In the first two games of the Fred Goldsmith era, the Duke football team won over the support of the Wade Wackos.
Now, the squad may have caught the attention of an even broader audience.
The Blue Devils defeated Army 43-7 in front of 24,342 fans at Wallace Wade Stadium--and a national television audience on ESPN--to improve their record to 3-0.
The defense again led the way for Duke. Although Army running back Akili King rushed for 136 yards on 18 carries, the Blue Devils stifled nearly every potentially big drive by preventing the Cadets from converting on crucial third-down plays.
Duke's defense was able to contain Army's wishbone attack, which exploded for 49 points against Holy Cross last Saturday. Junior linebacker John Zuanich, junior free safety Ray Farmer and sophomore linebacker Billy Granville all made several key tackles to prevent the Cadets from building any momentum.
"We would give up some plays and some yardage," Goldsmith said. "But then we came back harder on the next play."
The defensive effort was particularly noteworthy since it is the third different type of offense which the Blue Devils have faced in the past 12 days. Duke's defense is now allowing an average of only 11 points a game and has still not allowed an opponent to score in the first and fourth quarters.
Although the defense provided consistency and stability for the Blue Devils, it was the Duke special teams which made the first breakthrough against the Cadets. With 11:07 remaining in the first quarter, junior Sidney Wells blocked an Army punt and the Blue Devils proceeded to fumble, bat and kick the ball into the end zone where they stuck the Cadets with a safety to take a 2-0 lead.
The special teams also contributed to the squad's victory by providing the offense with good field position. Freshman Adam Geis evaded several tackles in his five punt returns which totaled 69 yards.
"We call those guys the special forces," Goldsmith said. "The punt returns by Adam were terrific. So blocking one, returning, the whole deal was really nice."
Although the Blue Devils amassed 377 yards of offense for the game, the team struggled a bit when it controlled the ball in the first half.
"I was pleased that when we were sluggish in the first half, we were able to come back and play a lot more consistently on offense in the second half," Goldsmith said. "We got right back in the game plan in the third quarter."
Army's defense, which is geared to stop the run and put pressure on the opposing quarterback, forced Duke to pass more than it had in its first two contests.
"It was a very difficult defense to run against," Goldsmith said. "They have an eight-man front. We felt like we could mix it up and do some different things."
Senior tailback Robert Baldwin was able to adjust to this defense by coming out of the backfield to catch six passes for 60 yards. Baldwin also added 83 yards on the ground, as he rushed for three touchdowns.
"I enjoy [coming out of the backfield] a lot," he said. "It allows me to do different things, especially today. I had a different theme tonight -- away from the run, a little more of the pass. I caught a few balls and had a little fun doing that."
Backup quarterback Joe Pickens got his first real test at the helm of the Duke offense. Pickens, who was inserted into the game at the start of the Blue Devils' first possession of the second quarter, completed four of his seven passes for 97 yards on the night.
Pickens wasted no time in making his presence known. He led the Blue Devils on a 10-play, 59-yard drive which culminated with the second of Baldwin's three touchdowns. Pickens kept the drive alive with his 29-yard completion to freshman Corey Thomas in a third-and-eight situation.
In the fourth quarter, Pickens returned to the game and quickly threw a picture-perfect 50-yard touchdown pass to Geis with 11:35 remaining to give Duke a 36-7 lead.
"I said all along that I have a lot of confidence in Joe Pickens," Goldsmith said. "After not playing last week, I wanted to see if his head was in the ballgame, and it was."
However, the team does not want to start a quarterback controversy between Pickens and senior Spence Fischer, who was 15-of-24 for 150 yards against Army.
"They work well together," Goldsmith said. "I felt like the time would come to play Joe after Spence had had some success. When I pulled Spence, I told him not to worry."
Because the Blue Devils had a sizable lead early in the fourth quarter, Goldsmith was able to play many of his seldom-used reserves.
"I was real pleased that we were able to get so many players into the ballgame tonight," Goldsmith said.
The playing time was especially meaningful to these players since it meant an appearance in a nationally televised game. In fact, being broadcast on ESPN provided the Duke football program with a prime opportunity to showcase the new attitude which it has developed under Goldsmith.
"It's all in the coaching," Farmer said. "Even if we bust an assignment now, we know we can go 110 percent and we can still make things happen."
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