For the second week in a row, in-game adjustments appear to be taking place, and taking place very effectively. We hate the slow starts (more to come on that), but one of our biggest complaints for years under the previous regime was a staunch refusal to make adjustments. In many cases, things were the opposite of the way they’ve taken place this year. Under Mickey, the Dukes would ground n’ pound there way to a hard-fought, but slim halftime or early lead. But no changes were ever made and they kept trying to grind straight ahead while other teams adjusted and frequently blew their doors off. Games in recent years against Villanova, UNH, and ODU have been repetitive examples of this. Yesterday, after falling behind 15-7, the Dukes fixed a few things and outscored the Red Flashes 31-7 the rest of the way. And that’s on the heels of the big second-half comeback last week.<\/p>\n
The second thing (man it’s nice to finally have multiple items in this section) to point out here was the significantly improved play of QB1 Vad Lee. Not sure if the removal of the balky knee brace he started the season with had anything to do with it or not, but Lee looked a heck of a lot friskier running the ball yesterday. And he also threw the ball with the type of authority we’d heard about from back in the Spring game. Even the most critical observer would have to concede he was good yesterday and could’ve been even better were it not for two dropped first downs and a horrible dropped TD in the first half. It’s also worth noting that he seemed to discover Daniel Brown yesterday after seeming to be politically attached to fellow transfer wideout Tapley the first two weeks and Brown rewarded him by generally showing why he’s a unique weapon at this level. \u00a0That scrambling throw to Brown in the second quarter was also a play that simply doesn’t happen under either of the two QB’s we’ve had most recently (that’s not to say Lee’s an overall upgrade, just that play wasn’t mentally in JT’s capacity or physically within Birdsong’s).<\/p>\n
Also in the good section, again, was the play of Jimmy effin’ Moreland. Not sure if that’s a good nickname or if someone can find a honeybadgerish type moniker for him, but the kid can ball. We’ve heard more knowledgable football minds argue he’s sometimes out of position on other plays, but you just can’t replace a kid with a knack for the type of game-changing plays this kid’s already making. Not to mention he wasn’t alone yesterday as the defense shook off a terrible start to force a number of big plays and turnovers including another fantastic center fielder type pick by Raven Greene to seal the win at the end.<\/p>\n
Not exactly a full “good” but the kicking game has also started to at least not be atrocious which is great news given all the preseason worries. One terrible punt, but a bunch of really solid punts, kicks, and coverage.<\/p>\n
The Bad<\/strong><\/p>\n Three weeks, three terrible starts. No idea what’s going on early in these games. Are they overamped? Overthinking? Who knows, but it’s got to stop or they aren’t going to be able to overcome this consistently.<\/p>\n High snaps. Already talked about the drops and we don’t like to call out particular players on execution issues, but the Dukes HAVE to find a way to get this snap snafu sorted out before Lee gets killed or is forced to throw more picks.<\/p>\n The Ugly<\/strong><\/p>\n There’s a trip to the Main Line to play Villanova up next. The Dukes are just about where we hoped them to be at 2-1, but so far have shown only incremental improvement. The trip they take to Villanofun this week could be terrifying without a significant positive step this week. Nova has lost by a point in double OT at the Carrier Dome, destroyed an FCS playoff team in Fordham two weeks ago and is coming off a bye yesterday. This will easily be the Dukes toughest remaining game and they need to be ready.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>OT<\/strong><\/p>\n