Duke

I got the news in November of my junior year in High School. I had the heard the whispers from my parents for weeks, but having been in the same small town school system my entire life, the concept of moving did not seem real at the time. I literally shared a grade with the same 200 kids for 11 years. Basketball season had just begun for the Homer Trojans and our upstate NY travel schedule was only 1 game in when the starting point guard had to share with the head coach that he was bailing on January 1. I was coming off off a double digit assist win and very badly misjudged the coming reaction. The head man decided at that moment that my hoops playing career was over, and I was basically handed a clipboard for the remainder of the year. Ouch. 

I came to my new home in sunny Ocala just in time for baseball tryouts. My first afternoon on the diamond, I joined the 25 or so other attendees sitting quietly in the shade of the dugout, all spitting at an invisible target between their feet. I went home that evening and questioned my father as to what all this saliva could possibly be about. Quick as a hiccup, he responded that he knew what it was, and went out and bought a gross of big league chew bubble gum for day two. So, I packed my cheek with a ginormous wad of pink wonderfulness and headed to the bench to commence my expectorant practice. It was quickly apparent upon closer inspection that my spit and my nascent teammates was not in the same color wheel. Starting fresh was as much of an uphill climb as my recent exit. 

We commented a few weeks back that we probably just enjoyed our last football sojourn to Boston. This week, we may have set an unbreakable record of 22 unblemished games against another FBS team with a lifetime sweep of the Blue Devils. Kids, I do not believe there is any likelihood that the Noles will be in the ACC in 2025. Believe me that everyone in the All Carolina Conference knows that we are on our way out too. We have certainly not been quiet about it. The schedule makers next season will undoubtedly punish us, and believe me the refs who cash their Charlotte checks are aware of what is coming. And that does not take into account the love that head zebra Jeff Flanagan has for the garnet & gold. If you were watching the contest last night wearing earth tones with no skin in the game, you were probably exclaiming out loud how one team was allowed to hug the defense like forlorn fat lovers without penalty. Us too. You may have noticed how a yard or two was shaved off of almost every run, including two obvious first downs. We wondered the same. Maybe folks saw how after a change of possession, the crew started the down clock while both teams were on the bench, so when Jordan got behind center, there was 3 seconds on the clock. He looked at the ref who literally shrugged at him. Delay of game. But, this is the new reality as we exit the ACC. God forbid we play Carolina or Duke in the championship game. They may only allow us to field 10 players. But, whatever conference we join in 2025 will be no picnic as they are already on their bench and we have zero idea what is stuffed in their cheek.

Five out of seven teams we have played this year have scored a bagel in the second half. That is nuts. It is not like amazing adjustments are being made in the locker room. The scheme is always the same, and the personnel are identical. However, I do think there is something to the rotation that Odell and Papuchis choose to employ this year. Five tackles and four ends are all taking even snaps and maybe after 50 snaps, opposing offensive lineman just flat wear out. Maybe, we are snacking on brussel sprouts and liverworst during the break and our collective breath is so horrific that opposing fat guys just wilt. I will say that Fabian Lovett seems to explode in the latter stages of every game, so his need for a mint might be acute.

Or maybe it is that the secondary is just that good. Why teams even try to throw on Renardo Green any more is shocking; so Cypress gets 10 targets a night, and he is mostly up to the challenge. Much of the Devil running success was aided by some point of attack bearhugs, but we ask our front 6 to fit perfectly on every run. Our two linebackers have to be perfect or a run is going to pop. Duke popped for almost 200. I wish we had a hybrid safety that could give us a little more support when we face a run first attack. Just showing a 7 or 8 man box would make any opposing quarterback to wonder what they are seeing. Unfortunately, it looked to us behind the Noles bench that both Lundy and Bethune got dinged on the last meaningless series. Let's hope for the best with a very small lb room...

We thought going in that Duke was susceptible to throws to the TE's and backs, and zowie was that ever true. The "best" defense in the ACC was torched for 38 points, and that had nothing to do with a balky quarterback. Last time I checked, Duke was not pulling a Travis Hunter with a two way qb. Norvell knew that his cheat codes were Bell and Toafili, and now the guests from Durham know too. Jaheim was targeted 10 times and snagged 8 of them, and Toafili took the last screen and just exploded into the end zone to turn on the fireworks. Morlock had a couple grabs and the flying biscuit went around the world, between his legs and off his ubiquitous behind to snare one. Bell also ruined the night of the poor soul who he blocked into the alumni band on the last Travis touchdown. He is not fair as a lead blocker. Johnny has not dropped a pass since the early season debacle, and even when he was knocked into Tuesday again on Saturday night, he held on for a key first down. Keon, who could not possibly have seen that one dart before it hit him in the gut and settled between his legs, just gives us another wow, and Jordan channeled his inner Tina Turner and brought back the legs on this tour. We needed them and so did he. You can see how happy he is after a big run. It juices him and all of Doak. 

Doak was finger in the socket charged on Saturday night, and just when you thought the cord might have been nicked, Duece got loose. That 99 yard run guaranteed a plugged in unconquered spirit for the rest of the game, and when that place is that loud, it is just awesome. Let's hope that we can repeat that in three weeks when the next orange opponent comes north. In the interim, we will be off to NC for a nooner against the Deacs. For all that holy, let's not let our senior class graduate without beating Wake. See you on Snuggie Hill!