Duke at Tulane (37-7 victory) game discussion

[CameronBornAndBred]

Directing a read-option offense, Sirk hit 27 of 40 passes for 289 yards, rushed 15 times for 68 yards, was not sacked and did not throw an interception. Sirk converted nine of the 17 third-downs he faced as Duke racked up 530 yards to Tulane's 271.

http://www.wralsportsfan.com/sirk-leads ... FDSDsqJ.99

Nice stat. I thought Sirk played pretty smart throughout the game, although we were fortunate a couple of his misses did not turn into INTs. I thought his throws were really nice, and I got the feeling that the ones that were into coverage that were drops are going to turn more into completions as the season wears on.
Wilson was beautiful to watch all night.
How was it seeing our 2nd and 3rd string QBs in on the same plays? I was hoping to see at least one trick where Pierre threw the ball, but no luck. Still, was nice to see both get some action.
I noted in chat that I think this was the longest time in years that I've seen Duke play a game with only one QB. I really enjoyed it being Sirk's team, and not him having to give up the ball on different yardage situations.
Hats off to defense for a really great game, with the only breakdown being when it mattered little. (And for which Devon Edwards gave an immediate answer.)

Looking forward to our first home game, but last night was a test passed with a definitive "A".

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

I'll add one more thing. I learned that I was mispronouncing the name of our opponent. People here say TU-lane with the accent on the first syllable.

[The Football Fan]

The interception would've affected peoples perception of his performance. I can't remember if it was the same drive as the pitch fumble, but if he gets the pick and the fumble to his credit, we may view things a little differently. The score may come out different too. I think fumbles are sometimes overlooked, but their impact can be just as bad as an interception. We also didn't see him hit on any long throws. While Tulane's Safety and Corner combo aren't exactly slouches, most ACC teams have similar talent. Those grounds yards didn't come easy either.

There are things to be concerned with and work on. This was still a game in the 3rd quarter. Things got away from Tulane when they start shooting themselves in the foot. We took advantage of most of the gifts Tulane gave us, but the score hides some issues that need to be addressed.

The o-line seemed to struggle. I'm not that knowledgeable about line play, but have read many who thought most of the issues were communication errors. They also wrote that Tulane stacked the box and over pursued. If you send more people that the other team has blockers, you get those issues to arise.

Don't get me wrong though, I'm still pretty pleased with the win and think Sirk answered a lot of doubters, but I hope he's grounded on making improvements. The defenses will get better and you don't get many dropped INTs. I thought he made some really nice passes. My favorite was the floater to Deaver. Beautiful touch on that pass.

Boehme seems ridiculous in the short yardage pound it in game when compared to Sirk. I want them to put him in for a series or two to get experience, but for this year, I'm not a fan of the short yardage QB being someone other than Sirk. Boehme made a nice pass to Chris Taylor. I could stand to see a few series from him with that in the plan. Getting some playing time for your back up is like buying insurance...yeah it could set you back month to month, but could prevent catastrophe.