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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 8, 2010

David Cutcliffe

THE MODERATOR: We now welcome Duke head football coach David Cutcliffe. We'll bring on coach and ask for a brief opening statement, then go to questions.
Coach.
COACH CUTCLIFFE: We are excited about the opportunity to play in the opening conference game. I've said all week, that's a huge challenge, particularly when it's on the road. I think it's good for your team. I think it's good for them to taste the understanding of importance of conference play.
Certainly this is a huge game for us, not only a conference game but our first road game, and against a rival opponent, annual opponent, that we play in Wake Forest.
We haven't done too well in this series as of late. Again, a huge challenge for our young football team to go play well on the road.
THE MODERATOR: Questions for Coach Cutcliffe.

Q. David, I wanted to ask you about your offensive line play, particularly in the running game. How do you think that came out?
COACH CUTCLIFFE: It got better as the game went on. I thought we were real high early, a little tentative. We played eight people significant snaps. I wanted to do that. I thought that was successful.
Did I think we were as good as we could be? No. I think we'll be better. I think there were a few little issues that Elon created early. But once we settled down, our guys played well.
I know Coach Luke. In talking with him, really feels like we just touched the tip of the iceberg. We'll be challenged in a greater way both in the run blocking and pass protection. Blake has a couple guys in their front that have had sacks against us before. We're really kind of keyed into that, being keyed into being able to sustain blocks better. If we to that, I think we've got some blocks and will pretty a run game.

Q. Perry Simmons, that was his first start.
COACH CUTCLIFFE: Perry played well. He learned a lesson or two in those early games. Those guys are so much anxiety. They're just about hyperventilating.
I think he exerted a bunch of energy early. As the game settled in, he played much better the second half of the ballgame than he did the first.

Q. Could you learn much from your team or quarterback from playing Elon that first game?
COACH CUTCLIFFE: I think you learn a lot about your team. Elon is a good 1AA team. Well-coached team. Very good scheme defensively. You learn a lot about your quarterback. And they changed a bunch. You know, we threw the ball on time. We were where we were supposed to be. We had one offensive penalty. Just a lot of first-game things that went real well.
Now, is it going to get tougher? Absolutely. You go on the road, there's noises, a tougher opponent. Again, I said, we need that. We need test, and we're going to get plenty of them early, plenty of them throughout. We have a really difficult schedule, so we might as well just jump in and do it now.

Q. What do you have to do better against Wake Forest this year?
COACH CUTCLIFFE: To be able to play and beat Wake Forest, we have to take advantage of every scoring opportunity we have. We've got to contain their offense a little better than we have the last couple years. They've come up with big plays time and time again, so we've got to prevent big plays, which we didn't do very well against Elon.
It's like any conference game: you have to win the kicking game and turnover margin. That's going to be critical for us to have a chance to beat Wake Forest.

Q. David, last week Wake played four quarterbacks against Presbyterian. Nobody really believes they're going to keep playing four against you. In preparation, does it make it any more difficult than if they had just one quarterback and the backup comes in and hands it off three times?
COACH CUTCLIFFE: I think they'll play two. There's not any significant difference in what they're going to do. It's not like they're having two different offenses. You're always aware. One is a right-hander, the other is a left-hander. That doesn't make a significant difference. It does to some degree.
We're not concerned about that. We're concerned really, to be honest with you, more about how we play in Duke. At the same time also, again, their schemes, their run game, both quarterbacks can run, both quarterbacks can run the option, both quarterbacks can throw. So they're very difficult to defend.
They've got the balance back they wanted offensively. That's what is going to make it difficult to defend them.

Q. How do you feel about your offensive balance as opposed to a year ago?
COACH CUTCLIFFE: I know we're more equipped to run the ball. We've run the ball better in practice, a little better against Elon particularly late. But we're not there yet. We've still got to commit to it, still got to commit to getting better in every way there. That's going to be real critical for not only this ballgame but for the success of our season.
Something we're putting a lot of emphasis on.

Q. We talk about this being a big game. On paper some outsiders might say it's the most important game for the program in 16 years. Would you discuss that in those specific terms with your team or is the past not relevant to this group?
COACH CUTCLIFFE: No, I think it's all relevant to what we're trying to do. I don't think you run and hide from the fact that it's a big football game for us.
Anytime you play a conference game early, it helps set up a season. I've lived with that a big part of my career. They're critical games and you have to deal with it after, whether you win or lose. It factors in both ways for you.
But I think certainly we know at Duke that every opportunity we have to stop a streak or to win a milestone game, that's kind of what we've had to do. We had to overcome the hurdle of winning just the first ACC game after three years not winning one. Then you had to try to win an ACC game on the road or maybe back-to-back ACC games.
We've passed a lot of those milestones. Certainly losing to Wake for 10 years is something we have to address. It's fact. We're big boys. We've got to be able to handle that.
THE MODERATOR: Coach, thank you for being with us. Good luck this weekend. Look forward to talking with you next week.
COACH CUTCLIFFE: Thanks.

End of FastScripts

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