Sep 10, 2021; Durham, North Carolina, USA; A Duke Blue Devils helmet sits on an equipment chest during the third quarter of the game against the North Carolina A&T Aggies at Wallace Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: William Howard-Imagn Images William Howard-Imagn Images

Duke OC Jonathan Brewer Blunt Assessment of the Offense

Originally posted on Duke Blue Devils on SI
By Logan Lazarczyk | Last updated Oct 28, 2025 2:00 PM ET

The Duke Blue Devils' offense has been the driving force for the team's success this season, and offensive coordinator Jonathan Brewer has been at the forefront of that.

While speaking with the media on Monday, Brewer addressed some of the offense's strengths and shortcomings as the team enters a pivotal Week 10 matchup against the Clemson Tigers.

Brewer's Thoughts

"We've moved the ball up and down [the field] on pretty much everybody. We just have timely missed execution [on] opportunities down in the red zone that we've got to capitalize on," Brewer said. "There's certain sets or certain things that we can gameplan around now, knowing some tendencies as far as run-pass options and certain personnel on the field."

Brewer continued to speak on those red zone inefficiencies and the level of frustration when the offense isn't able to finish off drives in the end zone. The offensive coordinator spoke specifically about the Blue Devils' first offensive drive against Georgia Tech a couple of weeks ago.

"You get frustrated. I've listened to the players, and they wanted to run it in. We [did not] execute it," Brewer continued. "I probably could have called a couple things different down there. Obviously, the zone read that gets picked up for a 14-point swing is a killer in the game when you go 95 yards to start off the game, and you're moving the ball at will and just not able to capitalize [by] putting the ball in the end zone."

The issues in the red zone were not present during the first few weeks of the season, but has been overwhelmingly an aspect in Duke's last few games. Brewer acknowledged this as well.

"That was really the key difference in the first three games of the season and last three before the Georgia Tech game, was us being able to score," Brewer stated. "Our guys know that they [understand] the importance. It's not they're not trying to it or I'm not trying to call plays to make that stuff happen. It's just for some reason it didn't work out."

Obviously, the Blue Devils coaching staff and players realize that this cannot continue to be a recurring issue. If it continues to carry over into each and every week, Duke is going to have a hard time winning games that it feels it should. Clemson is a team who will take advantage of those miscues and make the Blue Devils regret those mistakes at the end of the game.

As always, make sure you stay up to date with all Duke content by following us on Facebook, by clicking HERE and following us on X (formerly Twitter) HERE

This article first appeared on Duke Blue Devils on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: