August 8: Football Practice Begins

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

Mark your calendars. Football practice starts up on August 8. Let the games begin!

[The Football Fan]

Any word on when Coach Cut will be addressing the media?

I know there's the media day on the 28th with Sean and Matt, but wasn't sure if there was something else...

It's nice to hear about injury updates and any changes in the works.

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

Haven't inquired about media encounters yet. I was aware of the arrival of the freshman a little over ten days ago and wanted to mark the first day of practice on my football calendar..... it's sort of like an Advent calendar.

[lawgrad91]

Haven't inquired about media encounters yet. I was aware of the arrival of the freshman a little over ten days ago and wanted to mark the first day of practice on my football calendar..... it's sort of like an Advent calendar.

Ooh, I never thought about it like an Advent calendar, but I look forward to football season with all the excitement of a five year old at Christmas.

[Bob Green]

Here's a link to the latest Football Friday over at Blue Devil Nation:

http://bluedevilnation.net/2011/07/foot ... y-7-15-11/

Patrick is really working hard to provide quality football coverage to Duke fans. i hope to meet him and chat a bit at the Stanford game.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Today was the first day of practice..woohoo!!
I had emailed Sean Renfree's mom, Lisa, a few weeks ago letting her know that we were excited for football season and were looking forward to seeing her and Sean's dad, Kevin, at tailgates again. She wrote back today that Sean had texted to her that practice went well and everyone was excited.
That's no suprise, but this tidbit is amazing. She will only be able to make the Stanford game, but his dad is diehard.

Kevin will be there for every game - taking the red-eye flight from Phoenix after my youngest son's high school football games on Friday nights. What a dedicated football dad!

I told her we'd have a cot ready. Seriously though, wow. I told her to make sure he knows he's welcome for some grub any and all games. If he does show up, give that man a chair, whew.

[CameronBornAndBred]

goduke.com has a video interview with Coach Cut from the first day.
http://www.goduke.com/mediaPortal/playe ... em_id=4200

[Bob Green]

This link: http://bluedevilnation.net/2011/08/foot ... y-8-12-11/ contains practice and recruiting info plus a video clip interview with Coach Cutcliffe toward the bottom.

[CameronBornAndBred]

•Quarterback Brandon Connette had eight carries for 39 yards including a 1-yard touchdown while running back Desmond Scott had 31 yards on seven carries.

Wow, you mean Connette was in the game to run the ball? Never would have guessed.

Other notes from last night's scrimmage here.
http://espn.go.com/blog/acc/post/_/id/2 ... ghlights-2

[Bob Green]

Tough break for Coach Middleton rupturing his Achilles tendon. The reports leaking out of practice are promising. I expect we will see a few, hopefully only a couple, of the true freshmen on the field this year. We need to redshirt as much as possible.

[CameronBornAndBred]

I LOVE this quote from Coach Cut, when asked about Miami's (and other's) issues.

"If you're not interested in discipline. If you don't want a coach that's gonna know what you're driving, who you're hanging around. If you're not interested in being the most conditioned athlete.....absolutely don't come to Duke. That may be a crazy way to recruit but I am not dealing with prima donnas. I've done this almost 40 years and coached some of the best that ever played the game and I'm not going to start dealing with prima donnas now."

http://www.wralsportsfan.com/duke/story/10015386/

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

I LOVE this quote from Coach Cut, when asked about Miami's (and other's) issues.

"If you're not interested in discipline. If you don't want a coach that's gonna know what you're driving, who you're hanging around. If you're not interested in being the most conditioned athlete.....absolutely don't come to Duke. That may be a crazy way to recruit but I am not dealing with prima donnas. I've done this almost 40 years and coached some of the best that ever played the game and I'm not going to start dealing with prima donnas now."

http://www.wralsportsfan.com/duke/story/10015386/

This quote embodies why Coach Cutcliffe is a good fit for Duke. It's also a good indication that he's likely to stay rather than go to one of the places with high visibility and high risk of rule breaking being expected as a means to win.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Sounds like the defense has some promise!

Duke's Dezmond Johnson made a play.

Late on Friday night, during the second half of the Blue Devils' intrasquad scrimmage at Wallace Wade Stadium, the 6-foot-4, 230-pound defensive end grabbed a tipped ball out of the air and returned it 64 yards for a touchdown.

Just sucks that it came at the expense of our own offense.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/0 ... akers.html

[Bob Green]

Sounds like the defense has some promise!

Duke's Dezmond Johnson made a play.

Late on Friday night, during the second half of the Blue Devils' intrasquad scrimmage at Wallace Wade Stadium, the 6-foot-4, 230-pound defensive end grabbed a tipped ball out of the air and returned it 64 yards for a touchdown.

Just sucks that it came at the expense of our own offense.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/0 ... akers.html

You can see the play in this video clip:

http://www.goduke.com/SportSelect.dbml? ... PSID=22672

the clip also includes a long TD run by Juwon Thompson, a TD catch by Josh Snead and a couple of nice receptions by Conner Vernon. An unofficial stat for Duke fans to keep their eyes on this year is YAC (yards after catch). We have several guys who can really run with the ball after making a catch starting with Donovan Varner and Conner Vernon.

[devildeac]

Sounds like the defense has some promise!

Duke's Dezmond Johnson made a play.

Late on Friday night, during the second half of the Blue Devils' intrasquad scrimmage at Wallace Wade Stadium, the 6-foot-4, 230-pound defensive end grabbed a tipped ball out of the air and returned it 64 yards for a touchdown.

Just sucks that it came at the expense of our own offense.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/0 ... akers.html

You can see the play in this video clip:

http://www.goduke.com/SportSelect.dbml? ... PSID=22672

the clip also includes a long TD run by Juwon Thompson, a TD catch by Josh Snead and a couple of nice receptions by Conner Vernon. An unofficial stat for Duke fans to keep their eyes on this year is YAC (yards after catch). We have several guys who can really run with the ball after making a catch starting with Donovan Varner and Conner Vernon.

I'd like to see a few of these this year:

[Bob Green]

The Herald Sun has an article posted on Duke's current injuries:

http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_stor ... in_article

Two injuries along the defensive line, Kenny Anunike and Jordan DeWalt-Ondijo, is especially worrisome as we cannot afford to be shorthanded there.

[devildeac]

My new SIL had dinner with us at the house last PM and he didn't even know of some of the injuries posted here and OY. Now tell me again why I allowed this young man to marry CLD?

[captmojo]

'Cause he's a good guy and, darn it, you like him.

Or maybe it's that singing voice...

[devildeac]

'Cause he's a good guy and, darn it, you like him.

Or maybe it's that singing voice...

Well, you're correct. On all 3 counts .