Duke Blue Devils: "Rags to Riches" (NCAA '14)

[dcfounders]

Glad to see you are posting updates!!

[Magicfan32]

Get your game on!
Despite Teddy Bridgewater's arm, Duke upsets #6 Louisville

Louisville Cardinals at Duke Blue Devils
Sep 20, 2014	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
#6 Louisville Cardinals (3-1)	7	10	7	0	24
Duke Blue Devils (3-0)	6	17	21	0	44

Despite an atrocious defensive showing in the first half, the Blue Devils managed to make a turnaround and upset #6 Louisville in Durham 44-24. Duke forced two turnovers at crucial game points to seal a victory and expose Teddy Bridgewater on the road. This marks the third time in coach William Fournier Jr's two year career at Duke that his team has upset a top 10 team. Prior wins were to #8 Notre Dame and #4 Clemson last year.

The game started off slow, with Duke moving the ball with ease on their first possession but settling for a field goal. Louisville did the same, except turned their possession into a touchdown to go up 7-3 early in the first quarter. After another Duke field goal and a 3-and-out by the Cardinals, the Blue Devils finally found some life. Anthony Boone, who threw for over 250 yards on the day, connected on a 46-yard pass to Jamison Crowder in the endzone to take a one touchdown lead at the start of the second quarter.

For the most part, the Blue Devils were able to hold off Louisville by getting into the backfield a sacking Bridgewater a number of times. They eventually got the ball back with a chance to go up by two scores after forcing a Cardinals field goal. With the opportunity, Duke took no time to get to work. Jela Duncan weaved his way through the Louisville defense to get Duke into the goal-line nearing one minute left in the half. Josh Snead would finish it up by powering his way into the endzone to put Duke up 20-10.

The two possession lead would be short-lived, as Teddy Bridgewater's arm strength lead Louisville to scoring on a 52-yard pass to James Quick on a 3rd & 15 with 30 seconds left before halftime.

"We have a real problem with our third-down defense," Coach William Fournier said post-game.

"You can't keep letting teams, especially those like [Louisville], convert third down after third down and expect to win easily,"

Duke would however move quickly to kick a field goal to go up by 6 at halftime, a 23-17 lead against the #6 team in the nation. It was more surprising to many as it would seem, as all week long the experts predicted Louisville to win by 5+ touchdowns with half of those being scored in the first half. The Blue Devils were eager to prove them wrong, especially when those kinds of things were being said to happen on their home turf.

Louisville would get the ball to start the second half, and as before, moved it with easy. Bridgewater would get the Cardinals to the Duke 30 with a chance to score and take the lead. On a 2nd & 10, the Blue Devils would line up in an very strange 6-2-3 Jam Cover formation, which is usually used in goal-line situations, against a four-wideout look. Confused, Bridgewater wasn't able to complete the play and was sacked by David Helton. The very next play, Duke came out in the same formation. Bridgewater frantically looked over to the sideline, hoping to get some sort of explanation. However, he wouldn't find any as he threw an interception that was returned by Evrett Edwards to the 37 yard line.

With the chance to go up big again, Anthony Boone led the Blue Devils down to the 15 yard line. They would be held though to a 4th & inches at the 6 1/2 yard-line. Fournier, who had a strict policy on 4th down conversion attempts, decided to go for it. Duke lined up in an I-form against a Jumbo set Louisville defense. Luckily, Jela Duncan was able to bounce to the outside and ran in for the score, putting Duke up 30-17 with 2:30 left in the third quarter.

The celebration was again short-lived, as Louisville had a 3rd & 5 in their own territory and nonetheless had to convert. Duke again lined up in the Jam Cover set, hoping to duplicate their last two events of success with the play. Bridgewater handed it off to Dominique Brown, who slipped through a hole and a missed tackle by redshirt Freshman linebacker Dominic McDonald led to a 66-yard touchdown run that put the Cardinals back down only by six.

"I contested against [Alvarez's] decision to run the formation once more, because I knew it would lead to trouble, which it obviously did," Coach Fournier said post-game.

As Wallace Wade Stadium grew quiet, Anthony Boone and the Duke offense weren't going to let a miscue by their defensive counterparts slow them down. On the very next play, Jela Duncan went through a big hole and followed some good blocks by Zack Harmon and Laken Tomlinson and broke a tackle to run 81-yards for a touchdown to put them back up by two scores. It was probably the biggest definition of 'momentum swing' ever in college football.

Louisville would try to respond by marching down field and scoring to cut the lead back to six. But on the first play of their drive, heavy pressure by Duke led to Teddy Bridgewater throwing too far behind his receiver, and into the hands of Jared Boyd who took it back 38 yards for a #PickSix, which made #4 on SportsCenter's Top 10.

Bridgewater and the Cardinals would try to recover, but a stout fourth quarter showing by the Duke defense led to nothing and a secured victory. It was the first time Duke had beaten a Top 10 team at home since Sep 30, 1989 when they beat #9 Clemson under head coach and former Heisman winner Steve Spurrier.

"It was one of those games that was to show the world that we can still compete at the top-level, even though we were there just last season," Runningback Jela Duncan said in a post-game interview.

The Duke Blue Devils move on to 3-0 on the season and 1-0 in ACC conference play. Next week they travel to Norfolk, Virginia (which is Fournier's home state) to take on the Old Dominion Monarchs, who they obliterated last year 63-31 at home.

Team Stats Comparison
	LOU	DUKE
Total Offense	483	439
Rushing Yards	89	236
Passing Yards	394	203
First Downs	20	31
Punt Return Yards	17	15
Kick Return Yards	15	35
Total Yards	533	602
Turnovers	2	0
3rd Down Converstion	8-13	9-12
4th Down Conversion	0-0	1-1
2-Point Conversion	0-0	0-0
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	3-2-1 (100%0	5-3-1 (80%)
Penalties	3-15	2-10
Posession Time	15:32	16:58

Louisville Cardinals PASSING C/A YDS TD INT T. Bridgewater 27/42 394 2 2 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD D. Brown 16 39 2.4 1 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Z. Pike 3 46 15.3 1 J. Quick 5 94 18.8 1 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Jeremaine Reve 8 2.0 0 0 Josh Harvey-Clemmons 9 1.0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG J. Wallace 1/1 3/3 3 42

Duke Blue Devils PASSING C/A YDS TD INT A. Boone 24/30 289 1 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD J. Duncan 25 208 8.3 2 J. Snead 10 30 3 0 A. Boone 1 6 6 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD I. Blakeney 7 118 16.8 0 J. Crowder 3 85 28.3 1 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD D. Helton 8 1.0 0 0 J. Wallace 6 1.0 0 0 J. Boyd 11 0.0 1 1 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG R. Martin 3/3 4/4 9 46

HIGHLIGHTS

[Magicfan32]

RECRUITING OUTLOOK
MLB MARCUS THOMPSON

St. Mary's, Georgia - Camden County High School star linebacker Marcus Thompson has been through many ups-and-downs the past year. First, he suffered a torn ACL in the spring which did away with his appearance at the SPARQ Combine in Mobile. Second, he had to deal with his grandmother passing away just before his senior year of high school started. Thirdly, due to past behavior problems at school, Georgia and Georgia Tech, his top two schools of interest, would not target him as a prospect and quickly removed him from their boards. Since then, he's turned to neighboring states for a place to go. His search was long, and for the most part, disappointing for him. He was too low caliber for Alabama and Auburn, too "out of need" for Florida and Florida State, not what they wanted at South Carolina and Clemson. Just when Thompson thought all was over for him, he found new life. The state of North Carolina, old home of tobacco, held three schools that were moving down further south looking for promising players, and one of those was Marcus Thompson.

Thompson first received word from North Carolina State, a large school in Raleigh who's been struggling to find themselves in the conference stage, who were quick to offer him a scholarship after head coach Dave Doeren was told of him back during the spring, and kept tabs on him until recently when he heard about his search for a home.

Not long after, another North Carolina school contacted him. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After learning that their one of their rival schools jumped at the opportunity of a free prospect, head coach Larry Fedora offered him a scholarship and a visit of the program. Thompson started feeling better about his future, but one more school was willing to give him an offer.

On September 1st, Thompson was contacted by William Fournier, head coach at Duke University in Durham. He was interested in Thompson, and wanted him to come play football at Duke. While many would see this as just another attempt by a rival school to win a prospect battle, Marcus was more ecstatic about his offer from Duke.

"I was happy to be getting targeted by these schools, but to have a program who's already been at the top be interested in me? It's almost like a dream," Thompson said in an interview with Rivals.com.

Not long after, Duke offered him a scholarship. In the next few weeks, Thompson started considering his options. After learning of their low conference contender potential after his visit, Marcus quickly declined North Carolina, saying that he "wants to be on a team that can compete and compete well".

Thompson has now narrowed down his choice to just Duke and North Carolina State. Since Duke's upset win over #6 Louisville, he's found himself swinging towards the Blue Devil's side. He's already a solid verbal, and soon to be making a choice. Most experts think he would be a good fit for the Blue Devils, as his speed and power is just what their defense is looking for.

"He's an exceptional kid, with no regard to his past. What matters now is the present, as well as the future; and this kid's got potential here at Duke, I just know it," Coach William Fournier Jr. said in a radio interview.

With just a few weeks left in his senior season, Marcus Thompson is expected to make his announcement on where he's going sometime in late November or early December. All that is known is that it will be before Signing Day.

[Magicfan32]

'Bonnie & Clyde' make it rain on ODU
Duke blows out Old Dominion behind Duncan and Snead

Duke Blue Devils at Old Dominion Monarchs
Sep 27, 2014	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Duke Blue Devils (4-0)	0	14	21	14	49
Old Dominion Monarchs (2-3)	7	14	7	0	28

On the first road game of the season, Duke put on an offensive show and a defensive hideaway as the Blue Devils run over Old Dominion 49-28. Jela Duncan and Josh Snead, dubbed 'Bonnie & Clyde' by local media, led the way with a combined 228 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns. The two have become the pinnacle of the program, nearing almost 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns combined so far in the season.

Things started slow for the Blue Devils. Going three-and-out on their first drive. Despite ebing beat heavily in the air, DUke managed to stop the Monarchs at the goal-line on a 4th down to take over on downs. A few moments later, ODU would get the ball right back as Anthony Boone threw an interception, which they would score off of three plays later.

After the first quarter, things started clicking. Duke drove the length of the field to finally score a touchdown on a Jela Duncan run to tie. Not long after, ODU came right back with a 44-yard pass from Herron to Burns. Thus leaving Duke to try and tie with four minutes left till halftime.

The Blue Devils would succeed, scoring on a 5-yard read option by Anthony Boone. However, ODU would score once more on a Hail Mary pass before the end of the half to go up 21-14. It was the first time the Blue Devils had trailed going into halftime in the season so far.

"[We] can't keep up on defense. We're getting beat deep in the air. Our secondary isn't stepping up." Coach William Fournier Jr. said at halftime when asked what's been his team's weakness in the first half.

Things opened up a bit more in the second half, as Duke held ODU to a three-and-out on their first drive and got the ball around midfield. Duncan and Snead would quickly bring the Blue Devils into the RedZone, where Anthony Boone would throw a 15 yard pass to Jamison Crowder to bring the game back to a 21-21 tie. The Monarchs would again go three-and-out and Duke would get the ball back with a chance to go up by two scores, which would be accomplished by Josh Snead on a 36-yard run.

Just when it looked like ODU was falling out of it, they came right back on an screen pass to Charles for 85 yards and a touchdown, tying the game once more. Duke would score once more before the end of the quarter on a 12 yard run by Jela Duncan.

With time ticking away in the fourth quarter, the Blue Devils knew they had to pull away if they wanted to leave with the win. Thankfully, Anthony Boone was able to them inside the 5 yard line and finish with a 1 yard handoff to fullback Andrew Howard to go up 42-28 with four minutes left to go. Old Dominion would again turn it over on downs to give it back to Duke in good field position. Anthony Boone would seal the deal on a 14 yard QB run with thirty seconds left to end the game 49-28.

This win puts Duke at 4-0 before they start conference play next week at home against rival Wake Forest. The Blue Devils also cracked the Top 25 after their BYE week and sit at #16, a week before the first College Football Playoff Rankings are released. Interestingly enough, three of Duke's next five opponents are ranked in the Top 5 (#3 Miami, #5 Georgia Tech, and #6 Virginia Tech).

"[It] will be interesting to see how we stack up to other Top 10 teams, especially on the road at Georgia Tech and Miami. But we won't focus on them until the week we play them." Coach Fournier said post-game.

Team Stats Comparison
	DUKE	OD
Total Offense	538	375
Rushing Yards	302	6
Passing Yards	236	369
First Downs	25	8
Punt Return Yards	32	6
Kick Return Yards	87	0
Total Yards	657	381
Turnovers	1	0
3rd Down Converstion	9-10 (100%0	5-11 (45%)
4th Down Conversion	0-0	0-1
2-Point Conversion	0-0	0-0
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	6-6-0 (100%)	3-2-0 (66%)
Penalties	3-15	2-10
Posession Time	22:31	9:29

Duke Blue Devils PASSING C/A YDS TD INT A. Boone 17/22 202 1 1 B. Connette 2/2 34 0 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD J. Duncan 23 138 6.0 2 J. Snead 14 95 6.7 1 A. Boone 7 63 8.9 2 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD I. Blakeney 5 91 18.2 0 J. Duncan 3 11 3.6 0 J. Crowder 3 30 10 1 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD M. Westray 4 1.0 0 0 J. Wallace 3 2.0 0 0

Old Dominion Monarchs PASSING C/A YDS TD INT B. Herron 26/34 369 3 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD B. Herron 6 10 1.6 0 A. Sullivan 4 -4 -1.0 1 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Q. Burns 10 186 18.6 1 A. Sullivan 6 82 13.6 0 G. Charles 4 77 19.2 2 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD M. Lewis 8 1.0 0 0 K. Johnson 2 0.0 1 0 A. Wade 3 1.0 0 0

[Magicfan32]

Due to my limited time today, I won't be able to post a match report for the game against Wake Forest. I won 48-27, behind three Josh Snead touchdowns. It also moved us into the Top 10, at #9. I'll make sure to post a full report for the game against Pittsburgh, which is next.