Football Rising
Since David Cutcliffe got to Durham last year, we’ve been telling you guys that things have changed. Now, with Duke an actual contender for the ACC championship, those of you who kept writing (not Duke fans) and saying, get real, this is Duke, well news flash: this is Duke.
This team has developed heart, passion, and esprit de corps in a damned big hurry. Latest example: the comeback win against Virginia. In a game where Virginia’s defense largely stymied Duke, limiting the Devils to three field goals in the first three quarters, Duke erupted late to wrestle the game away from a stunned Virginia team and fan base.
Down 17-12, Thaddeus Lewis, knowing that he was about to take a major hit, got the ball to Conner Vernon for the go-ahead touchdown, putting Duke up 18-17.
After the kickoff, Duke forced a fumble on third down and scored another with less than 3:30 to go. They then tacked on another field goal for the final margin of 28-17.
The thing is, it’s nothing new. They showed a lot of guts to come back against Army, and they picked up key fumbles late against State. While they were in trouble against Maryland, they were still confident they’d pull it out.
This is something that hasn’t been seen in Durham in a long time. And it’s also been a long time since the words Duke football and contender were in the same sentence. Yet here they are: Duke has the second best conference record, overall, in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and that’s counting both divisions. In the coastal division, they’re currently ahead of Virginia Tech (everyone: just like basketball!), Miami, UVa, and UNC.
Of course, that could change, and quickly. UNC is next up, and that’s always a grudge match. In fact, the last four games are all very tough, with UNC in Chapel Hill, Georgia Tech at home, Miami on the road, and Wake to close things out in Wallace Wade.
They have no guarantees, not that anyone ever does. Those of you who rather strenuously disagreed with us about the trajectory of this program have to agree now, we think, that things have changed.
Duke football is developing a sterling character and, most importantly, this team believes in itself. It is superbly conditioned, too. Combine those things and you have a very dangerous team, one that is not content to be anybody’s sure thing. Much like the Duke basketball team, when you play this bunch, you better come prepared. Because you can be sure that they will.
Incidentally, with Duke’s win streak and the perception of the program catching up with reality, it was probably inevitable that someone would run the first can-Duke-keep-Cutcliffe article. It was Caulton Tudor of the N&O, who has bit of a reputation for, shall we say, flamboyant speculation.
Of course he could take another job, and people are noticing the remarkable turnaround in Durham. Our guess, though, is that he stays. Why? That’s simple. The man has preached character to his team from day one. He came here to do something, and to build something, and he’s asked his coaching staff and players to make a commitment, and to a man they have. What would that mean if he abandoned his?
The secret to his success isn’t that he has an impressive offense and a track record with quarterbacks, although obviously that helps. It’s that he deals with people brilliantly. He is demanding but fair. When he has his players pick up campus, it’s not a punishment. It’s to reinvorce the ideat that you are part of something, and that there are more important things than yourself.
He also has spoken eloquently about the value of hard work and the worth of building something.
He could surprise us of course and run off to a football power, but our guess is that he won’t. He sincerely seems to like Duke and his situation here. And again, we’re just guessing, but we’re pretty sure at this point that he’s confident he can build Duke into a fairly powerful football program.
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