AJC > Sports > Tech > Blog > Archives > 2008 > September > 29
Monday, September 29, 2008
Duke on deck
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Opposing coaches preparing for Tech always say the same thing: it’s really hard to prepare for this offense, especially when you see it only once a season.
Duke has one advantage over most Tech opponents. The Blue Devils played against the same scheme two weeks ago, when they beat Navy 41-31.
(In that game, the Midshipmen generated a healthy total of 357 yards, 207 rushing. Navy averaged 4.5 yards per carry.)
Coach David Cutcliffe was asked on his teleconference if that familiarity would help Duke this week.
“It helps, but they have better athletes than Navy,” he said. “The other part is they get to see [our defense] against their offense. We’ve got to tweak some things, do some things differently, so there’s a little bit of cat and mouse going on.”
Another factor is the confidence Duke has after running away from Virginia on Saturday. It was 3-3 at halftime, then the Blue Devils got four interceptions and won 31-3. Eron Riley caught his sixth TD of the season.
So Duke’s 25-game ACC losing streak is history. Duke comes to town 3-1, 1-0 in the conference. There’s no doubt the Blue Devils are much improved from last year’s 1-11 squad.
But, Tech fans, does this Duke team worry you?
