AS A Football Writers of America Association board member, I get to cast a vote for the team of the week. Obviously, there was no shortage of candidates last week.
Oregon State upset visiting USC. Ole Miss shocked Florida in Gainesville. Alabama rolled Georgia in Athens.
But I went with Duke. The Blue Devils snapped a 25-game ACC losing streak by upsetting Virginia 31-3. Of course, Virginia, which got waxed by USC in the opener, isn’t nearly on the same level as the Trojans, Gators and Bulldogs.
Then again, the Beavers, Rebels and Tide certainly have stronger football traditions than the Blue Devils. Heck, Syracuse has a better tradition than Duke.
Immediately after the game, first-year coach David Cutcliffe thanked the Duke seniors who have suffered through the streak. “I’m only going to be with them this one year,” he told The Post. “They had no idea how good an ACC win felt.”
Every morning, Cutcliffe thanks his maker for a second chance. In March of 2005, Cutcliffe suffered a massive heart attack and was rushed to a Mississippi hospital where doctors performed a bypass on an artery that was 99-percent blocked.
The recovery forced Cutcliffe to withdraw from the job as quarterbacks coach at Notre Dame. His health, no less his coaching future was uncertain.
So after serving as offensive coordinator at Tennessee, Cutcliffe, 53, decided there was no risk in taking the Duke job. The Blue Devils haven’t posted a winning season since 1994.
He convinced the Duke administration his health was fine. If they had any questions, they were welcome to join him on the 30-mile bike ride he takes in the mornings when he isn’t going for a 4:30 a.m. walk wearing a weighted vest.
Duke is 3-1 going into Saturday’s game against Georgia Tech. Then comes Miami, Vanderbilt, the surprise team in the SEC, and the rest of the ACC rivals. Cutcliffe isn’t about to predict wins and losses but this he knows.
“This has a chance to be the most rewarding experience I’ve ever had in coaching,” he said. “I think about that every morning.”
Oklahoma defensive coordinator Brett Venables, who should have his choice of head coaching jobs after this season, tells The Post that more teams are going to the 4-2-5 on defense to offset the mismatches created by the spread option.
“You have to match athleticism and speed and the ability to play in space, get some of those stiff linebackers off the field and put more athletic defensive back/strong safeties out there. As you go through recruiting you’re constantly thinking in those terms instead the old school 4-3 or 5-2.”
Miami of Ohio’s Jake Richardson is trying to become just the second player in FBS history to average better than 50 yards per punt. He’s currently averaging more than 51.
In addition to trying to set the punting mark, Richardson, who says he does all the lifting and weight room work as his teammates, would like to dispel the notion that punters aren’t real football players.
“If there was a guy coming down the sideline and I had a chance to take a shot without him making me look to foolish on a cutback, I’d love to take it,” he said.