Cooper Barkate Remains Upbeat Despite Offensive Missteps

Barkate's Thoughts

• "[There] is definitely some frustration, but I also think you have to look at the positives. We were pretty dominant on offense all game," Barkate said. "We definitely have to execute when it matters in those critical situations. I think that's obviously the difference in the game."

• "When you watch the game in its entirety, you see how well we played. It's going to sting this week for sure with the bye week, but we will get it corrected."

The mistakes started to pile up right away, as the Blue Devils fumbled away a scoring opportunity on the first drive of the game. Barkate continued to explain why this team should not keep its head down after this result.

• "I think that's a hard play to pull that ball and that defense crashing like that, but I think we did a great job of responding back and continuing on the rest of the game," Barkate explained. "The ball didn't fall our way tonight."

To Barkate's point, the Blue Devils' offense did not fade away in this game and was productive all afternoon. The downfall of the offense was sputtering out in the red zone with miscues and failing to convert on much-needed third downs.

The fumble that Barkate was alluding to was an exchange between Darian Mensah and Anderson Castle. The former Harvard receiver's confidence in Mensah and this offense was not deterred despite that costly turnover.

• "We have full trust behind our quarterback and our offense. Stuff like that happens, and we just regrouped, got some water and went back onto the field."

That type of confidence and trust in a team's quarterback, especially when things are not going well, shows how much Mensah's teammates and coaches believe in his talent and intangibles.

On Saturday, Barkate was Mensah's go-to option, as the two players connected 13 times for 172 yards, including four times for 71 yards on Duke's first offensive possession of the game.

Barkate will continue to be a focal point of the offense and will have to replicate this type of performance when the Blue Devils face the Clemson Tigers on the road in two weeks.

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