Tag Archives: Ross Cockrell

ACC Football Standout Senior 2013: Duke

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Amidst Tons of Youth, Duke Will Be Relying Heavily on Senior Ross Cockrell in 2013

Amidst Tons of Youth, Duke Will Be Relying Heavily on Senior Ross Cockrell in 2013

As schools’ academic years are wrapping up, last season’s juniors are about to become this season’s seniors, and with that comes extra responsibility and expectations. In the ACC, while there were plenty of players selected in the NFL Draft, the conference still returns a strong group of seniors — many of whom are set to make a strong impact in their final seasons of eligibility.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be going team-by-team in the ACC to identify the “standout senior” that’s key to his respective squad, and why he’s so important. Think we should’ve featured another player, though? Feel free to weigh in with your own thoughts in the comments.

Duke Blue Devils: Ross Cockrell, CB

Duke’s resurgence through the first seven or eight weeks of the 2012 season was largely credited to the Blue Devils’ high-powered offense, but it was the defense that really made a huge difference. On the strength of Cockrell, in particular, Duke’s D was shutting down passing games and held all but two of their first eight opponents to 30 points or less. It was not a phenomenal effort by most program’s standards, but for Duke, it was a clear step in the right direction. The wheels would fall off in the second half of the season, to the tune of five straight losses and five straight opponents scoring 42 or more, which is why defense (and Cockrell in particular) is such an important factor going into 2013.

As a junior, Cockrell appeared to have “broken out” so to speak, becoming a force in short coverage, with gradual improvement defending the long pass. At the halfway point, he was averaging more than one defended pass per game, with four picks and a decent amount of tackles (34) for a cornerback. And then everything dropped off. Against the ACC’s best receivers the rest of the way, he’d defend just three more passes, and catch just one more interception. Obviously, the team’s drop-off isn’t entirely his fault, but now, as a team leader, the buck must stop at him. As head coach David Cutcliffe told the Duke Chronicle last month:

“Ross Cockrell is where everything starts. Right now, if we can stay healthy our starting three safeties are Dwayne Norman, Jeremy Cash and Corbin McCarthy. I really like the looks of that…. We can be more athletic than we have been in the secondary.”

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ACC 2013 Spring Football Preview: Duke Blue Devils

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Anthony Boone Looks Prepared to Lead Duke at Quarterback This Spring

Anthony Boone Looks Prepared to Lead Duke at Quarterback This Spring

As the ACC‘s spring practices get under way, we’ll be previewing the big storylines for each of the league’s 14 (15, in this case) teams. Check back on weekdays for what to look out for during your school’s spring practices and spring game.

Team: Duke Blue Devils

Spring Practice Start Date: March 4

Spring Game Date: April 13

Following Duke’s bowl bid in 18 years, 2012 ended with a lot of question marks for the Blue Devils. Was this the end goal? If not, could this be sustained? And would they be able to quickly rebuild without program cornerstones Sean Renfree and Conner Vernon? Well, after one day of spring practice, it looks as if David Cutcliffe’s program may actually be just fine.

For all the naysayers regarding what this offense would be without the aforementioned Renfree and Vernon, they seemingly forgot about who’s stuck around for Duke. Former backup QB Anthony Boone is already more than capable of stepping into the role as starter, as evidenced by the limited time he spent under center last season. In the only game he started (a win over Virginia) he threw for 212 yards and four touchdowns. And yet, despite performances like that, he’s not taking his role as favorite for granted either, as evidenced by yesterday’s feature in the Durham Herald-Sun. Similarly, former second-option Jamison Crowder also has an opportunity to be one of the ACC’s standout receivers (some would say he already was last year). Both Crowder and Boone will have the advantage of dealing with an experienced offensive line (returning four of five starters), so now the big challenge revolves around the effectiveness of the new(ish) offense. If they can put in some solid work in the more sped-up, athletic attack this spring, it could be a surprising new fold against conference defenses come the fall.

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ACC Football Top 25 Players of 2012: #18, Ross Cockrell

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Duke's Ross Cockrell Was an Integral Part of the Blue Devils' Surprising 2012 Season

Duke’s Ross Cockrell Was an Integral Part of the Blue Devils’ Surprising 2012 Season

As part of our 2012 season review, we’re counting down the top 25 players in the ACC this season, from no. 25 to no. 1. Obviously these lists are always completely subjective — and thus completely bulletproof, obviously — so feel free to weigh in with your own thoughts in the comments, too.

No. 18, Ross Cockrell, CB/Duke (Preseason Rank: NR)

Going into 2012, it was thought that Duke’s offense, led by Sean Renfree and Conner Vernon, would impress, though most were unsure about the Blue Devils defense. In the season’s early goings, it appeared as if Ross Cockrell took that as a challenge, guiding the way during an impressive opening effort. Through the first six games, the junior corner had four interceptions, defended nine passes and scored a touchdown on top of that. Even in the admittedly rocky Stanford game, where I myself called out Cockrell and the entire secondary for their failings, he still managed a pick and six tackles. Possibly the biggest statement about Cockrell’s skill set, however, came from how the end of the season played out. Four straight miserable losses for the Blue Devils took some of the luster off their surprising season, and there’s two ways of looking at those defeats. Either that Cockrell, as a veteran leader, needed to step up and failed to (just one INT, 20 tackles in four games). Or he was such an integral part of their success, that they couldn’t come away with a victory unless he played at an elite level. I won’t take a guess at which situation’s true, but take a look at their final, and fifth loss in a row — to Cincinnati in the Belk Bowl. Duke allowed nearly 70 passing yards above their already poor average (267 passing yards allowed per game) without him playing. Ultimately, it ended up being the difference in a close loss.

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2012 All-ACC Football Team: Defense

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Florida State's Tank Carradine Leads a Parade of Seminoles on the All-ACC Defensive Side

Florida State’s Tank Carradine Leads a Parade of Seminoles on the All-ACC Defensive Side

As most other publications have also done, we’ve put together an All-ACC team here at Atlantic Coast Convos, honoring the best players from the 2012 football season. We’ve also included players from Syracuse and Pittsburgh, as that has always been our policy, and once bowl season is over, all ACC football news will have to involve them anyway. In this post, you’ll find both the first- and second-team defense. Picks for the first- and second-team offense were posted earlier today.

See any selections you agree with? Disagree with? Feel free to voice your concerns in the comments below.

2012 Atlantic Coast Convos All-ACC Team: Defense

First Team

DE Cornellius “Tank” Carradine, Florida State

DE Bjoern Werner, Florida State

DT Joe Vellano, Maryland

DT Sylvester Williams, North Carolina

LB Jack Tyler, Virginia Tech

LB Nick Clancy, Boston College

LB Kevin Reddick, North Carolina

CB Ross Cockrell, Duke

CB Xavier Rhodes, Florida State

S Lamarcus Joyner, Florida State

S Earl Wolff, Florida State

PK Dustin Hopkins, Florida State

P Will Monday, Duke

SP Giovani Bernard, North Carolina

Second Team

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ACC Football Goat of the Week, Week 10: Duke Blue Devils Defensive Backs

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After Giving Up 56 Points on Saturday, Duke’s Defensive Backs are the Goats of the Week for Week 10

No one enjoys piling on when things go wrong. But nonetheless, we’ve got to call out the ACC players who were counter-productive in helping their teams grab a victory this weekend. On the bright side for them, they can always get off this list next week. And for their sake, let’s hope they do.

ACC Goat of the Week, Week 10: Duke Blue Devils Defensive Backs

For the second straight week, Duke found itself completely outgunned, but this time around, the only group to blame is the secondary. They allowed 344 yards on just 16 completions. Five touchdown passes from Clemson‘s Tajh Boyd, who was basically just playing pitch-and-catch with his receivers. And 42 points (!!) allowed in the first half. Ross Cockrell and Lee Butler have been key parts of the defensive resurgence for the Blue Devils, but efforts like the last two Saturdays show there’s still plenty of work to be done. As a team, you should know all about Clemson’s speedy receivers well in advance, and have a gameplan to at least contain them a bit, since you’re surely not going to slow them down. This was the opposite of that.

Honorable Mention:

Kevin Harper, K/Pittsburgh (Missed game-winning field goal in overtime)

Chase Rettig, QB/Boston College (29/49 passing, 357 yards, 1 TD, 4 turnovers)

Mike Glennon, QB/NC State (23/46 passing, 197 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT, safety on intentional grounding call)

Logan Thomas, QB/Virginia Tech (19/37 passing, 323 total yards, 1 TD, 3 turnovers)

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ACC Football 2012 Previews & Predictions: Week Seven

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Struggling All Season, Will Miami’s Defense Be Able to Stop Bryn Renner and UNC’s High-Powered Offense?

One week after Florida State’s fall, I’ve chosen to move on and celebrate conference parity, as opposed to mourning the loss of the ACC‘s only national title contender. Before the season, I never bought into the league having an undefeated team, but rather, would have a collection of three or four teams in the range of 9-11 wins. This is still very possible, and still indicative of a conference that can experience football success. It’s not the end of the world. Just another roadbump. At least we always win the conference realignment championship?

Game of the Week

North Carolina Tar Heels (4-2) (1-1) at Miami Hurricanes (4-2) (3-0): It’s a matchup of dynamic offenses, and only one competent defense when the Heels head down to Miami on Saturday. Despite how even these two may look on paper, I don’t anticipate a close game. The ‘Canes allowed the decidedly UN-dynamic Notre Dame offense to run right through them last weekend, so it’s hard to believe they’ll be able to stop Larry Fedora’s fast-paced spread attack. Miami’s ranked 103rd in the country in opposing passing yardage per game, allowing nearly 287 yards through the air every contest. UNC, led by junior QB Bryn Renner, averages about the same amount. Miami’s offense should keep it closer, but it’ll be hard to pull out a win. Prediction: UNC 42, Miami 30

The Rest of the Slate (in order of start time):

Louisville Cardinals (5-0) at Pittsburgh Panthers (2-3): Pitt’s one-point loss to Syracuse last Friday was a difficult pill to take for this team, but they’ve been down before. The key to rebounding, though, is simply running the ball better. For all the playmakers in their backfield, the Panthers only amassed 27 yards on the ground — not the type of numbers that result in wins. Louisville has a fairly staunch run defense too (allowing 130 yards per game), but the team’s now littered with questions after slogging through a supposedly easy non-conference schedule. It’ll be a tight contest, but the Cardinals should eek out the victory. Prediction: Louisville 24, Pitt 21

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Stanford 50, Duke 13: Blue Devils Crushed By Cardinal Passing Attack, Defense

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Duke’s Offense Stood on the Sidelines for Most of Saturday Night’s Game Against Stanford — Both Literally and Figuratively

Sitting just five rows back from the Duke bench, there was a buzz about the team and a sense of hope on the sidelines. After last week’s big victory over Florida International, it appeared that David Cutcliffe’s program had finally turned the corner. But just one minute and seven seconds after kickoff, it was blatantly obvious nothing had changed for the Blue Devils.

Saying Stanford dominated this game would be an understatement. The early punt-return touchdown was a deflating blow for Duke, one that would set the tone for the rout. Quarterback Sean Renfree, who had an average game according to the box score (28/40, 200 yards), was the focal point of a listless offensive attack based solely on swing passes, and was also responsible for two of the team’s four turnovers. The running game was virtually non-existent, notching just 27 yards on the night — mostly attributable to playing from behind for 59 of the game’s 60 minutes. Most of all, the defense was simply out-manned. Just one week removed from a frustrating debut against San Jose State, Cardinal QB Josh Nunes completed long bombs at will, and finished up with 275 yards passing and three TDs. Duke failed to ever get significant pressure on the Stanford passer, and their receivers were regularly three or four steps ahead of the Blue Devil defenders. The only saving grace for Duke was its red zone defense, which managed to force four field goals in the first half and keep the deficit to “just” 20 points in the first half.

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