise of spring 'ball was not Schroeder, but redshirt freshman Conor Young. Young, recruited as an athlete 2 seasons ago before red-shirting the 2012 season, showed a surprising command of the offense. Though his arm strength is suspect and his accuracy spotty, Young brings an exciting dimension to the offense - speed. Young can break down at any moment and sprint out of the pocket, demonstrating elite acceleration and elusiveness in the open field. Coach Orlovsky has cautioned fans and media about the young quarterback, saying that he has maturity issues to work out. But watch out for this young man to enter the game in special packages to take advantage of his versatility.

QB Sean Schroeder threw 31 touchdown passes last season.

RB: With former starter Desmond Scott graduated, the new starter will be redshirt sophomore Derek Justice, who interestingly enough was recruited to play wide receiver before switching positions last season. Justice has decent acceleration and good long speed, but very little elusiveness in the open field - his spin and juke moves are almost comical in their lack of effectiveness. However, Justice will break a few tackles every once in a while and is a very good receiver out of the backfield. Justice also almost never fumbles. His backup is fellow redshirt sophomore James Gibson. Gibson is almost identical to Justice but with elusiveness, less receiving skills, and a tendency to fumble. The third-string back, Tim Jamison, has good acceleration and long speed but not much else.

Derek Justice will take over the starting role in 2013.

FB: Senior Ryan Hall returns as a second-year starter. Hall has prototypical size for a fullback, above-average speed, and is very adept at finding the right man to hit in the hole. Hall is also surprisingly effective with the ball in his hands. However, he struggles with both drops and fumbles, so he shouldn't see the ball all too often. His backup, Joe White, still needs a lot of work in the weight room and will struggle mightily should anything happen to Hall.

Ryan Hall (#85) plays a huge part in creating holes like these.

WR: Though Corey Gattis is probably the best 'pure' receiver, halfback-turned-receiver Josh Snead gets the most looks in this offense - and with due cause. Snead, who usually is the slot receiver, is electric with the ball in his hands - he runs a 4.31 40 - and is easily able to get separation on his routes. His only knock is his hands - he will lose concentration at times and drop easy passes. The aforementioned Gattis is more in the mold of a Marvin Harrison - though with much less talent of course. Gattis has good acceleration and speed, very good route running, and will catch the ball more often than not. Unfortunately, despite these traits, Gattis often has trouble getting open and has yet to develop a solid rapport with Sean Schroeder. Another big surprise from camp was the play of true freshman Paul Miller. Miller has elite deep speed and can do electric things with the ball in his hands, but struggles with drops and route-running. After the top three is a clump consisting of Brandon Daze, Skyler Brant, and Braxton Deaver. All three are decent but nothing special, with Deaver probably the most likely to see significant playing time.

Snead's versatility allows him to line up at both receiver and halfback.

TE: Returning for his third year starting is behemoth Dominique Andrews - a true junior. Andrews, who stands 6'8" and weighs 258 lbs, has good speed for a tight end and an even better get-off. He also has huge hands that will haul in seemingly everything, and will win most jump-ball situations. Andrews is a below-average run-blocker, but he more than makes up for it with his presence in the passing game. He is backed up by fellow junior Brandon Braxton. Braxton has deceiving long speed but has inconsistent hands and is probably an even worse blocker than Andrews.

Dominique Andrews is able to use his size to his advantage in the passing game.

OL: Left guard Dave Harding is the leader of the group, and is one of only 2 returning starters on the offensive line. Harding rarely misses assignments, and is the best pass blocker of the group. The other returning starter is right tackle Perry Simmons. Simmons gave up too many sacks last season, but worked hard on his pass blocking and looks much improved this year. Protecting Schroeder's blind side is left tackle Takoby Cofield. Cofield, while a good pass blocker and not half-bad in the run game, is not always sure of his assignment and could take some time to adjust. Curtis Davis will start for the first time at center. Davis is a good pass blocker - a common theme in this group apparently - but is only an average run blocker (if that) and needs work on his line calls. The weak link of the line is right guard Paul Richard. Coach Orlovsky was hoping true freshman Brett Fields would earn the job in camp, but Fields looked awful in spring 'ball and the job was given to Richard, whose natural position is right tackle. Richard is a decent pass blocker but doesn't appear very natural at guard, and struggles to use leverage to generate push in the run game.

The offensive line struggled in pass protection last season.