It’s been years since Duke beat Wake Forest even though the games have been close. Last week, the Devils fell 24-23. The scores the previous years, all losses, were 54-48, 45-34, 33-30, 41-36 and 14-13. Duke coach David Cutliffe takes a lot of the responsibility but the Devils have to look forward to a game against heavily favored Virginia Tech.<\/p>\n
QUESTION:<\/b> It’s almost unbelievable the number of close agonizing losses you guys have had to Wake Forest over the years and during your tenure —<\/p>\n
COACH DAVID CUTCLIFFE:<\/b> I needed that. I’m just
\nkidding.<\/p>\n
QUESTION CONTINUED:<\/b> Do you have any rational explanation for it? And more importantly, do you worry at all about hangover from that game going into the next one?<\/p>\n
COACH CUTCLIFFE:<\/b> Well, I think you
\nalways worry about hangover when you come out
\nof games that hurt so badly. I don’t have any
\nrational explanation other than I don’t think I’ve
\ncoached very well. It just bothers me. I mean, I’m
\nnot just saying that. It sincerely bothers me, but I
\ncan’t do anything about it right now other than try
\nto be the best I can be. But it’s a very difficult thing
\nto deal with as a coach, and certainly our players
\nhave had a difficult time with it.<\/p>\n
But no indication of a hangover today. We
\ndon’t have that excuse or a reason. I mean, we
\nknow what we have dead in front of us, and that’s
\na great football team, so we’d best prepare. And
\nthey did a good job of doing that today. I was very
\npleased with our practice today.<\/p>\n
QUESTION:<\/b> You mentioned you don’t think you’ve coached very well. Is there anything, when you look back on the most recent one, that you second-guess yourself on a particular decision or anything?<\/p>\n
COACH CUTCLIFFE:<\/b> No, it’s not those kinds
\nof things. When we played like we played the first
\nhalf, we have discipline issues, way too many
\npenalties, our execution suffers, we have some
\nassignment issues. <\/p>\n
As a coach your job is to put a
\nteam out there prepared. And then the last part in
\nthe fourth quarter when you don’t finish a game like
\nyou know you’re capable of finishing it, we had a
\ncluster of bad plays. We missed an opportunity to
\nscore a touchdown to go up ten, instead had to
\nkick a field goal. And then we kicked off and didn’t
\ncover it very well, and then they scored on one
\nplay 66 yards. Then they kicked it to us and we
\ndidn’t return it very well. And then we went
\nthree-and-out on offense when you have to
\nanswer. That’s all 100 percent my responsibility.
\nTeams don’t cluster those kinds of mistakes that
\nare well-coached football teams. Just being real
\nhonest with you, it really bothers me. You have to
\ntake a look at yourself and what you’re getting
\ndone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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