Miami Hurricanes 2015 Opponent Preview
Week 9
At Duke (October 31st)
The 2015 Miami Hurricanes Opponent Preview continues
with the preview of the Duke Blue Devils, who The U pays a visit to on
Halloween.
When you look at the job David Cutcliffe
has done there. He changed everything about that program, turning a perennial
loser into a consistent winner. Before he got there, they had never won 10
games in a season. They won 10 in 2013, and 9 last year. What that man has done
in Durham can be nothing short of remarkable.
If Cut is to get his team back to a bowl game in 2015, he will have to
do with a younger cast and some inexperienced players.
Let’s talk about Duke’s Offense.
Yes, some key players are gone, like QB Anthony
Boone (signed as an UFA by the Detroit Lions), WRs Jamison Crowder (Drafted in
the 4th Round by Washington) and Isaac Blakeney. Still though, they
are not without weapons here and they might be even better than they were in
2014.
It will all
hinge on how well and how quick Thomas Sirk is able to carry the load at QB.
Duke will be more of a running team this year than they have in Cut’s tenure, while
trying to find a go-to WR to fill the void left by Crowder’s departure. They have some talent here, but young,
outside of Senior Max McCaffery. The one
WR that the coaches are very high on is redshirt freshman Chris Taylor , who
showed much potential this spring. Sirk’s
other target that will be counted on to step up is Johnell Barnes, who like Taylor,
showed a lot of potential over the spring. Back at TE is Braxton Deaver, who was one of
the ACC’s best Tight Ends, but was out all of 2014 with a torn ACL, and he’ll
be back for a sixth year. He’s expected to be Sirk’s to-go guy over the middle
and in short yardage/goal line situations.
The OL did
take a hit with the loss of All-American Laken Tomlinson, who’s now in Detroit
as the 28th overall pick in the NFL Draft. However, when you listen
to Cut, he believes that they will only get better there and with good reason.
It’s going to be up to C Matt Skura to step into a leadership role there. With
27 career starts under his belt, and being a 1st team pre-season
all-ACC Center, Cut is counting on him to lead the OL. He’ll also have back on
the Line, senior LG Lucas Patrick.
There will
be many questions in Durham this year. They did lose 3 of their last 4,
including a loss to Arizona State in El Paso at the Sun Bowl. They have to fill
many voids on Offense this year and when you look at Sirk, he wasn’t the long
ball threat that Boone was. He’s more of a safe, short passer. He’s going to
need to expand his game in 2015.
RB Shaquille
Powell is the top option in the backfield, and since Duke is going to be more
of a run heavy team this year, he’s going to carry a lot of the load for them
this year. Also back for them is Jela Duncan, who returns after missing
last year due to academic matters. He was their top rusher in 2012 and 2013, so
the Blue Devils are loaded with talent and depth at RB.
To put it simply,
it’s not totally empty in Durham. Think about this: Of the 22 positions on
offense and defense, 15 will have starters who have been on campus and part of
the program for four years.
Let’s talk about Duke’s Defense
Look, they
have the athletes to make plays out there. They have five DBs back and all have
starting experience. They run a 4-2-5 scheme. Their best player on D is Senior
S Jeremy Cash. Cash made the All-ACC team, and on top of that, this guy had 232
tackles in the past two seasons combined. That’s amazing.
Its not just
Cash on the back end here, They also have back DeVon Edwards as the other
safety. He’s had four INTs in the past
two years. When you add to the mix junior CBs Breon Borders and Byron Fields,
you have some experience on the table. Borders has had in his Duke careey 7
picks and when you add that Fields is a good coverer of both the pass and rush,
you have two very capable CBs here.
At LB, they were
supposed to have back Kelby Brown who was an All-ACC pick in 2013 with 114
tackles that season (11 for loss), after missing 2014 with an ACL injury, but
after tearing his ACL again in July, ending his career, it’s going to hurt them
here, as they only have three experienced LBs on their depth chart returning.
It’s going to be up to Chris Holmes, Dwayne Norman, and Zavier Carmichael, who all played in
all their games in 2014, to step op. In their careers, they’ve combined for
just 52.5 total tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, and three sacks, and all of
those were by Norman.
As for the D-Line, it doesn’t look too good here either. Yes, they have Carlos
Wray back on the interior, but after that, there isn’t much there of note, although
their other DT A.J. Wolf was 3rd among D-linemen in tackles last
season. The biggest issue here for this Defense is having an effective
pass rush. Wray and their DE Kyler Brown are their only returning players on
the line that can say they’ve had a sack, and combined in their careers, only
have 2.5. As good as their secondary is, if there’s no solid pass rush,
it won’t matter. A good passing game with a good OL, goes to town on that
secondary.
Let’s talk about Duke’s Special Teams
Their kicking game is outstanding. Some
believe they have the best kicker and punter in the ACC and one of the better
ones in the country. They have back Senior Ross Martin, who has only missed four kicks from 39 yards or longer and he’s hit 4 of 6 from 50-plus yards in his Duke
career. When you had the return of Senior P Will Monday, who only averaged 43.5
yards per attempt and put 57 punts inside the 20 yard line in his past three
seasons, you have a combo that get the job done from a field position perspective.
Their return game is pretty good. They have DeVon Edwards back handling those
duties. Over the last two years, he has had three TDs returning Kicks/Punts.
What to expect from Duke
Looking at them on tape, yes,
they lost a lot, but don’t be fooled, this is still a force to be reckoned with
in Durham.
The video you see above is from their Spring Game
In this game, it’ll be up there
at Wallace-Wade Stadium. Our last visit up there wasn’t pretty at all. In fact,
it was the low point of U football. This is the first of a stretch where the U
will end the regular season with 5 straight vs the Coastal. If the CANES are to
get to Charlotte as Coastal champs, they need to win this game. In the end, I
believe the U steps up and makes some plays and leaves Durham with a victory,
albeit, a hard fought one.
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