Sometimes there are bad 8-5 seasons. Sometimes they are good 8-5 seasons, and sometimes an 8-5 season could be considered almost great. I would call David Cutcliffe leading Duke to an 8-5 year arguably his best coached season at Duke.
There were some low moments this year. After the 35-6 loss to Clemson, there was an inexplicable 59-7 home beatdown at the hands of Wake Forest. Like the rest of the season though, Cutcliffe never let an injury or a loss define the season.
Thursday was no different against Temple. Down 27-13 in the 2nd quarter, Duke scored 42 straight unanswered points. Likely headed to the NFL QB Daniel Jones was spectacular throwing for 423 yards and 5 TD. T.J Rahming had 12 catches for 240 yards. The offense just blew a good Temple defense off the field.
If Duke had avoided the injury bug could they have won 10+ games this year? I think you could make that argument. Duke now has four 8+ win seasons in the last 6 years, which would have been unheard of before David Cutcliffe’s arrival.
With so many ACC Coastal teams in states of transition, if Daniel Jones returned Duke could be considered the Coastal favorite for 2019. Even without him, there no reason to think Duke won’t still be in the thick of the Coastal chase. Cutcliffe has built as consistent a Coastal program as there is at the moment.
The Blue Devils open next year with Alabama, which is great for the national attention it will bring. A few years ago it would have been insane to schedule a game like that, but now why not?
Let Duke take their shot against Alabama. I don’t expect a win, but why can’t Duke think big? The program is on solid footing, plays a quality non-conference schedule and has won their fair share of them. David Cutcliffe will use it as a recruiting tool I’m sure.
What I want to see next year in the 40,000 seat Wallace Wade Stadium, is no more half filled seats which happened in a third of Duke’s home games. Wallace Wade should be filled at or near capacity. This program has earned it.
