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2000 Duke Blue Devils - 0-11/0-8 ACC (no bowl) Head Coach Carl Franks (3-18 @ Duke and overall) Oh the horror! They say it takes a tremendous amount of luck mixed in with some good fortune to go undefeated. That makes me wonder just how bad you've got to be to go winless...for the second time in 5 seasons. I mean, you figure that sooner or later, lady luck is going to smile on you...or at least frown on the other team...right? Not Duke. The 2000 season was one long nightmare for Coach Carl Franks and his troops. They didn't do anything right. Not only did they finish at the bottom of the ACC in total offense AND total defense, they also finished last in other key categories like turnover margin (-13), 3rd down conversions (23%), and sacks allowed (54!). In other words, Duke was every bit as bad as their record indicated. Like Louisville, Hawaii, and South Carolina (recent winless teams who rebounded to go to a bowl game) you'd like to think that Duke has hit bottom and there's no where to go but up. You'd like to...but that may not be the case. The Devils have so many areas they need to improve on that you don't know where to start. Their rushing attack was anemic. Their pass protection non-existant. The D-line must replace 2 starters in a 3-4 alignment. The secondary is suspect, and they lost their best player...All-ACC punter Brian Morton. It's so bad that Duke alum and QB coach Ben Bennett bolted for greener pastures in the Arena Football League! While other teams shoot for a winning season, or a better bowl, or a run at the Roses...Duke is just going to try and win a game for the first time since November 13th, 1999 when the topped Wake 48-35. In addition to the conference slate, games at Rice, Big 10 favorite Northwestern, and Vanderbilt stand in their way. If they can't be the Owls in the 2nd game of the season, it's likely this Duke squad will set a new standard for futility. Duke's current losing streak stands at 12- the school record is 15. Florida State and Clemson are the other two teams that Duke must beat to avoid that dubious distinction. Good luck! Rush Off. - 82 ypg/106th....Pass Off. - 198 ypg/71st....Total Off. - 280 ypg/106th Returning Starter Offense OC Carl Franks (3rd season @ Duke as head coach/OC) Quarterbacks The Spencer Romine/Bobby Campbell QB duo finally ended their seemingly endless run at Duke last season prematurely. Nagging injuries, a lack of offensive production, and the emergence of Bryant as a capable QB prompted Coach Franks to sit down the two long-time starters and play his sophomore QB. It was a short-term set back that the staff hopes will pay off with in a long-term gain. With Romine and Campbell getting the majority of the snaps in the first four games, Duke had scored a grand total of 15 points, 2 of them on a safety. Late in the Vanderbilt game, with the Commodores in control 26-0, Bryant came off the bench and led the Devils to a TD. He would start the rest of the season. He ended 2000 with 129 completions on 258 attempts, accounting for 1,448 yards and 5 TD's. The problem, as is the problem with any young QB, was his decision making. Bryant threw 10 of the Blue Devils league high 22 interceptions. Hopefully the fact Bryant decided to participate in ALL off-season work outs (instead of playing as a reserve on the basketball team like he did his first two years in Durham) will help him improve in that area. While Bryant carries the tag of a mobile QB, he wasn't particularly dangerous running the ball. When all the sacks are figured in, he was creditied with 79 attempts for MINUS 96 yards. (+201, -297) He'll need to use every bit of whatever mobility he does have this season. With the experience of Romine and Campbell now gone, Duke would have to turn to a pair of redshirt freshman to take over should Bryant be lost for any length of time. They simply cannot afford that. If the Devils are going to stop this losing streak, they'll need a healthy Bryant. Runningbacks Like Bryant, Chris Douglas emerged as a player after the season was under way. In 2000, Duane Epperson and B.J. Hill were expected to handle the majority of carries out of the backfield. However, Hill did not play as he continued to recover from a 1999 knee injury. Epperson was solid, but unspectacular, as the primary back gaining 400 yards on 111 attempts. Coming off the bench meanwhile, Douglas ended up leading the Devils with 110 carries for 503 yards and 6 TD's. He also established himself as a threat in Duke's pass-happy offensive scheme, hauling in 22 catches for 168 yards and another score. The fullback is not called on much in Franks' offensive scheme. In short yardage situations when the fullback is needed, look for Wade to get the ball. Last season, he saw limited action picking up 66 yards on 20 carries. Depth is definitely NOT a luxury the Devils enjoy here. Neither Clemmons or Novak has taken a game-day snap. Wide Receivers Here's a sure sign things are not going your way - your team likes to run a wide open, 4 receiver set that the head coach calls "Airborne" and you can't place one single WR in the league's Top 10 in receptions/game or receiving yards/game. Improvement could come in Duke's passing attack if the Devils would just learn to catch the ball. With Erdeljac and Moore leading the way, it looks as if the Devils have the experience at receiver to make that happen. In 2000, Erdeljac caught 31 passes for 329 yards and a TD. Moore added 17 receptions for 280 yards and led the team w/ 3 TD's. Battier (yes, it's Shane's brother) and Love will see plenty of time as Duke often employs 3 and 4 receiver sets. Both are big receivers with decent speed. The hope is that they will really help open up the Duke offense as they become more sure-handed and disciplined in their routes. Battier contributed 12 catches for 78 yards last year, while Love recorded 8 catches for 101 yards and a score. Once again, depth is a major problem. Behind these four, Duke does not return a receiver who's caught a pass in a game. Tight End Yet another area the coaches hope will contribute to an improved aerial attack is TE. Mike Hart, one of the premier TE's in the ACC, is Duke's best chance to place a player on the first team All-ACC squad at the end of the year. He was named the team MVP in 2000 after leading the league in receptions by a Tight End. Hart had 31 receptions for a team-high 540 yards. Blessed with good speed for a guy his size, Hart had two receptions for over 60 yards. Backing up Hart is Brzezinski, a sophomore who saw action in all 11 games last season. He had 12 receptions for 177 yards. This year, you can also look for Brzezinski in the backfield; he'll occasionally line up at the FB position. Offensive Line If it doesn't get better here...than all the improvement in the world by Bryant, Douglas, Erdeljac, and Hart isn't going to make a hill of beans difference. This unit was just flat terrible last season. Duke managed just 2.4 yards/carry running the ball, while giving up the aforementioned 54 sacks in just 11 games. Mitchell, Lewis, and Miller all sat out spring drills while recovering from off-season shoulder surgery. In trying to find some silver lining in all this bad news, Franks took some solace that it forced the backups to take the majority of snaps during practice. They needed it because of the projected backups, only Rusty Wilson (6-3, 296 lb. R-So.- projected as #2 LG) has played a down on the OL. (5 games in 2000) Ofcourse, the starting line-up isn't much better. Only Miller has more than a season's worth of playing experience. The other 4 starters have a combined 26 games experience b/t them. The other players on the projected two deep are Drew Martin (-LT- 6-4, 297 lb. Jr. - seen time on special teams), Luke Bayer (-C- 6-5, 278 lb. So. -special teams), Dan Mooney (6-5, 266 lb. R-Fr.) and Patrick Worsham (6-6, 287 lb. R-Fr.) I can't say the prospects look all that good for the Devils. At the skill positions, you're basically looking at the same cast of characters that struggled so much in 2000. Yes, they have another year's worth of experience and maturity...but it's not like they were close to being a good team last season. These guys have to improve by leaps and bounds just to have a chance. And they must do it behind an OL replacing two starters and has little depth. DEFENSE DC Bob Trott (6th season @ Duke and as DC) Defensive Line The hits just keep on coming. In addition to losing Troy Austin (32 tackles, 8 TFL) to graduation, Nate Wilkerson (a projected starter in 2000 who failed to come through) left after seeing his playing time diminish significantly. Still this is one of the deeper units Duke will field in 2001. Johnson (11 games, 23 tackles) Porter (10 games, 26 tackles) and DE backup Tyran Grissom (6-4, 273 lb. Sr. - 11 games, 21 tackles) all saw plenty of playing time last year. They form a solid, if unspectacular rotation at the DE positions. Porter showed his potential by getting 3 sacks in the spring game, but needs to be more consistent. Drew Ciepcielinski (6-5, 221 lb. R-Fr.) is the odd man out in this group. Wilerson's premature departure leaves the starting job to Lonergan. In 2000, he only recorded 4 tackles, but 3 of them were for loss. I'm sure the coaching staff hopes he can keep up that ratio this season. They also hope that former LB Matt Zielinski (6-2, 255 lb. So.) can keep up the same level of play that earned him a letter as a true freshman last season. Every DL wants to put more pressure on the QB...but Duke really means it. Collectively, Duke had 4 sacks out of their DL in 2000. That number simply must improve. Furthermore, they allowed 4.6 yards/rushing attempt. That's a bad combo. Linebackers The linebacking corps has received two tremendous boost since last season ended. First, Nate Krill returned after missing last season due to injuries. The senior had collected 27 tackles in 1999 as a reserve until he was hurt, missing the last 2 games of that year, + all 11 in 2000. The 2nd boost was the arrival of 24 year old freshman Jim Scharrer. Scharrer is a former SuperPrep All-American who gave up on baseball after spending 6 seasons in the Braves/Angels farm system. He made an immediate impact as a leader and that earned him a spot in the starting rotation. The beneficiary of this should be Fowler who made a name for himself last year as a true freshman. He led the Devils with 87 tackles, 13 TFL, had 7 sacks (1st among ACC freshmen), intercepted a pass, and caused 2 fumbles. That got the attention of The Sporting News who awarded him with All-American-Freshman honors after last season. Now he has a better supporting cast. J.T. Cape round out the LB corps. As a reserve in 2000, he played in 9 games, recording 21 tackles. The 2nd team LB's are in better shape relative to other units on the Duke squad. Jamyon Small (6-1, 212 lb. Jr. - 50 tackles, 4 TFL) would be a starter if Krill weren't returning. Jason Davis (6-3, 220 lb. Jr. - 35 tackles) and Kurt Miller (6-0, 218 lb. So. - 7 tackles) also bring some experienced depth to the table. Akil Ross (6-1, 216 lb. Jr.) played some in 1999. He was hurt in the Northwestern game last year and did not return. Defensive Backs If it's Tuesday, then B.J. Hill must be on defense. Originally recruited as a DB, Hill was promptly moved to the offense and led Duke in rushing in 1998 as a freshman w/ 798 yards. They toyed with the idea of moving him to WR in 1999 when Duane Epperson and Letavious Wilks emerged as rushing threats - that is until he blew out his knee in the 8th game. That injury cost him all of 2000. Now cleared to return, he's back on the defensive side of the ball. Good thing he has some experience around since he hasn't played the position since high school. From the FS position, Krieder was exceptional in 2000. He had 68 tackles, 8 TFL, 2 sacks, and an INT. Likewise Ronnie Hamilton put up good numbers with 63 tackles and 2 INT's. The problem is (think back to GT's 1999 season) is that with absolutely no pressure up front, these guys were often hung out to dry. While both are capable of making the great play every now and then, neither is good enough to cover a WR all day long. Jeff Phillips joins Krieder and Hamilton in the starting rotation after posting 13 tackles in 10 games last year. A trio of backups have some gameday experience. Anthony Roberts (6-3, 201 lb. So.) will relieve Krieder at the FS position. He had essentially the same role last season, making his way into all 11 games and picking up 16 tackles. D'Juan O'Donald (-SS- 5-11, 190 lb. So.) and Terrell Smith (-CB- 5-11, 170 lb. So.) also saw spot duty in 2000. R-Fr. Kenneth Stanford (5-9, 170 lb.) completes the two deep roster in the secondary. Special Teams McDonald might have the biggest shoes to fill on the Duke squad. Brian Morton was the first team All-ACC punter for 2000, leading the conference with a 45.2 yard average. No pressure there. I guess McDonald can look on the bright side....he'll get plenty of practice. Gerber might be able to give his teammate some advice in the department of replacing an all-star. In 2000 he had to replace Sims Lenhardt, one of the ACC's best all-time kickers who often got overlooked because he happen to play at the same time as FSU's Janikowski. Unfortunately for Gerber and Duke, it was anything but a success. Gerber was only 7 of 12 on FG's and also missed 2 PAT's. (16 of 18) In his defense, most of the misses were long range (4 attempts longer than 50 yards). Still, Duke needs scoring wherever it can get it. If he can improve his accuracy, he obviously has the leg. His longest of the season (47 yards) came against Tech. WR Kyle Moore was one of the few Devils to achieve individual superlatives, leading the ACC and ranking 9th in the nation, on kickoff returns with a 25.8 yard average. DB Ronnie Hamilton handled most of the punt returns. Even with a 84 yard return for a touchdown, against FSU no less, Hamilton only ranked 8th in the ACC with a 8.4 yards/return average. Coaching Going through the roster, you'll see a whole bunch of sophomores and redshirt sophomores filling key positions. The roster is extremely young, and I think that's indicative of the lack of talent Fred Goldsmith recruited in his last few seasons at Duke. Hopefully that will give Duke an opportunity to be competitive in a few seasons, maybe even next year. But with a difficult schedule, very little depth, and next to nothing in support, it's going to be another long year in Durham. The one thing I don't like about Franks is him being his own OC. I subscribe more to Bobby Ross' "the head coach coaches the coaches" way of thinking...the assitants handle the daily grind. Given the unbelievable task of trying to win at Duke, I think Franks would be better served leaving the X's and O's of designing the offense to a full time coordinator. Just my opinion. On the defensive side of the ball, Bob Trott is further evidence that the problem in Durham is not coaching but talent. Trott has been an assistant at Air Force, Arkansas, and Clemson (all under Ken Hatfield) and in the NFL. The teams he coached for were known for tough, unbending defenses. Not so at Duke. Somehow, I don't think it's a case of Trott suddenly forgetting what he knows- Duke just doesn't have the horses to compete. You can't make chicken salad out of....(you know the rest) Schedule If Duke doesn't win the second game, they'll likely be winless when Tech arrives. For GT, it's a welcome reprieve from two extremely tough games (win or lose) and a good opportunity play alot of folks before we head into a critical part of the schedule. (Maryland, NCSU, UNC, and UVa) What this all means On defense, I imagine that our front four will have little trouble shutting down the run. After facing teams like FSU and Clemson, Duke's aerial attack should be a walk in the park for our secondary. Gathers, Smith, Wimbush, and the corners should all come away with big days against this Devil team. Offensively, we should be able to run the ball at will. I imagine that whichever QB is playing (and I expect at least 3 to play) is going to have plenty of time to find his intended targets when a pass is called for. Hopefully we can just leave Dan in Atlanta for this one. OK...that's the half way mark. It's kinda stange in that we have 3 games (Syracuse, FSU, Clemson) that are dangerous for their own specific reasons, and 3 games that there is absolutely NO excuse for them to even be close. OTOH, the second half of the season is noteworthy in that no team is particulary strong or particularly weak - everyone should get our full attention or we’ll get tripped up. However, each one is very winnable if we play to our ability. Next up...Fridge returns to Atlanta.
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