DURHAM
Something is getting lost in the time after Duke leaves its practice field, finished with its work for the week, to when it steps onto the football field on Saturdays.
And it is beginning to perplex Coach David Cutcliffe.
Cutcliffe said he and his coaches haven’t seen many bad practice days. But game days are beset by turnovers, mistakes and missed assignments on both offense and defense.
The problems have led to a six-game losing streak heading into Saturday’s game at Navy.
The next loss will mean that Duke can’t finish with a .500 record, and that a losing streak that dates to the 1994 season will continue.
“Now we’ve got to go on,” Cutcliffe said. “Either you do it or you don’t. Talking about it isn’t going to get it done. And not practicing well is not going to get it done.
“You’ve got to reach that level of confidence that you can go compete and execute against anything anybody throws at you.”
Cutcliffe has coached teams that have had difficulty making the transition from the practice field to the playing field, but not to the extent that this Blue Devils team is experiencing.
The first problems appeared on defense, when Wake Forest scored 54 points in the second game of the season and Alabama scored 62 a week later. The shortcomings since then have been on offense, specifically 16 interceptions and five lost fumbles.
“Overcoming adversity is probably most difficult when you’re struggling in the won-loss column,” Cutcliffe said. “You’ve got to fight to handle that. We spent a long time working on it, but we haven’t done it very well.”
A handful of changes were made for practice this week. Extra time was devoted to the Blue Devils’ passing game, and defending the pass, which the Midshipmen will use, although they are an option team that moves mostly on the ground.
Cutcliffe wants his quarterbacks, starter Sean Renfree and backup Brandon Connette, completing 60 to 65 percent of their attempts.
They are completing 54 percent for the season. Renfree has 15 of the 16 interceptions.
Cutcliffe got on the phone this week and talked to his coaches about practice routines. He said he wanted to see if anyone had an insight into what the Blue Devils’ problems were and how to correct them.
He talked to old friends he has known for many years, and whose advice he treasures. He talked to coaches who are familiar with how Duke practices, and he talked to coaches who practice in different styles.
He talked to coaches on the East Coast and the West Coast. He wanted to know if he was wearing his players out on the practice field, and if they were too tired to execute on game days.
“One of the things that’s not broken is our players working like you have to work to get better,” Cutcliffe said. “You all would be truly amazed if you were privy to see the energy and the effort that went into the preparation.”
Cutcliffe said that he has seen no lack of perseverance in his players, despite the losing streak. He said that “resilient” doesn’t begin to describe the effort and the dedication that he sees in his players each week.
But a win would help everyone.
“I don’t think anybody’s lost their confidence in our process or our program,” Cutcliffe said. “You always have to find the mentality, ‘How can I keep confident,’ and ‘Do we have a chance?’
“You’ve just got to win your way out of it.”
bcole@wsjournal.com
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