By Al Featherston, GoDuke.com
DURHAM, N.C. - Duke’s new head football coach made his reputation as a quarterback guru.
But that doesn’t mean that David Cutcliffe spends all his practice time on the offensive end of the field.
“I still believe that you win championships with defense and the kicking game,” Cutcliffe said Saturday after Duke’s spring football game. “We’re going to take that approach – defense and the kicking first ... they get first choice of everything.”
Defense dominated Cutcliffe’s first spring game. With the teams divided equally, the winning White team allowed just a field goal – while scoring a defensive touchdown of its own – in a 14-3 victory in front of an estimated 3,250 fans at Wallace Wade Stadium..
“Our goal for this game was not to allow any points,” White linebacker Vincent Rey said. “We allowed three, but we got the win, so that’s the important thing.”
Actually, even the three points allowed by the White team were something of a defensive triumph. Linebacker Michael Tauiliili recovered a fumbled punt to set the Blue team up at the White 11-yard line in the first quarter. But the White defense stopped the Blue offense cold, forcing Nick Maggio to kick a 24-yard field goal.
Late in the scrimmage, the White defense added a score of its own, when defensive end Wesley Oglesby came up with a muffed handoff and bulled his way seven yards into the end zone for a touchdown.
“That’s the first time ... I scored twice in my senior year in high school,” the sophomore from Arlington, Texas, said.
As dominant as the winning White defense was, the losing Blue defensive team might have been more impressive overall – with the exception of one play. On the first snap after Maggio’s first-quarter field goal, the Blues allowed Tony Jackson – a converted defensive back – to break through a hole on the left side and race 75-yards down the sideline for the game’s only offensive touchdown.
“That’s the big play factor – the 75-yard run by Tony Jackson and the fumble at the goal line ... eliminate those two plays and we have a tight ballgame at the end,” junior defensive tackle Vince Oghobaase said. “We’ll hear a lot of trash talking from the White team, but it’s all good.”
Despite the scrimmage loss, Oghabaase is excited about the changes Cutcliffe and his new staff have made in the program so far. The big Texan raved about the impact of the team’s new conditioning program.
“We had great, great success in this off-season program with the conditioning and with spring ball,” he said. “Coach said he wanted everybody to lose a lot of weight and we lost 400 pounds collectively. When we did our body fat test a week ago, everybody lost at least two to three percent body fat. The results are very, very good.”
Oghabaase, a two-year starter at nose tackle, can feel the difference.
“This is the best I’ve felt any of my springs here,” he said. “I’ve dropped six or seven pounds and my body fat has gone down. My body fat has gone down tremendously. My whole body feels better. I feel lighter on my feet and I have better stamina.”
Rey, who led Duke last season with 107 tackles, has traded several excess pounds for an extra step and more stamina. He suggested the improved conditioning really showed up late in the scrimmage, when the White defense halted a desperation Blue drive on an interception by sophomore cornerback Chris Rwabukamba.
“I feel it’s a sign we’re really well-conditioned,” Rey said. “We were out there for a lot of plays and we were kind of winded, but our body demeanor was better than what it usually is.”
Of course, there’s more to defensive improvement than conditioning. Oglesby said the new staff is working hard to improve the team’s fundamentals.
“They’re just so energetic,” he said. “[Defensive line coach Marion] Hobby has a ton of experience. We have a lot of confidence in what he’s teaching us. I think that carries over into our play. The things we’ve been working on is first getting lined up and knowing our assignments. The coaches are always preaching that knowledge equals confidence equals playing fast.”
While it’s certainly too early to come to any major conclusions, the tackling – sometimes a problem in the past few years – was excellent in the spring game.
“Coach Cutcliffe tells us all the time that it’s about doing the ordinary things better than everyone else,” Rey said. “To me, that means in individual drills, we tackle in every practice.”
Cutcliffle said he’s pleased with the progress the Blue Devils have made so far, but he warned that the team has to get even better to compete successfully in the ACC.
“I liked the intensity level,” he said. “I saw a number of big hits, which is what I wanted to see from our defense. I’d like to create more of those. I think we need to become a more physical team. But for the most part, I was pleased by what I saw from the defense.
“There’s always another level ... and we have to reach that level to hold up in the ACC.”
He’s hoping that the incoming freshman class will provide some depth and fill in some of the holes on his depth chart. He’s especially optimistic about getting secondary help from his newcomers – one reason he felt comfortable enough to move defensive backs Tony Jackson and Matt Pridemore to offense.
“We needed that spark of speed [on offense],” he said.
One of his 2008 recruits is already on campus. Cornerback Randez James, a San Antonio speedster who played last fall at Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia, enrolled from the spring semester and went through off-season practice.
“In his particular case, he needed the reps,” Cutcliffe said of James. “He was a long way from understanding technique and fundamentals. I think [secondary coach] Derek Jones took him under his wing and did a tremendous job. Had Randez missed spring practice, he’d have had a hard time helping us. Because he’s been here this spring, Randez will be able to help us in the fall.”
Fall – and Cutcliffe’s debut as Duke’s head football coach – is not that far away. On Aug. 30, the Blue Devils will open the 2008 season with a home game against James Madison.
That leaves four months for the Duke players to resume their conditioning and prepare themselves “to take it to the next level.”
“The whole team will be here this summer,” Oghobaase said. “We’ll run four times a week and lift two days a week. This staff is very energetic and energy is contagious. It’s going to make us a better team – a better defense.”
