CrazieTalk.Net

Goduke.com takes a look at what's to come from from behind the line of scrimmage.

"Any time you replace a Thad Lewis, it is very difficult," head coach David Cutcliffe said.  "But Sean has done a great job of earning confidence.  Our guys really love him.  They know how hard he works and how talented he is.  And quite frankly I think they believe very strongly in him."

http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=204974009

The Riley Skinner era in Winston-Salem is finally over.  The illustrious Wake Forest quarterback threw for just under 10,000 yards and fired 59 touchdown passes in his four year career.  Skinner was one of the most accurate passers in the country, completing 67% of his passes in his career.  Most of us watched Skinner tear apart the Duke defense last year, throwing for 372 yards and five touchdowns in his final game as a Demon Deacon.  Now the starting job will most likely to be in the hands of redshirt junior Skylar Jones, who came out of spring camp as the favorite to win the job.  Redshirt sophomore Ted Stachitas and redshirt freshman Brendan Cross are both challenging Jones for the starting job.  Jones is an average passer with very quick feet.  If he is the starting quarterback, look for many option and running plays with other speedy skill players. 
 
Head coach Jim Grobe expects his team to be one of the fastest teams in the ACC this year. 
“This year we'll have younger guys, but much better foot speed overall on the defensive side of the ball. Offensively, our foot speed is much improved,” Grobe said.
 
Running the ball is what most expect Wake Forest to do this year most of the time.  Starting running back Josh Adams is a quick back that had a very successful 2009 campaign.  Adams ran for 600 yards and four touchdowns last year.  He averaged five yards a run for the season.  He put up very good numbers since he was one of four running backs to get significant touches.  Brandon Pendergrass is another speedy back who will probably get many touches this year as well.
 
The offensive line for Wake Forest will be a huge question mark for the team this year.  They are losing four key members of the line, including their starting left tackle, right guard and right tackle.  They will be returning senior center Russell Neon, who started every game in 2009.  They will be looking for Joe Looney, Doug Weaver and Michael Hoag to step up and block this year. 
 
Wake Forest will be very strong at Wide Receiver this year.  The top four receivers from the team in 2009 will be back again in 2010.  It might be a little bit different this year since they will not have an all-conference quarterback throwing them the ball this year.  But none the less, Marshall Williams, who had 867 receiving yards and six touchdown receptions in 2009, and Devon Brown, who had 671 receiving yards and six touchdowns, will lead the star studded group at wide out this year. 
 
The defense should be a young, but talented squad this season.  They will be returning many players on their defensive line that played significantly in 2009.  Tristan Dorty, Kyle Wilber and Gelo Orange will lead the line this year.  It will not be a very strong defensive line, and I think that our Sean Renfree should be able to sit back and sling the ball across the field without much pressure.  Matt Woodlief is a very talented linebacker that will control the middle of the field for Wake Forest this year.  Woodlief is one of the only returning linebackers so it will be interesting to see how that position plays out.  Alex Frye and Cyhl Quarles will be the starting safeties this year.  Quarles was the Demon Deacons second leading tackler last year, and will look to be a force again this year.  Kenny Okoro and Josh Bush will both be at cornerback this season.  Bush and Okoro combined for 63 tackles and four interceptions last year.  So the defensive backfield should be very strong.  There will be many good matchups when Donovan Varner, Conner Vernon, Austin Kelly, and Brett Huffman take the field for Duke against Wake Forest next month.
 
Shane Popham averaged almost 40 yards per punt in 2009.  It’s nothing spectacular, but decent numbers.  He will be a junior this year and the starting punter.  Jimmy Newman will be the starting kicker this year.  Newman made 11 of his 17 field goals and all of his extra points in his freshman season last year.  His longest field goal make was 44 yards out.  He will be a solid kicker this year.  Devon Brown is the main returner for Wake Forest.
 
Overall I think this will be more of a rebuilding year for Wake Forest rather than an ACC title run.  Losing Riley Skinner will hurt Wake Forest way more than losing Thad Lewis will hurt Duke.  Duke has a solid quarterback in Sean Renfree, who proved himself by beating Army last year.  There is no quarterback on Wake Forest’s roster that has thrown a pass in a collegiate game.  For that reason, I think they will struggle in the passing department mightily, and they will not win eight or nine games by solely running the ball with an average at best offensive line.  The defense is very talented but lacks experience.  This team is young, fast and inexperienced.  That makes for some fun to watch games, but not many wins. 
 
When our Blue Devils take the 90 minute bus ride to Winston-Salem on September 11th there should be a good game.  Duke will have to slow down talented Demon Deacons like Josh Adams and Marshall Williams.  Duke’s defense has lost many talented players, but guys like Patrick Egboh and Wesley Oglesby should be able to rack up many tackles against a weak Wake Forest offensive line.  Duke will be the first test for whoever is taking snaps for Wake Forest, since their first game is at home against Presbyterian.  I think that Duke’s running game, which was absolutely terrible in 2009, should have some success against Wake Forest’s young and inexperienced defense.  It will take some time for Duke to figure the option plays Wake Forest will be running, and some trick plays to get their skill players involved.  Duke’s offense should score many times in this game, but Wake Forest might as well.  Duke lost a very heartbreaking game two years ago in Winston-Salem 30-33.  It was a game where if Thad Lewis was not off balanced, he would have threw a touchdown to Eron Riley on the final play.  Instead, the pass was intercepted and Wake Forest won.  Duke went on to lose their final four games, and suffered a very disappointing end to the season.  Duke will win this game based on their toughness and lack of experience on the part of Wake Forest.  This game could go either way, and hopefully Duke will be focused on Wake Forest and not on the Alabama game being only a week away.  Knowing Coach Cutcliffe, Duke will be ready to play.  Sean Renfree and tight end Brett Huffman will have a big game for Duke and the Blue Devils will make some stops in the fourth quarter after spending the first half figuring out how to stop the speed and tricks of the Wake Forest offense.
 
 
Duke               31            
 
Wake Forest    24

Next up will be my breakdown of Alabama, which I will post on Sunday. 

Check out goduke.com for a video update on Sean Renfree.

http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=204973719

Running back Jay Hollingsworth talks about being last in the BCS for rushing, and what Duke is doing to change that statistic.

“No one wants to be last, and to actually be last, it gives you a different mindset,” Hollingsworth said. “You’re thinking totally different where you know you have to be better. I’m going to better. There’s nowhere else to go but up.”

http://espn.go.com/blog/acc/post/_/id/12908/nowhere-else-to-go-but-up-for-dukes-running-game

Congratulations to Kyle and Nolan!

Duke seniors Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith have accepted invitations from USA Basketball to participate on the USA Men's Select Team that will train against 2010 USA Men's World Championship Team finalists during camp in New York City. Singler and Smith both participated with the USA Select Team during July's training camp for the USA World Championship Team in Las Vegas.