Duke has defeated ECU 23-16 to break the nation's longest losing streak. Not only that, but they did it rather emphatically. There are some new links at the bottom of this article, by the way.
Duke went up 20-0, but ECU came back and made it close. But still, Duke
dominated this game in most senses, and ECU's frustration was evident. The
defense was vastly improved.
After the game, ECU QB Paul Troth said something like it hurt more because it
was Duke. Well it might have hurt less had ECU shown as much heart as Duke
did. Head Coach Steve Logan said that the rain was a big factor and made
it hard for ECU to pass, which was likely true, but at the end of the day you
have to outplay the other team, and it wasn't like Duke got lucky. They
controlled the game and deserved the victory. Special kudos for Ted Roof's
new-look defense. It was superb.
Here's more on the
breakthrough win from the Herald-Sun, another from the
Winston-Salem Journal, one from the Fayetteville paper, and here's
something from an ECU site
that might not stay up too long after the game.
Oh, and here's another from Frank Dascenzo.
A minor point: with Duke's win and UNC's loss - getting their bell rung
instead of answering it - Duke now has a winning streak (modest but still) and
UNC has a losing streak. Moreover, Duke looks like they can compete with
several schools on the schedule, including, as of now anyway, UNC. So the taunts
of the last few years, when UNC fans couldn't say much about basketball,
turning instead to football (we get mail on a regular basis that says something
like this: win a football game and then you'll be a real school) are suddenly
much harder to make.
Rob sent over this e-mail after the game: "The scene on campus has been wacky...first the crowd POURED onto the
field with 8 seconds left, surrounding the far goal line area...with some idiots running onto the playing field itself. I thought we were going to
forfeit there for a second. When Duke ran out the clock, everyone poured into the middle of the field. After some labor, they brought the first
goalpost down, then the second. They got them out of Wade, and onto the quad. One upright was planted right in front of the JB
Duke statue, while the crossbars and 2 of the other uprights were placed against the Chapel.
It's a good thing that it's been raining for the past week, because there would have been an unauthorized bonfire."
Here are some more links: