Duke opens as a “pickem”

[Steelerswan]

GT had 275 rushing but they didnt really block anything well most of the game. We needed to not make so many poor tackles and angles and thats been an issue all year.

Agree and good take, but at the end of the day, they gained those yards, even if the initial holes were not blocked schematically. Either way our D scheme or our D technique is a problem and it's probably a bit of both.

 

[Redrum]

Who cares whose favorite. Did Tulsa care yesterday as 21 point dogs ? Did we care as 8 point dogs to GT . The season is only 3 weeks old and given the messed up camp due to covid right now it’s hard to judge anybody

 

[money3189]

Lol, but it's more than that and thats what Vegas looks at and that's what makes them smart. If lines and predictions were based on final scores like fanbases boast after some wins and ignore the teams weaknesses; then Vegas wouldn't be...well, vegas.

Digging a bit and looking at the numbers and the way the game was played, the smart guys in the desert realize our win was opportunistic with cuse needing +4 or 5 in turnovers to get the job done having been beat for 275 rushing yards and over 500 yds from scrimmage to win by 3 scores. That's only part of it.

There's no doubt that GT game would be different if we hadn't got takeaways. They outgained us in yards. I will also add that Vegas guys are smart enough to see the tendencies of teams that find a way to lose games also. They see who likes to give the ball away and factor that into their lines as well.

 

[CuseOnly]

By the numbers, we did, we were +5 in turnovers. We were beat from the LOS.

By the numbers we missed about 30 tackles on defense, do they ignore that as well? What about starting field position, because you can be out-gained from the LOS as you keep saying and still win the game handily starting in opposing territory? What about return yardage, do they ignore that as well?

How do you figure that we were beat at the LOS and exactly what does that mean?

 

[oldpinepoint]

We should not be favored in a game this year except maybe Liberty

 

[Steelerswan]

By the numbers we missed about 30 tackles on defense, do they ignore that as well? What about starting field position, because you can be out-gained from the LOS as you keep saying and still win the game handily starting in opposing territory? What about return yardage, do they ignore that as well?

How do you figure that we were beat at the LOS and exactly what does that mean?

Yes, you can ignore missed tackles bc that's subjective and something we correct...or don't. Cant quantify that. As for being beat from the LOS? it's all about the direct yards gained on the snap and we were gashed for 275 in the ground and outgained by 80 or 90 yards for total offense. This usually results in a win but we won by 17 bc we got 5 turnovers and 15 penalties. Looking at stats and norms this is an outlier and obviously will never be figured into evaluating a team and its matchup. Vegas and any smart minds look at what a team is from the LOS for starters. I love or D, but turnovers are undependable

 

[DeGrozz]

What exactly has Duke shown YTD such that they’d be favored by ~3 on a neutral field?
Because that’s what a road pick-em is saying.

I get that we’re not great.
But - how/why is Dook supposedly a little less not great?

I don't follow sports gambling enough -- is that still the case with COVID crowds?

 

[kcsu]

I think we are going to destroy Duke. 21 plus win.

 

[All4SU]

Agree and good take, but at the end of the day, they gained those yards, even if the initial holes were not blocked schematically. Either way our D scheme or our D technique is a problem and it's probably a bit of both.

Yeah, no this is a defense that is already starting to show some success. It will get better as the season goes on.

 

[Steelerswan]

Yeah, no this is a defense that is already starting to show some success. It will get better as the season goes on.

I agree, love the trend of our D. The young talent and the way they play aggressively. That said, they are still learning and have missed tackles and the Duke line reflects that along with the inept nature of our O over the first 3 games. Will be a tough game. until we show confidence in TD and call better plays situationally and play cleaner on D, we won't be favored in any games.

 

[CapitalO]

I think we are going to destroy Duke. 21 plus win.

Brice will be smothered by ( WAX )

Don't be fooled by brices INT's, I haven't seen all of them but the one this week wasn't his fault and at least one the week before wasn't either. Their WR's struggle to get separation but he'll take a hit to make a throw, moves pretty well, doubt they'll get much space against our secondary, duke -2-3 is probably fair.

Don't be fooled by brices INT's, I haven't seen all of them but the one this week wasn't his fault and at least one the week before wasn't either. Their WR's struggle to get separation but he'll take a hit to make a throw, moves pretty well, doubt they'll get much space against our secondary, duke -2-3 is probably fair.

 

[Redrum]

I think we are going to destroy Duke. 21 plus win.

And then some

 

[UpstateSM]

Are you saying we got outplayed last week and didn't deserve to win? Not quite sure you've made that point clear yet.

You know what? I’m convinced now.

I’ll be calling the league office tomorrow to ask them to change the standings because we don’t deserve that win. I hope you do the right thing too

 

[Chip]

I think we are going to destroy Duke. 21 plus win.

I mean, why stop there? We beat them 49-6 on the road last year. And we had an even uglier start to our season last year (The Maryland fiasco counts as 4 losses).

 

[Steelerswan]

You know what? I’m convinced now.

I’ll be calling the league office tomorrow to ask them to change the standings because we don’t deserve that win. I hope you do the right thing too

Joke all you want, but there is a reason Vegas sees it differently.

 

[baggerbob]

I agree, love the trend of our D. The young talent and the way they play aggressively. That said, they are still learning and have missed tackles and the Duke line reflects that along with the inept nature of our O over the first 3 games. Will be a tough game. until we show confidence in TD and call better plays situationally and play cleaner on D, we won't be favored in any games.

Until the offense shows they can stay on the field and score TD's we will be underdogs in most games. So far we still haven't shown we can consistently move the ball and score.

 

[RoatanCuse]

Guess I am too old for this board. I remember the days when we'd beat Duke 20 times out of 20. They were at the Colgate level. Then I guess they hired a better coach. I hope we can get back to those glory days. Miss them.

 

[690West]

Early money is slightly on Duke. Has moved to Duke -1 at couple books.

 

[rocklloyd]

It’s payback time for Bricey

 

[oldpinepoint]

You can’t win if you can’t score points, our offensive numbers are abysmal so far this season. Hopefully we start getting better this week after the bye. I believe we will get better, the problem is will the defense be able to generate more turnovers. We have relied on them for field position.

 

[FRANKIEFAN]

Early money is slightly on Duke. Has moved to Duke -1 at couple books.

Up to Duke -2.

Can see this one being like the UNC Devito coming out party 2018 game where we should stomp them but end up in a nail biter.

But I think with the week off the D will be fired up and we do plenty of good things on offense.

 

[upperdeck]

Duke betters are seeing a close game vs VT.. That also ignore that VT scored 37 without a starting QB, 21 players, and that duke scored 3 times in the 4th and had under 200 yds of offense going into the 4th against a team basically playing with no corners and missing their starting safety too. without all the missing players its probably a 50-14 type of game.

lets hope so.

 

[Newhouser]

Virginia Tech ran all over Duke.
I really hope our OL is ready to run block.
Duke has a couple of good DL but their defense is undersized we should be able to run on them.

I would never bet on this game though I have no read on how we will do.
I feel confident we should heat Duke though.

Va Tech dominated NC State too and the Pack looked pretty decent against PITT. I too think we should beat Duke but this leagues bottom feeders have a very thin margin.

 

[gmoney44]

Until the offense shows they can stay on the field and score TD's we will be underdogs in most games. So far we still haven't shown we can consistently move the ball and score.

Ya, it’s no secret how to stop our offense. Don’t give up the home run, move Tommy off his spot and force us to sustain drives. if we can continue to run the ball like we did in the first half of the GT game that book goes out the window.

 

[upperdeck]

Our RBs have not shown the ability to make plays like that VT kid did about a dozen times in the Duke game.