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Duke Battles Heat; Decisions Loom
Football Preseason Camp Central Page
DURHAM, N.C. -- The Duke football battled through a blistering heat wave on Monday morning, working out at the Brooks Practice Facility for over two hours.
Temperatures reached into the high 90's and with heat indices around 105 degrees, the National Weather Service issued a heat advisory for Durham County.
"It's always a challenge this time of year," head coach David Cutcliffe said following the session. "It's been a mild summer, and our guys have worked very hard. I think we're in extremely good condition. As tough as it sounds, we need some of this right now. If we hit September games, and we're going to get this 100-degree heat, then to be able to play four quarters we need a little bit of this right now. What you have to be careful of is to not deplete your team to where it affects tomorrow. We've got to push them up to a point and then obviously not to the point where they can't recover, and our medical staff does a great job of watching those kids."
Cutcliffe has placed an emphasis on finishing each and every drill, and indicated that enduring the weather elements can help an individual's mental approach. The veteran coach is particularly interested to see how the freshmen react in preparation for the season.
"I think there are great lessons out there the entire time that you are playing," he stated. "Absolutely learning to finish, learning to carry yourself like a champion. Our young guys, watching our freshmen, they have no idea how hard Saturdays will be. When you're playing against a seasoned football team like Richmond, it's 60 minutes of football. Its hard. When you're having to cover a punt and then turn around and immediately go play defense. We've got some young people that are going to be thrown in that mode. We have 38 freshmen on this team. That's a bunch. We need a lot of young people that get this kind of work to find out that they can push themselves a little further than they think."
As preseason camp marches on, the coaching staff will continue to evaluate the freshmen on the roster to determine which will earn immediate playing time.
"I've already started that process; I did a long evaluation yesterday," Cutcliffe noted. "I just sat by myself in the staff room, looking at the depth at every position, and looking at the players, then looking at our practice tape just to get an idea. The hard part is we're installing, and we're putting an enormous amount of offense and defense on them and sometimes a confused player will look like a non-motivated player. So we're jumping back and forth between getting our young people evaluated, and then getting our system in place."
Duke opens the 2009 season at home against Richmond on September 5. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Wallace Wade Stadium, and tickets may be purchased online at www.GoDuke.com or by calling the Duke Athletic Ticket Office at 877-375-DUKE.
