Ben Byrd 
Duke celebrates another turnover during Friday night's win over Northwestern.
After the first two games of the Manny Diaz era, there’s a lot to be excited, optimistic and hopeful about. There’s also a lot to be worried about for the rest of the season. While Duke is 2-0,* Diaz’ team has some things that need fixing.
*I think we can fairly say that the fumble reversal in the fourth quarter was a bad call and that the Blue Devils should have lost on Friday night. If Northwestern gets the ball, the Wildcats almost certainly win the game. The fumble got reversed which led to a game-tying field goal. I’m sure the home crowd was upset and will be for a long time.
However, keep in mind that the football gods have a long memory. The reversal of the fumble is cosmic justice for what I think was a bad call that resulted in Duke not getting a touchdown in either 1997 or 1999 against Northwestern which ended in losses for the boys in Durham. I doubt any of you remember either game and I certainly can’t find the recap from 1997 to confirm it (but the 1999 recap didn’t mention it). I’m trying to connect with my dad to get confirmation on which season it happened in. Regardless, the Wildcats got hosed Friday night; there’s no other way to put it.
What we’ve seen so far that’s been good for the Blue Devils is the defense. That unit held all night and created a chance for the offense to finally click and make some plays in the fourth quarter and in overtime. While the DL was certainly solid, Duke got some great snaps from its second and third-string LBs. That was a position that a lot of us were worried about going into the season. Despite Morris being held out due to injury on Friday, Nicholas stepped up. And when Nicholas went down, Mergott didn’t miss a beat. The secondary also had some moments, too.
But as good as the defense was, the struggles in the running game canceled that out. I don’t know if that’s because Murphy isn’t a runner or if the OL just hasn’t come together yet. Keep in mind that this staff had to cobble the OL together through the portal thanks to the loss of Barton and Monk and it will take time for a bunch of new guys to click. That said, two games with a total of 152 yards isn’t going to get it done. The coaches are going to have to find a way to get more production from the running game.
Of course, no summary of the Blue Devils’ struggles would be complete without mentioning the ongoing Achilles Heel of the program, the punt return game. Ever since Jamison Crowder left Durham, Duke hasn’t been able to get consistent production from that group. The fumble by Brown led to a Northwestern touchdown. Then there was the blocked punt which was more likely caused by Hasley’s injury. Regardless of how and why those things happened, they happened. It’s just not ideal. This unit has to be more productive and can’t keep shooting itself in the foot.
When I started putting my season predictions together, I was immediately concerned about Friday’s game. I thought it would tell us a lot about where Coach Diaz had the program. I also thought it would tell us what we could expect for the rest of the season. Look, 10 games with 2 bye weeks is a long time and gives this team plenty of chances to get better. But, as of the morning of September 8 when I’m writing this, I sure feel like my early season prediction was correct.
As always, Go Duke!
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