DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke football kicked off their 2018 season bright and early Thursday morning.

• The Blue Devils believe they have what it takes to improve on a 7-6 season
• They want to see more consistency, offensively and defensively
• Duke plays Army Aug. 31

With 18 starters returning and plenty of depth, the Blue Devils believe they have what it takes to improve on a 7-6 season. On day one, the effort wasn't an issue.

"I thought our effort was really special, that's been a part of this team going back to January in winter workouts," lauded head coach David Cutcliffe.

While effort and determination may have been prevalent, just like any first practice, Coach Cutcliffe and his players say they'd like to see more consistency, offensively and defensively.

"A lot of inconsistency," admitted senior wide receiver Johnathan Lloyd. "That's the first say, a lot of guys [are] anxious, a lot of young guys out there for the first time."

"I thought our performance level was inconsistent," coach Cutcliffe said. "Offensively I'd like to see our completion percentage change. It's one of the things that's brought up by us and [the media] and the only way it changes is when we change it. Defensively, I'd say we were aggressive, but we gave up too many deep balls. The inconsistencies are the things we've got to eliminate."

As far as the offense, the skill positions are loaded with upperclassmen. Duke will look to third-year starting quarterback Daniel Jones to continue his growth and help the team win.

Cutcliffe explained, "It's his role is to make sure we don't have penalties. His role is to minimize sacks himself. His role is to certainly complete balls, but also to make sure that he's on the same page with receivers. I think you've got to do that as an upperclassmen and it's my job to push that."

On the defensive side, players believe they have more depth than ever before.

"We have so much depth this year that one guy goes down, another guy and step up and we won't miss a beat," senior linebacker Ben Humphreys said. "Or guys get tired, they can come out of the game now because the guy behind him is just as good."

Duke will have plenty of time to round into game form. They open their season at home on Aug. 31 against Army.