At the end of last month, David Cutcliffe was fired as Duke's head football coach. Here is a look at the Duke football program since 2008 (the first year that of complete data I have). This time period only covers the last fourteen seasons of head football coach Cutcliffe (2008-2021). After the figure below is a more detailed look at the Duke Blue Devils football program during head coach Cutcliffe's tenure based on the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model using data provided by www.cfbstats.com. (The vertical school color bars represent seasons where head coaches changed).
David Cutcliffe
2008
Duke finished the regular season at 4-8, and were bowl ineligible. The Blue Devils
played against an “average” strength
of schedule (SOS), meaning that the Blue Devil's SOS was within plus
or minus one standard deviation of the "league" SOS. Duke's best
regular season victory was against #41 ranked Navy (41-31)
and their worst
loss was to #79 ranked North Carolina State (17-27). Duke was the #81 ranked team overall, with the #88 ranked
offense and the #58 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
2009
Duke finished the regular season at 5-7, and were bowl
ineligible. The Blue Devils
played against an “average” strength
of schedule (SOS). Duke's best
regular season victory was against #74 ranked North Carolina State (49-28) and worst loss was to FCS Richmond (16-24). Duke was the #82 ranked team overall, with the #95 ranked
offense and the #59 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
2010
Duke again finished the regular season at 3-9, and were bowl
ineligible. The Blue Devils
played against an “average” strength
of schedule (SOS). Duke's best
regular season victory was against #42 ranked Navy (34-31) and their worst loss was to #100 ranked Wake Forest (48-54). Duke was the #109 ranked team overall, with the #96 ranked
offense and the #112 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
2011
Duke finished the regular season at 3-9, and were bowl
ineligible. The Blue Devils
played against a “tougher” strength
of schedule (SOS), meaning that the Blue Devils SOS was between one and two standard deviations lower than the "leagues" average SOS. Duke's best
regular season victory was against #37 ranked Florida International (31-27)
and their worst
loss was to FCS Richmond (21-23). Duke was the #110 ranked team overall, with the #116 ranked
offense and the #100 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
2012
Duke finished the regular season
at 6-6, and were bowl eligible, where they played #8 ranked Cincinnati
and were defeated (34-48) to finish 6-7 overall. The Blue Devils
played against an “average” strength
of schedule (SOS). Duke's best
regular season victory was against #26 ranked North Carolina (33-30)
and their worst
loss was to #74 ranked Miami (FL) (45-52). Duke was the #92 ranked team overall, with the #66 ranked
offense and the #109 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
2013 [ACC Runner-Up]
Duke finished the regular season at 10-2, and were played in the ACC conference championship game where they lost to #1 ranked Florida State (7-45) and also lost their bowl game to #32 ranked Texas A&M by a score of (48-52) to finish 10-4 overall. The Blue Devils
played against an “average” strength
of schedule (SOS). Duke's best
regular season victory was against #41 ranked North Carolina (27-25)
and their worst
loss was to #67 ranked Pittsburgh (55-58). Duke was the #63 ranked team overall, with the #36 ranked
offense and the #100 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
2014
Duke finished the regular season at 9-3, and were bowl
eligible, where they were defeated by #35 ranked Arizona State (31-36) to finish at 9-4 overall. The Blue Devils
played against an “easier” strength
of schedule (SOS), meaning that the Blue Devils SOS was between one and two standard deviations below the "leagues" average SOS. Duke's best
regular season victory was against #15 ranked Georgia Tech (31-25)
and their worst
loss was to #98 ranked North Carolina (20-45). Duke was the #41 ranked team overall, with the #45 ranked
offense and the #41 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
2015
Duke finished the regular season at 7-5, and were bowl
eligible, where they defeated #92 ranked Indiana (44-41) to finish at 8-5 overall. The Blue Devils
played against an “average” strength
of schedule (SOS). Duke's best
regular season victory was against #34 ranked Boston College (9-7)
and their worst
loss was to #94 ranked Virginia (34-42). Duke was the #75 ranked team overall, with the #67 ranked
offense and the #67 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
2016
Duke finished the regular season at 4-8, and were bowl ineligible.
The Blue Devils
played against a “tougher” strength
of schedule (SOS). Duke's best
regular season victory was against #20 ranked Army (13-6)
and their worst
loss was to #123 ranked Virginia (20-34). Duke was the #92 ranked team overall, with the #105 ranked
offense and the #63 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
2017
Duke finished the regular season at 6-6, and were bowl
eligible, where they defeated #34 ranked Northern Illinois (36-14) to finish at 7-6 overall. The Blue Devils
played against an “average” strength
of schedule (SOS). Duke's best
regular season victory was against #32 ranked Northwestern (41-17)
and their worst
loss was to #95 ranked Virginia (21-28). Duke was the #68 ranked team overall, with the #90 ranked
offense and the #30 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
2018
Duke finished the regular season at 7-5, and were bowl eligible
where they defeated #39 ranked Temple (56-27) to finish 8-5 overall. The Blue Devils
played against an “average” strength
of schedule (SOS). Duke's best
regular season victory was against #18 ranked Army (34-14)
and their worst
loss was to #101 ranked Wake Forest (7-59). Duke was the #85 ranked team overall, with the #72 ranked
offense and the #96 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
Duke finished the regular season at 5-7, and were bowl ineligible. The Blue Devils
played against a “tougher” strength
of schedule (SOS). Duke's best
regular season victory was against #33 ranked Miami (FL) by a score of (27-17)
and their worst
loss was to #95 ranked Syracuse (6-49). Duke was the #102 ranked team overall, with the #115 ranked
offense and the #60 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
2020
Duke finished the COVID-19 shortened regular season at 2-9, playing against an “average” strength
of schedule (SOS). Duke's
best regular season victory was against #86 ranked Charlotte (53-19) and their worst
loss was to #113 ranked Florida State (35-56). Duke was the #123 ranked team overall, with the #56 ranked
offense and the #129 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
2021
After the Blue Devils finished at 4-8, Cutcliffe was fired. Duke played against an “average” strength
of schedule (SOS). Duke's best win was against currently ranked #111 Northwestern by a
score of (30-23) and their current worst loss was to #107 ranked Charlotte by a score of (28-31). Duke is currently the #92 ranked team overall, with the #105 ranked
offense and the #63 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
Skip Holtz and Louisiana Tech