2008 Duke Blue Devils
Written July 11, 2008 by Jason Lowry
The upcoming college football season is right around the corner and to help get you going Jason Lowry is going to give you his 2008 Duke Blue Devils season predictions. The Blue Devils are coming off a 1-11 season, and finished dead last in the ACC at 0-8. If there is a year that the Blue Devils are going to climb out of the bottom of the ACC Coastal division it just might be this year, as many of the teams aren’t that good, and Duke has 17 returning starters coming back for new head coach David Cutcliffe. To see what the Blue Devils will be working with next season lets take a look at what they will be lining up on both sides of the ball.
Offense:
The offensive unit brings back 7 starters and it all starts with junior quarterback Thaddeus Lewis who threw for over 2,000 yards and 21 touchdowns last season. Duke also brings back their running back in senior Re’Quan Boyette, but he will need to put together a little better season this year if the offense wants to improve. Lewis will have a pretty good target to throw the football to, as senior Eron Riley is top notch when it comes to receivers in the ACC. The team will have to plug in sophomore Austin Kelly to play alongside Riley and senior Raphael Chestnut. Lewis will have a new tight end this season, and it looks like junior Brandon King gets the early edge to start. The offensive line should be okay next season with 3 returning starters, but they might be relying heavily on redshirt freshman Chris Shannon at the center spot. The only other open spot comes at the left guard spot and that looks like it’s going to be taken over by junior Jarrod Holt.
Defense:
Here is where things start getting interesting for the Blue Devils as they return 10 starters on this side of the ball, but its going to be more about can this unit improve and use that experience to turn games into wins, instead letting teams do whatever they want on offense. The entire front 4 returns and it looks like they got a pretty good one in junior defensive tackle Vince Oghobaase. The team should be pretty solid at the linebacking spot as they again return all their starters from last season. junior weakside backer Vincent Rey and senior middle linebacker Mike Tauilili are the top two returning tacklers from last season, and should only get better this season. The secondary does return 3 starters here, but its just not that good of unit. They are going to rely heavily on seniors Glenn Williams at the corner spot and Adria Aye-Darko at the strong safety spot. Look for sophomore Eddie Morgan to fill in at the open free safety spot to start the season.
Prediction: 6th in the ACC Coastal
Sorry Duke fans, but even with all the returning starters this team just doesn’t have the talent to win in this kind of conference. We see the offense relying heavily on the passing game, and not putting up enough points. This is going to mean the defense will have to be on the field for most of the game, and while they might look good early they will likely tire and not be able to finish out games late. We wouldn’t be shocked if the Blue Devils were able to a win or two in but thats about it.
For those of you looking for a place to do your football betting this season, be sure to check out BetUS.com and get an account going today. Also for those of you looking for NFL predictions be sure to check back soon, as we will be putting those out before you know it.
