Duke lost two exceptional players off its 2014 offensive line.
Left tackle Takoby Cofield was a three-year starter, while guard Laken Tomlinson was a consensus first-team All-America and a first-round draft pick by the Detroit Lions.
So how big a loss is that going into the 2015 season?
“I'm very confident we can close ranks and keep marching ahead,” former guard Dave Harding said.
Harding should know. He's seen the replacement process at work. After the 2012 season, when Duke had its best offensive line performance of the 21st century, Duke had to replace line leader Brian Moore.
Matt Skura stepped in at center and the 2013 offensive line actually got better — it led the ACC in least sacks allowed and opened holes for Blue Devil runners to rush for 178.0 yards a game, the highest average at Duke since 1977.
But after the 2013 season, head coach David Cutcliffe and line coach John Latina had two more big holes to fill — Harding, a four-year starter at guard, and Perry Simmons, a four-year-starter at right tackle.
So Casey Blaser stepped in at right tackle and Lucas Patrick took over at guard.
And the 2014 line was even better than the 2013 line.
At least that's what the numbers say. Duke not only led the ACC in least sacks allowed again, but also led the nation in least negative yardage plays. The rushing total climbed again to 181.9 yards a game.
“We lost Perry and lost Dave and we played well (in 2014),” Latina said. “Losing Takoby, who was All-ACC, and Laken, who was All-American, … well, it's not devastating, but it's tough. But every program goes through that.”
Indeed. And the best programs replace their losses with equally-talented players who have come up in the system and are ready to play.
That's what Duke has suddenly been able to do in the last few years. Very good players have graduated, yet the offensive line as a whole has gotten better every year.
Can that continue this season, despite the loss of two players as accomplished as Tomlinson and Cofield?
“Yeah, there's no question,” Cutcliffe said. “You look at what we're doing. We've got Matt, we've got Lucas and we've got Casey back. Cody Robinson, Tanner Stone and Jake Sanders, Trip McNeill — there are some guys battling.”
Cody Robinson, a fifth-year senior who has started one game and has played extensively in the last two seasons, is contending with Tanner Stone, a fourth-year junior, who saw action last year. Both veterans have had to contend with injuries in their careers, especially Stone, who was battling Blaser for Simmons' vacant tackle spot before the 2014 season.
Sanders and O'Neill are newcomers who are most likely to see backup action this season as they move through the offensive line pipeline. They should be ready to contend for starting jobs in 2016 or 2017 as the players in front of them move on.
That's the way it works, according to Skura, who is preparing to start for the third straight year at center. He redshirted in 2011; every offensive lineman recruited by Cutcliffe has redshirted as a freshman.
“That's huge,” Skura said. “I think it gives a year for someone to physically and mentally develop. Get to learn the playbook. Get to build themselves up physically so that they can handle themselves on the field. That redshirt year is healthy.”
As a redshirt freshman in 2012, Skura saw his first game action — as a backup at offensive guard.
“My freshman year, I played center, but when Coach Latina came, he had me play guard,” Skura explained. “That helped me so much because I understood what the tackle's problems were and what the center's problems were. That helped me develop as a better center. So versatility is a huge thing for our offensive line.”
By the time he was asked to step in for Moore at center going into the 2013 season, he was ready to play at a high level. And he took it to a higher level in 2014, when he became one of the best centers in the ACC (third-team all-conference).
“One thing Coach Latina tells us is that guys going into their second season as starters really make the huge improvements,” Skura said. “After that one season, they kind of learn from their mistakes. From my own experience, I think that's true.”
That process should help second-time starters Blaser and Patrick improve their play this season. And, as a third-year starter, Skura could elevate even more. He was the preseason pick (by a wide-margin) as the All-ACC center and he's a Rimington nominee as the nation's best center.
In fact, Skura's career progression looks a lot like Tomlinson's — and he ended up as Duke's first consensus All-America lineman since Freddie Crawford in 1933.
“He can be really good,” Latina said of Skura. “He's highly intelligent and disciplined. It's not disrespect to Laken — I love Laken — but Matt graded out consistently higher last season.”
Skura is also taking over from Tomlinson as the leader of the offensive line. Cutcliffe noted that his senior center is a tough taskmaster.
“Matt's going to be different than Laken,” the Duke coach said. “Laken was an emotional stick of dynamite before a game. Matt is day-to-day about as demanding as any leader we've had. You're going to do things right around Matt. His dad's a surgeon. That's kind of a good fit for a center. He wants all his instruments where they're supposed to be. I think they've had a great summer. I think Matt Skura is exactly what you want in a center.”
Of course, it's not all demanding leadership on the practice field. Duke's offensive linemen have established a close bond, maybe the closest of any positional grouping on the team. It starts during recruiting and continues when the newcomers arrive on campus. Many of Duke's linemen went to Africa together in the summer of 2012 to dig wells. They participate together in cleanup parties. And every Thursday, they get together for what they call “Thick Thursday” — a group run to a restaurant (often a buffet) to load up on food.
“That's something that Dave Harding, Perry Simmons and those guys started way back when,” Skura said. “When we were freshmen, they brought us in and let us hang out together. That's continued through my years. We've always been a close-knit group. We're all friends. I think that helps. Off-the-field chemistry helps with on-the-field chemistry.”
That chemistry is one reason Duke's line performance is so good, especially when it comes to limiting sacks.
“Coach Latina was the offensive line coach when Eli Manning was at Ole Miss and one of the things he told us when he got on campus was we had a mindset that no one's going to touch our quarterback,” Skura said. “So he's kind of instilled that in us. He told us, we're going to be the hardest working group … we're going to be the best group on the field. We really pay attention to the details. We get overly prepared for games, so nothing is going to blindside us.”
During film sessions, the players watching the film have to shout out their line calls as if they were in a game.
“For the offensive line, it's about working in unison,” Harding said. “Most sacks are caused by miscommunication or missed assignments.”
That hasn't happened very often at Duke in the last few years.
“First of all, we have a lot of good assets,” Latina said. “Smart kids. We shouldn't have mental mistakes. A quick sack is usually a mental mistake or a missed assignment. Protecting the quarterback is as important a job as an offensive lineman has. We don't do a lot of drills. We don't do a lot of different things … we just try to be perfect in the things we do.”
That approach — and a sustained run of recruiting success — has turned the Duke offensive line into a smooth-running machine. There are plenty of future pieces in the assembly line, young players such as Reno Rosene (the biggest lineman Duke has ever recruited at 6-7, 325), Christian Harris, Zach Baker and Zach Harmon. Redshirt sophomore Austin Davis may be the next in line at center, although like Skura, he's going to see most of his game action this season at guard.
Then there is Gabe Brandner, a redshirt sophomore who played in five games last season. He's currently listed as the starting left tackle — Cofield's old position. He's likely to be the youngest starter on this year's line.
“(Brandner) is a tall, lean guy … super athletic … very good with his feet … extremely smart,” Skura said. “That's all the characteristics you'd want in a left tackle. He's been doing very well against the starting defensive line and hasn't been making mistakes. Every time, every day we've been together, I've been building trust in him.”
Cutcliffe also likes what he sees.
“He's no different that Takoby was — same age — when Takoby became a starter,” he said. “He's very comparable in my opinion to that. Then, you've got Sterling Korona, who's pushing him. Christian Harris is a name you're going to hear about who could play either tackle.”
None of those players is guaranteed success, but Duke's recent history would suggest that the offensive line will continue to replace the good players that graduate with prospects that are just as good — or better.
