Army Duke Game Notes

How different does this Duke game look after week3? I'm still having a hard time trying to figure out which Duke team will show up.

When my team is up against a hard-to-read opponent like this I like to look at the opponents' media outlets for a little perspective. The Duke Chronicle has an interesting piece on what Duke brings and what they expect. 

We know they are well coached, we know they have some speed. Coach David Cutcliffe uses multiple ideas in his offensive strategy. Duke likes to throw, they go about 2 to 1 in pass yards to rush yards. In the red zone Cutcliffe plays it a little closer to the vest evidenced by the Blue Devils 10 rushing TDs to 7 coming from the potent pass attack.

Duke also relies a little on the zone read option, normally I would invite any team to try and match Army in option football, but Cutcliffe also mixes in an zone read pass play that punishes an overaggressive secondary.

Here's the Duke inside zone read - pass for a critical late score to tie in their win against Notre Dame.



If anything, my recommend would be, and I am speaking generally here... against Duke - anticipate the pass, generate pressure on the QB and don't get beat deep. Sure that's easier said than done, but against a team built as Duke is - there isn't any reason to fear the run.

I'm pumped up for this one. This is a big game for Army, conditions may be nasty and Army at 3-1 is still playing with house money. A 4-1 record will attract bowl committee eyeballs, since Army's schedule leaves little margin for error regarding possible bowl selection. But there I am getting ahead of myself... as for now


here are the Army game notes (.pdf)

and here the Duke game notes (.pdf)


Should be interesting to see about the weather. 

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