David Cutcliffe: Duke Has "Hit Bottom"

"Very difficult time in the program" Says Duke has "personnel issues"

A very somber David Cutcliffe addressed the state of Duke’s program after a 56-24 loss to rival North Carolina at Wallace Wade Stadium.

“It’s a very difficult time in the program,” he said. “As I told the players, when you get stunned—you see that look in people’s eye, things get quiet—there’s two responses. One is to run from it. The other is to run to it.”

Duke got stunned early, falling behind 21-0 in the first quarter.

“Obviously, there are a lot of things to be addressed, most notably being we have got to do the fundamental things better. We have to block better and longer and sustain blocks against good opponents. We have to shed blocks and certainly tackle better against good opponents. That only comes through focused practice. We also can’t look outside of ourselves. All of us, starting with me, need to evaluate what we have to do better. Not can we do something better—what we have to do better to get results. We can get those results. We have and are aware of some personnel issues. We have to address that. We have to address that as quickly as we can. Certainly, we will be looking at all of this tomorrow. We have an open date. We’ve been able to turn things around when we hit bottom in the past around here. I’m convince we will and can. The thing is that it won’t happen if you’re negative. We all have to stay focused and positive and look within, not look for anybody else to share any fault. It is all within each and every one of us as we move forward.”