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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 10, 2018

David Cutcliffe

Greensboro, North Carolina

DAVID CUTCLIFFE: Yeah, we needed the open date, let a few people heal, hopefully enough to play in some cases. Absolutely realize we've got a very difficult task -- I think Georgia Tech is playing right now as well as anybody I've seen, period. You see where Coach Johnson has influenced this team from the start of the season until now, they've gotten better in all aspects. They're hitting on all cylinders on offense. Defensively you can tell they're more and more comfortable in their system, so they're doing more things, and their kicking game continues to improve. They've got weapons as specialists.

This is a really good Georgia Tech team. We've got to get back on track. It feels like forever since we've played. Our players, I think, are anxious to get back playing, but certainly this is a huge challenge in Atlanta this weekend.

I'll take your questions.

Q. In your opinion, is it harder to get a team focused for the next game after a big win or a big loss?
DAVID CUTCLIFFE: You know, it's a really good question. Unfortunately I've been around more big wins than I have big losses, but I've learned a little bit more about the losses as you go. I think sometimes the losses are depending upon the time of year. If you suffer a loss late that's pivotal to your season, I think it becomes very difficult to pick a team back up and refocus them. Do it a little earlier in the season, I think the loss sometimes fuels you where you're not dealing with the complacency. Win a big game early, I think you can be complacent.

I have found, though, when you win big games at the end, they're meaningful. They propel you forward. So I think, again, it depends on the time of year. You get a team six, seven, eight games in that's winning and knows they're in a championship hunt, they can't wait to go back and practice. If you lose, I think probably in that same frame, it probably is much tougher.

Q. Georgia Tech, offensively they're playing really well the last couple weeks and they've mentioned how they've simplified things, and I'm curious if you've seen that or anything else in terms of their real steep improvement in play the last two games?
DAVID CUTCLIFFE: I think -- I don't know if you would call it simplified. I think they're executing what any option offense does really well. If you look at the balance, they certainly are having success running the fullback. Quarterbacks are running wild, but I think they're running the option all the way out real well. By simplifying it that means running a little more triple and arc, they're doing a good job of doing that. They've got other ways to get the ball on the perimeter, but when you -- their slotbacks or A backs are averaging 10 yards a carry. So that indicates that you're having a lot of success across the field.

You see very much that they committed themselves to running their offense. Marshall is -- he's pretty slick, now. He's really great at running it, and you've got to honor the pass. That's the other part of it. You can stay simplified, but at any moment they're going to throw the ball and throw it well, and you're trying to limit the number of explosive plays that they can produce. But nobody seems to be doing that right now. It's pretty tough.

Q. You mentioned Marshall. I know that he considered coming to Duke. What do you remember about your recruitment of him?
DAVID CUTCLIFFE: Well, he's just a great person. He's a great athlete. He's a fierce competitor. I like players that you can see on film that look like they want to -- they can't wait to play the next play, regardless of the result of the play, they get up and they go back. And I think that's his personality. That's why anybody would like to have him on their football team. He loves to compete.

Q. How did you envision using him if he came to Duke?
DAVID CUTCLIFFE: Well, he's obviously a great athlete, and he's not the prototypical size drop-back quarterback, but they've probably used a lot of players in a lot of different roles. But he's a guy that -- yeah, he can play quarterback. He's proven that every game. But he could also be a running back. He could be a slot receiver. He could be a DB. So I think when you sign a player like that, you're really not sure what to expect. You get them on your roster, but I promise you, you'll find lots of ways to use them.

Q. In terms of your own offense, what improvement do you need to see coming off the Virginia Tech game?
DAVID CUTCLIFFE: Well, you've got to produce explosive plays this day and time to get your points per game up. We didn't do that against Virginia Tech. It was the first time this year we didn't produce it. We had chances, and we missed them. Close calls are not what we're hunting. We've got to execute better when we throw the ball down the field. We've got to block not only up front better but you've got to block the second and third level better to create explosive plays in the run game. We've got to continue to take care of the football, and one of the things you've got to do to play good offense is keep the change normal. You can't have sacks, and we gave up three of those last week. You can't give up tackles for losses. You don't want to get behind the chains.

So really we've worked very hard over the open date at just our general consistency and just extreme execution of what we're doing. So hopefully that hard work pays off, but regardless of what you do on the practice field, you've got to make it happen on Saturday, and that's going to be a real test.

Q. Especially given the popularity of RPOs in college football today, I'm curious about your thoughts on the ineligible receiver downfield rule.
DAVID CUTCLIFFE: I think first thing everybody has got to represent, there are two types of RPOs. Where it first lived, it can be a legal play. You're throwing a bubble or a screen outside behind the line of scrimmage, and those things, linemen can be downfield. Then officials have to do a great job of seeing where the ball was caught. Often in the bold days you would see a flag go down and then they would have to pick it up.

As far as the throws that go downfield, people are throwing slants and quick outs, and it's very difficult for the officials to officiate it right now. Whether you give it no leeway or two or three yards' leeway -- we've had it called on us once this year, and it should have been called. We had a lineman that went downfield, and the play was not designed for him to release, and he did, and we threw it, and they caught it. So I think the officials are trying to do a great job of it. Whether it's three yards, two yards, whatever you choose to do, you just have to enforce it.

The other thing that gets really difficult is whose call is that. The guys on the side are moving downfield as the play develops. The umpire is trying to survive. I don't know if a referee and a center judge can see it. So it's a pretty complex question. But what you want is you just want fairness. You want something that can be uniformly called. I do think it's difficult on the defense.

But I also think it is a weapon that you can use offensively if you use it properly. So I just -- if we look at the rule, and I think we have to continue to look at it, we just have to make sure it is something that we can actually officiate. We've got some other things going on, I think, that I wouldn't want to be an official trying to figure out what blocking below the waist was right now. If you get in that rule book and read it, you can't call it. It's very difficult. Probably the only aspect of it that you can call, in that case, is that it can't happen five yards beyond the line of scrimmage.

I'm using that as an example because I think you've got to be careful with these rules and make sure that it's something that the officials can execute. I know that's a long answer, but it's a very complex question that you asked right now in football.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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