Duke Football 2021
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Inveigle
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2021 Duke Football Schedule
Full schedule analysis with best and worst scenarios below
Sept. 4 at Charlotte
Sept. 11 North Carolina A&T
Sept. 18 Northwestern
Sept. 25 Kansas
Oct. 2 at North Carolina
Oct. 9 Georgia Tech
Oct. 16 at Virginia
Oct. 23 OPEN DATE
Oct. 30 at Wake Forest
Nov. 6 Pitt
Nov. 13 at Virginia Tech
Nov. 18 Louisville
Nov. 27 Miami
Dec. 4 ACC Championship (in Charlotte)
Games vs. The Atlantic: Louisville, at Wake Forest
Missed Teams From The Atlantic: Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, NC State, Syracuse
Duke Blue Devils Football Schedule Analysis: Can the Blue Devils get by Northwestern at home? Do that, and it’s likely a 4-0 start to the season with Georgia Tech a home date coming up after the road trip to North Carolina.
However, there’s a run of three road games in four October dates. That might be a rough month, but the finishing kick gets three home games in Durham. Missing Clemson from the Atlantic is big, but going to Wake Forest and playing Louisville on a Thursday night won’t be easy.
Duke Blue Devils Football Schedule Best Case Scenario: 8-4. The schedule just isn’t all that awful. It’ll take something truly special to get to 8-4, but beat Northwestern, take out Georgia Tech, Pitt and Louisville at home, and it’s possible. There’s no Clemson or Notre Dame to face, and the Miami game is home, but …
Duke Blue Devils Football Schedule Worst Case Scenario: 4-8. It’s hardly a given that the Blue Devils can get past Northwestern, or Georgia Tech, or anyone in ACC play. They’ll come up with victories over Charlotte, North Carolina A&T, and most likely Kansas early on, and they’ll get one other win somewhere, along the way. But it’s highly possible that it could be about it, especially with all of the road games in the middle of the season.
So the good news is you should be able to go to a football game without a mask again!
Full schedule analysis with best and worst scenarios below
Sept. 4 at Charlotte
Sept. 11 North Carolina A&T
Sept. 18 Northwestern
Sept. 25 Kansas
Oct. 2 at North Carolina
Oct. 9 Georgia Tech
Oct. 16 at Virginia
Oct. 23 OPEN DATE
Oct. 30 at Wake Forest
Nov. 6 Pitt
Nov. 13 at Virginia Tech
Nov. 18 Louisville
Nov. 27 Miami
Dec. 4 ACC Championship (in Charlotte)
Games vs. The Atlantic: Louisville, at Wake Forest
Missed Teams From The Atlantic: Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, NC State, Syracuse
Duke Blue Devils Football Schedule Analysis: Can the Blue Devils get by Northwestern at home? Do that, and it’s likely a 4-0 start to the season with Georgia Tech a home date coming up after the road trip to North Carolina.
However, there’s a run of three road games in four October dates. That might be a rough month, but the finishing kick gets three home games in Durham. Missing Clemson from the Atlantic is big, but going to Wake Forest and playing Louisville on a Thursday night won’t be easy.
Duke Blue Devils Football Schedule Best Case Scenario: 8-4. The schedule just isn’t all that awful. It’ll take something truly special to get to 8-4, but beat Northwestern, take out Georgia Tech, Pitt and Louisville at home, and it’s possible. There’s no Clemson or Notre Dame to face, and the Miami game is home, but …
Duke Blue Devils Football Schedule Worst Case Scenario: 4-8. It’s hardly a given that the Blue Devils can get past Northwestern, or Georgia Tech, or anyone in ACC play. They’ll come up with victories over Charlotte, North Carolina A&T, and most likely Kansas early on, and they’ll get one other win somewhere, along the way. But it’s highly possible that it could be about it, especially with all of the road games in the middle of the season.
So the good news is you should be able to go to a football game without a mask again!
Inveigle
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Duke freshman QB Jordan Moore named Watkins Award Winner
Duke Football freshman quarterback Jordan Moore was named the 2021 winner of the National Alliance of African American Athletes Watkins Award yesterday. Earlier this year,
247sports.com
Devilsforlife
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My predictions for the season:
Charlotte - W
NC A&T - W
NW - L
Kansas - W
UNC - L
GT - W
UVA - L
Wake - L
Pitt - L
VT - L
Louisville - L
Miami - L
Considered swapping GT and Louisville. I think we'll find an ACC win somewhere, but I definitely don't see more than two. 4-8 or worse should spell the end for Cut. I hope for 4-8 personally. Avoid the embarrassment of a winless ACC season, but get a new staff in place for '22.
Charlotte - W
NC A&T - W
NW - L
Kansas - W
UNC - L
GT - W
UVA - L
Wake - L
Pitt - L
VT - L
Louisville - L
Miami - L
Considered swapping GT and Louisville. I think we'll find an ACC win somewhere, but I definitely don't see more than two. 4-8 or worse should spell the end for Cut. I hope for 4-8 personally. Avoid the embarrassment of a winless ACC season, but get a new staff in place for '22.
Devilsforlife
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Once again, it's time to update my year-by-year rankings of the Cutcliffe era. As with last year, go all the way to the bottom to find 2021!
1. 2013 - 10-4/6-2 - the magical, breakthrough season culminating in a Coastal title. Only wish we'd held on against A&M and Manziel in the Chicken Bowl.
2. 2014 - 9-4/5-3 - another mostly enjoyable year. Raced out to an 8-1 start, but choked to VT and got blasted by UNC in November. Should've repeated as Coastal champs.
3. 2012 - 6-7/3-5 - The UNC win was epic, and it was awesome to snap the 18 year Bowl drought. Losing 5 in a row, including the horrific Belk Bowl collapse sucked, but it was clear the program was on the rise.
4. 2015 - 8-5/4-4 - Year started out well, but the Miami lateral debacle killed it and arguably the Cutcliffe era as a whole. Ranked fourth for snapping the 55 year bowl win drought, and achieving a .500 ACC finish.
5. 2018 - 8-5/3-5 - Came into the year with hopes of competing for the Coastal with a veteran team, but injuries and poor coaching dashed those. Winning @ Northwestern and Baylor b2b was nice, but the horror of 59-7 vs Wake still lingers.
6. 2009 - 5-7/3-5 - I'll always have a soft spot for Thad's senior team. Loss to Richmond sucked and we faded down the stretch, but it was a solid season. I'll never forget thrashing State in Raleigh.
7. 2017 - 7-6/3-5 - Started 4-0, including a destruction of a 10-win Northwestern and a victory @ UNC, but the 6-game losing streak filled with lifeless play was brutal. At least we rallied to make a bowl, I guess.
8. 2008 - 4-8/1-7 - Cut put a respectable product on the field for the first time since the early 1990s in his first season in Durham. Won @ Vanderbilt and snapped a 25+ game ACC losing streak.
9. 2016 - 4-8/1-7 - Wins @ Notre Dame and vs top 15 UNC were memorable, but this was a rough year, and signaled the end of Cut's peak at Duke.
10. 2019 - 5-7/3-5 - Smacking VT in Blacksburg was amazing, but the choke to Pitt and the halfback pass disaster against UNC destroyed the season. Lots of miserable blowouts too, including 49-6 vs dreadful Syracuse.
11. 2010 - 3-9/1-7 - Completely forgettable season.
12. 2011 - 3-9/1-7 - Ditto. I remember having serious doubts about Cutcliffe by this year.
13. 2020 - 2-9/1-9 - Dumpster fire of a season from start to finish. Destroyed in every game save the two we won, including embarrassing defeats to awful GT and FSU teams, 56-24 to Mack, and 48-0 to Miami. Coughed the ball up a staggering 39 times.
14. 2021 - 3-9/0-8 - The first half of the Northwestern game and the second half of the Kansas game were more fun than anything 2020 had to offer, but the late game defensive collapses against Charlotte and GT were horrific, and the other 7 losses were all beatdowns. First winless ACC season since 2007.
1. 2013 - 10-4/6-2 - the magical, breakthrough season culminating in a Coastal title. Only wish we'd held on against A&M and Manziel in the Chicken Bowl.
2. 2014 - 9-4/5-3 - another mostly enjoyable year. Raced out to an 8-1 start, but choked to VT and got blasted by UNC in November. Should've repeated as Coastal champs.
3. 2012 - 6-7/3-5 - The UNC win was epic, and it was awesome to snap the 18 year Bowl drought. Losing 5 in a row, including the horrific Belk Bowl collapse sucked, but it was clear the program was on the rise.
4. 2015 - 8-5/4-4 - Year started out well, but the Miami lateral debacle killed it and arguably the Cutcliffe era as a whole. Ranked fourth for snapping the 55 year bowl win drought, and achieving a .500 ACC finish.
5. 2018 - 8-5/3-5 - Came into the year with hopes of competing for the Coastal with a veteran team, but injuries and poor coaching dashed those. Winning @ Northwestern and Baylor b2b was nice, but the horror of 59-7 vs Wake still lingers.
6. 2009 - 5-7/3-5 - I'll always have a soft spot for Thad's senior team. Loss to Richmond sucked and we faded down the stretch, but it was a solid season. I'll never forget thrashing State in Raleigh.
7. 2017 - 7-6/3-5 - Started 4-0, including a destruction of a 10-win Northwestern and a victory @ UNC, but the 6-game losing streak filled with lifeless play was brutal. At least we rallied to make a bowl, I guess.
8. 2008 - 4-8/1-7 - Cut put a respectable product on the field for the first time since the early 1990s in his first season in Durham. Won @ Vanderbilt and snapped a 25+ game ACC losing streak.
9. 2016 - 4-8/1-7 - Wins @ Notre Dame and vs top 15 UNC were memorable, but this was a rough year, and signaled the end of Cut's peak at Duke.
10. 2019 - 5-7/3-5 - Smacking VT in Blacksburg was amazing, but the choke to Pitt and the halfback pass disaster against UNC destroyed the season. Lots of miserable blowouts too, including 49-6 vs dreadful Syracuse.
11. 2010 - 3-9/1-7 - Completely forgettable season.
12. 2011 - 3-9/1-7 - Ditto. I remember having serious doubts about Cutcliffe by this year.
13. 2020 - 2-9/1-9 - Dumpster fire of a season from start to finish. Destroyed in every game save the two we won, including embarrassing defeats to awful GT and FSU teams, 56-24 to Mack, and 48-0 to Miami. Coughed the ball up a staggering 39 times.
14. 2021 - 3-9/0-8 - The first half of the Northwestern game and the second half of the Kansas game were more fun than anything 2020 had to offer, but the late game defensive collapses against Charlotte and GT were horrific, and the other 7 losses were all beatdowns. First winless ACC season since 2007.
rhfarmer
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You can start a new ranking next year for a new coach.
Unrelated, one of the most baffling things about this season was Vegas. Duke was a consistent dog this season, but never even close to their eventual margins of defeat. It's like Vegas didn't know how washed Cut was. A bettor, someone such as SMTTEM, should have bet the over on Duke's last 8 games and would have made out like a bandit.
Unrelated, one of the most baffling things about this season was Vegas. Duke was a consistent dog this season, but never even close to their eventual margins of defeat. It's like Vegas didn't know how washed Cut was. A bettor, someone such as SMTTEM, should have bet the over on Duke's last 8 games and would have made out like a bandit.
Devilsforlife
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Now that a few days have passed, and for something to get my mind off the horrible basketball game, I'm ready to do a deeper dive into Cut's tenure, which I think can be divided into four distinct eras.
The Rebuild (2008-2011)
15-33 overall, 6-26 in ACC play, no bowl appearances
The Peak (2012-2015)
33-20 overall, 18-14 in ACC play, Coastal title, 4 bowl appearances
The Decline (2016-2019)
24-26 overall, 10-22 in ACC play, 2 bowl appearances
The Collapse (2020-2021)
5-18 overall, 1-17 in ACC play, no bowl appearances
Cutcliffe in ACC Play
-6-8 vs UVA - this is a series Duke dominated from 2008-14, going 6-1 (Mike London was simply terrible), but then lost 7 straight. Mendenhall absolutely owned Cut, and had his offense completely figured out from game one.
-5-9 vs UNC - Cutcliffe dominated Fedora, winning 5/7 games in the rivalry between 2012-18, but lost all 7 games against non-Fedora coached UNC teams.
-5-9 vs GT - Paul Johnson won six straight against Duke from 2008-13, but the tide then turned, with Cut going 5-1 in the next six meetings, before losing the final two to Collins in ugly fashion.
-5-8 vs Wake - The Deacons won the first four meetings, before Cut took over the series, winning 5/6 from 2012-17. Wake dominated from there, capturing the last three.
-3-11 vs VT - Won in Blacksburg in 2013, 15 and 19. Weirdly never beat the Hokies at home, wasting many golden opportunities.
-3-11 vs Miami - Cut knocked off the Canes in 2013, 18 and 19 (I consider us to have won in 15 too, fuck the ACC forever for that). 2014 was a missed opportunity for a win.
-1-7 vs Pitt - They were the one Coastal team that Cut was snake bitten against from start to finish. So many close, infuriating losses, only edging them in OT in 2014.
-2-1 vs Syracuse, 2-1 vs NC State, 2-2 vs BC, 1-1 vs Maryland, 0-5 vs FSU, 0-3 vs Clemson, 0-2 vs Louisville. Faced FSU in the 2013 ACCCG of course. 2017 and 2020 were terrific chances to beat them for the first time, but sadly Cut could not capitalize. Incredible that we only faced State 3 times in 14 years. We had a chance against Lamar Jackson's Louisville on the road in 16, one of Cut's last A+ coaching efforts.
Non-conference vs the P5: 3-3 vs Northwestern (this has always been an uber competitive series), 2-1 vs Kansas, 2-0 vs Baylor, 1-2 vs Notre Dame (2016 win was amazing), 1-0 vs Vandy (would've been a fun series to continue), 0-2 vs Stanford (wish these matchups had come later), 0-2 vs Alabama (why did we play them in 2019?). Beat Indiana in 2015 Pinstripe, lost to Cincinnati in 12 Belk, A&M in 13 Chick-fil-A and Arizona State in 14 Sun Bowl.
Non-conference vs the G5/FCS: Two embarrassing losses to FCS Richmond in 2009 and 11 were probably the worst of Cut's tenure. He won every game against lower-level teams, including the 17 Quick Lane and 18 Independence Bowls vs Northern Illinois and Temple, respectively, from 2012-2020, before bottoming out with a loss to Charlotte in 2021.
Overall Record: 77-97, 35-79 in the ACC
It'll probably take me a few more months to move past how horribly things ended, but I'll always be thankful for all the good memories Cut gave us. I wish he'd recognized the problems that were glaringly obvious to everybody else by 2019, but I can't complain much about his tenure pre-jump pass.
Hopefully this post was worth reading, lol.
The Rebuild (2008-2011)
15-33 overall, 6-26 in ACC play, no bowl appearances
The Peak (2012-2015)
33-20 overall, 18-14 in ACC play, Coastal title, 4 bowl appearances
The Decline (2016-2019)
24-26 overall, 10-22 in ACC play, 2 bowl appearances
The Collapse (2020-2021)
5-18 overall, 1-17 in ACC play, no bowl appearances
Cutcliffe in ACC Play
-6-8 vs UVA - this is a series Duke dominated from 2008-14, going 6-1 (Mike London was simply terrible), but then lost 7 straight. Mendenhall absolutely owned Cut, and had his offense completely figured out from game one.
-5-9 vs UNC - Cutcliffe dominated Fedora, winning 5/7 games in the rivalry between 2012-18, but lost all 7 games against non-Fedora coached UNC teams.
-5-9 vs GT - Paul Johnson won six straight against Duke from 2008-13, but the tide then turned, with Cut going 5-1 in the next six meetings, before losing the final two to Collins in ugly fashion.
-5-8 vs Wake - The Deacons won the first four meetings, before Cut took over the series, winning 5/6 from 2012-17. Wake dominated from there, capturing the last three.
-3-11 vs VT - Won in Blacksburg in 2013, 15 and 19. Weirdly never beat the Hokies at home, wasting many golden opportunities.
-3-11 vs Miami - Cut knocked off the Canes in 2013, 18 and 19 (I consider us to have won in 15 too, fuck the ACC forever for that). 2014 was a missed opportunity for a win.
-1-7 vs Pitt - They were the one Coastal team that Cut was snake bitten against from start to finish. So many close, infuriating losses, only edging them in OT in 2014.
-2-1 vs Syracuse, 2-1 vs NC State, 2-2 vs BC, 1-1 vs Maryland, 0-5 vs FSU, 0-3 vs Clemson, 0-2 vs Louisville. Faced FSU in the 2013 ACCCG of course. 2017 and 2020 were terrific chances to beat them for the first time, but sadly Cut could not capitalize. Incredible that we only faced State 3 times in 14 years. We had a chance against Lamar Jackson's Louisville on the road in 16, one of Cut's last A+ coaching efforts.
Non-conference vs the P5: 3-3 vs Northwestern (this has always been an uber competitive series), 2-1 vs Kansas, 2-0 vs Baylor, 1-2 vs Notre Dame (2016 win was amazing), 1-0 vs Vandy (would've been a fun series to continue), 0-2 vs Stanford (wish these matchups had come later), 0-2 vs Alabama (why did we play them in 2019?). Beat Indiana in 2015 Pinstripe, lost to Cincinnati in 12 Belk, A&M in 13 Chick-fil-A and Arizona State in 14 Sun Bowl.
Non-conference vs the G5/FCS: Two embarrassing losses to FCS Richmond in 2009 and 11 were probably the worst of Cut's tenure. He won every game against lower-level teams, including the 17 Quick Lane and 18 Independence Bowls vs Northern Illinois and Temple, respectively, from 2012-2020, before bottoming out with a loss to Charlotte in 2021.
Overall Record: 77-97, 35-79 in the ACC
It'll probably take me a few more months to move past how horribly things ended, but I'll always be thankful for all the good memories Cut gave us. I wish he'd recognized the problems that were glaringly obvious to everybody else by 2019, but I can't complain much about his tenure pre-jump pass.
Hopefully this post was worth reading, lol.
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