No rest for the weary as Duke prepares for Miami

The Blue Devils aren’t paying much mind to the game tape of Miami’s 58-0 loss to Clemson, the worst loss in the Hurricanes’ history and the one that got coach Al Golden fired.

No, instead Duke is focused on another game tape.

“You go turn on the Florida State tape, and it’s completely different,” center Matt Skura said. “Something I try to tell the offensive line, and coach (John) Latina told us again today, was to watch that Florida State game. ...You’re seeing their best.”

The Hurricanes were competitive until the fourth quarter of their eventual 29-24 loss at Florida State on Oct. 10. And that’s the thing about Miami: the Hurricanes may be famous for giving an uneven effort from week to week, but the talent is always there (see last year’s six-win team that produced seven NFL draft picks in the spring).

“Our team understands the challenges,” Cutcliffe said. “We’re pretty familiar with Miami and their ability.”

Per usual, the Blue Devils are more focused on themselves than anything else. And first things were first: recovering from the four-overtime 45-43 win at Virginia Tech this past Saturday. It was a four-hour marathon of a game, one that featured 100 snaps for the defense. The recovery started Sunday morning, when pasta awaited the Blue Devils as they reported for work.

“You just eat a lot of carbs,” quarterback Thomas Sirk said.

In addition to carbs, the recovery routine included extra stretching and stints in the hot and cold tub to loosen sore muscles. Sirk carried the ball a career-high 18 times for 109 yards against the Hokies, and he wasn’t sacked or tackled for a loss once. That’s a source of pride for the offensive line, rest assured.

But it wasn’t just the quarterback run game, which was specifically targeted for the Hokies’ defense, that worked on Saturday. While Sirk missed on some, even most, throws – his 48.7 completion percentages attests to that – he did have success with deep balls, throws he got air under and let his receivers chase down the field.

According to research by ESPN’s David Hale, Sirk was 4-of-9 for 130 yards and had one touchdown on throws of 20 or more yards. Against previous FBS foes, he had only been 3-of-15 for 99 yards.

Part of that came down to trusting his receivers more. That, and the fact that short shakedown throws weren’t open against Virginia Tech’s defensive scheme.

“Coach was pressing me to give those guys a chance to make plays,” Sirk said of his wide receivers. “You can’t just be throwing the ball up and out of bounds, just give those guys a chance, and they did, and I’m so proud of them.”

After recovering on Sunday, though, the Blue Devils were as physical as ever on “bloody Tuesday,” the name they’ve given their heavy-contact Tuesdays. Skura admitted he was a little surprised the coaches didn’t give them a break, but as Cutcliffe said, coaches can’t talk a team into getting better. The only way to do that is to go out and actually work toward it.

Undoubtedly, Duke will have to modify its game plan significantly to best exploit the Hurricanes’ defense, which is decidedly different than the one run by Virginia Tech. But the confidence that comes from winning a four-overtime game still applies.

“The carryover from Virginia Tech to this game is the physicality,” Skura said. “Physicality, physical toughness, mental toughness, because sometimes it’s going to take four overtimes to win a game.”

This story was originally published October 27, 2015 at 7:26 PM with the headline "No rest for the weary as Duke prepares for Miami."