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David Cutcliffe Press Conference Quotes: Virginia
9/22/2020 1:20:00 PM | Football
DURHAM, N.C. - Duke football head coach David Cutcliffe met with members of the media virtually on Monday afternoon for his weekly press conference.
The Blue Devils travel to Virginia on Saturday for their third ACC game. The contest will be broadcast on the ACC Network with Chris Cotter, Mark Herzlich, and Eric Wood on the call. Kickoff is slated for 4:00 p.m. The game can also be heard on the Blue Devils IMG Sports Network through the TuneIn app or goduke.com
David Cutcliffe Duke Football Head Coach
(Ref.: Opening Statement)
"Obviously a unique weekend to deal with. Our team had great work yesterday wasn't easy to rekindle a fire but we were able to do that. We have standards that have to be met. It's been a unique year to say the least with dealing with all of the time away that the squad spent getting back in rhythm. Didn't play nearly as well the second week as the first week, which puts certainly the pressure right here. I'm 100 percent responsible for that because our standards have to be set by the head football coach. I don't think there's any question that we have some guys playing really well. Can't say enough great things about the way we've pressured the quarterback. Victor Dimukeje has been outstanding. You see Chris Rumph II showing up, Ben Frye – the defensive front has really set a tone for us. I think our offensive line has been better. Devery Hamilton has played really, really well. And that needs to be said because people don't see that near enough. But do we need consistency? Absolutely. Do we need a little bit more hunger? Absolutely. I'm looking forward to this week of practice. The opportunities as they present themselves continuing to move forward and we will attack the problems. We've never run away from any issues since we've been here and we're certainly not running away from this one."
(Ref.: On how the coaching staff has handled getting the defense ready for 2020)
"Well, one of the things you do, and we're able to do a lot of is your contact one on one. So, we have a lot of pass rush work, our ones versus our ones. We do half line pass rush work where you're working your twist and different circumstances against ones versus ones. I think Coach (Greg) Frey and Coach (Ben) Albert have done a great job of doing that, of setting a tone. And I think that that experience of the defensive front is paying off. They understand our standards of play and the consistency we have to have. And I think and I really expect this to get better and better. Now you're going to run into some really fine offensive lines. Notre Dame had one, absolutely. Boston College had a good offensive line. But that's the work that we've got to go get done and hopefully we will get better as the season goes along and we don't see any kind of fade off in that regard."
(Ref.: On concerns of getting prepared while also battling COVID in practice:)
"We have not had as much of a COVID issue as some other teams as far as players being out of practice. Once we've started practice, all of our problems were behind us. Our players have been phenomenal. The thing that you don't have is that with either circumstances where you have opt outs or you've had people that have some long term injuries. And then you have a team that's 129 days without an organized workout. I think the slowness of preparation has been really challenging. The most challenging thing I've been around. We don't have the numbers of people when it comes to non-scholarship and scholarship people that we've had available to practice. You're trying to reinvent the wheel rather than using practice formulas and scripts that we've used for 20, 25 years that you know get a team ready to play. We're having to kind of step by step see what we have, do things differently and you're to some degree having to learn on the run as to what's going to be effective. Obviously, I hold myself responsible for that. I really was angry with myself because I didn't think we were as prepared as we needed to be not only for Boston College but I thought for Notre Dame. We've got to take those next steps. And when you miss some foundation work, which is what I think we've lost, I think that hurts us. We have standards we work by and the way we do things in whether it's red zone or whether it's any part of the game in kicking, any part of the offense or defense. Yes, I have a lot of concerns still as to what's going to be the catch up mode when you have a unique circumstance to practice on Tuesday and Wednesday, which are your big work days."
(Ref.: On turnover concerns and how to fix them)
"Well, I don't tie anything into last year and this year. There's really no connection with a lot of different players in the different circumstance. I think with us is what I just described. You really have a difficult time knowing right where we are. We have had one scrimmage in the fall camp and that was it. We had no scrimmages from spring, which obviously, we didn't get a spring. Trying to get a team game ready, that's one of the things I've critiqued myself as a play caller, when you see things or you try things you better know what's game ready and I'm not going to blame a player if it's not executed just like it should have been. If we haven't put it in a circumstance where it's game ready, it kind of goes back to all of those challenges.
"Now taking care of the football. What I call staying belly down. I don't want to see people carrying the ball with turning their belly up. Those are going to be fumbles. People have to finish catches and runs. Quarterbacks have to be accountable where they put the ball. Receivers have to be accountable where they are on the field. If that sounds like coaching it is on my part. You have to coach all of those little things to take care of a football and put yourself in position to put touchdowns together. Reality is this – we've probably left eight touchdowns on the field in two games and we know we turned it over five times in this past ball game. When you do that, you're not going to win. Can you fix it? Yes, you've got to go fix it out there on the practice field."
(Ref.: On Virginia's success against Duke since Bronco Mendenhall took over)
"They're really a good defensive systematic team. I think they're as intricate defensively as anybody we play. They've done a good job of recruiting players. Their players are well-prepared. I've known Bronco for a long, long time. They've had some good fortune with some guys. You know Bryce Perkins coming in there made a huge difference. They were coastal division champions for a reason a year ago, and they've got a lot of players back that return. They're just challenging for a lot of people. Certainly, we hadn't played as well as we would like against them and Virginia was a team we had been playing well against. So, we've got to turn that worm and we just got to go out and do the things that you do to win football games. First of all, as coach (Bear) Bryant used to say, more games are lost than won. We can't go out there and lose the game with turnovers and a year ago, we wrapped up gifts and gave it to them."
(Ref.: On not having film on Virginia and playing in the opponent's opener for the third straight week)
"I don't like openers, period. I think it's the craziest thing I've ever been through. I doubt this has ever happened in college football where a team had three openers three games you play where you have no film to study. We know a lot about Virginia but you're still not looking at the 2020 version of Virginia. Any changes that they've made, we don't know exactly what they're going to be. It's been challenging. Our players are a little irritable about it to be real honest with you. It's a unique setting. It's what we've been given. We have to deal with it and just move forward."
(Ref.: On Chase Brice's play so far)
"You'll have to be specific as to what they were rating Pro Football Focus rates a lot of things. Alright, so they like some of the big plays that he's made. There's no question what I would say in that regard. A few scrambles, some great throws against Notre Dame. A very good, obviously, defensive football team that pitched a shutout the second week. There's no question that he has positive plays. What I'm looking for from Chase, from my perspective, is consistency. The first job a quarterback has is to make the other 10 people around him better, right. Along with this ability he has to make plays. We're looking for consistency. But he certainly has had some really positive plays that have impacted our team to this point in a positive way. I'm assuming that's what they're looking at."
(Ref.: On Chase Brice's progression and fixing some of the mistakes from last week)
"Well, you have to go through your progression. One of the things that when you're watching film, and that's the biggest part of Sunday is correcting mistakes and looking at the ballgame then you go out to practice and you're actually practicing in some of those circumstances. But the biggest thing is a quarterback should never surprise you with his decision making if we are on the same page if progression is happening as it should. Then you also have to understand that everybody has to be on the same page. Part of a quarterback's job during the week is to communicate the functional part not only with me but with receivers. Get people where they need to be. And then again, when you're working progression works. And so, finding that consistency being in the new system is always a bit challenging."
(Ref.: On the defensive line – specifically Ben Frye and DeWayne Carter)
"Ben Frye, let's just start with him, is a veteran player that hadn't played a lot because of injury. He is a very strong young man. His weight is not as much as those other guys. He was a great wrestler in high school. He's got great hands and feet. He's tenacious. He's got a lot of fight in him. I love his spirit and attitude. DeWayne is a heck of an athlete. A big guy that's a heck of an athlete. He was a great high school baseball player just a good skilled athlete again with good feet and hands and he's going to do nothing but grow and grow. And I think we've got some really good young defensive linemen that we're going to see a little bit more of as the season progresses. I'm excited about that position now and as it's coming forward."
(Ref.: On the team registering to vote)
"Really proud of our team. We had today, on Monday morning our off day, an opportunity to check voter registration. And then those that were not registered we were able to register them. Our staff here in football did a great job with that. We were excited that so many of them had taken the initiative we had given them all the information to get registered. And so they had taken the initiative to register. We've got the other guys registered. We should have everybody voting now. And we're also working with them to get their absentee ballots sent to them. So those that are registered in other states have the opportunity to exercise their right to vote, which is more important than ever."
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