Ask anyone who has followed the resurgence of Duke football to describe this season, and the two words you're most likely to hear are "fairy tale."
And to some extent, you have to agree with them.
After all, a coach that can come into a program that last year went 3-8 and proceed to go 8-3, as first-year head coach Fred Goldsmith has done, does bear a striking resemblance to the Wizard of Oz.
Seeing a seldom-used blocking back like fifth-year senior Robert Baldwin turn a mediocre and anonymous career into a year in which he earned both Atlantic Coast Conference Offensive Player of the Year honors and the league's overall Player of the Year award is about as unlikely as, say, teacups and playing cards running around in a queen's garden.
And watching a team that last earned a trip to a postseason bowl game in 1989 and last went to a major bowl in 1961, end up with a Jan. 2 matchup against Wisconsin in the Hall of Fame Bowl could be called an Incredible Journey.
But ask those close to the Blue Devil program -- those who made this "fairy tale" season possible -- and you're liable to hear a different set of reasons for Duke's success.
"It was a long time coming, and a lot of guys felt that way," said junior free safety Ray Farmer, one of four Blue Devils to earn first-team All-ACC accolades this season. "We got fed up with losing. We did our share of it last year, and this year, we wanted no part of it."
Indeed, there is reason to believe that Duke's revival was in the works as soon as the season began. Players came to preseason camp in August stronger, quicker and more ready to play than they were in the spring.
Junior defensive tackle James Kirkland dropped thirty pounds, laying off the twinkies and Big Macs and preparing instead to feast on opposing offensive linemen. Baldwin, whose speed has never been what one would term "blazing," completed the team's fitness run in the required time for the first time in his career. Everyone else followed suit.
"We came back and everyone showed that they had dedication in them and really wanted to win," Farmer said. "Everyone came back from home in shape. That's what we needed."
Goldsmith, too, was prepared for the revival before he ever set foot in Durham. In 1990, when Goldsmith was in only his second season as head coach at Rice, he led the Owls to their best record in 10 years. In 1992, he propelled them to their first winning season in 29 years, and was named Sports Illustrated's National Coach of the Year. The following year, Goldsmith's Owls again put together a winning mark, the first time since 1960-61 Rice had back-to-back winning seasons.
Turning around struggling programs is nothing new for this man.
Any way you look at it, a trip to the Hall of Fame Bowl is a fitting end to a successful season. It offers Duke a chance at its ninth win of the year, a milestone the Blue Devils have not reached since 1942, when Wallace Wade led them to a 9-1 mark. It gives Goldsmith's troops a postseason appearance, something none of the players on this squad have ever experienced.
It gives thousands of wealthy Duke alumni a valid excuse to descend on sunny Tampa, Fla., for a week-long escape from the winter doldrums.
And with a week of planned activities that include everything from an ocean cruise to a day at Sea World, this trip does seem to be a happily-ever-after type of conclusion to Duke's dreamy season.
But again, to the players and to their coach, it is much more.
The national television exposure, albeit via cable TV and at 11 a.m., offers the rest of the country a chance to witness the Blue Devils in action for only the second time this year. The added prestige that goes along with a bowl bid can do nothing but add to Duke's rising reputation as a "football school." It won't exactly hurt Goldsmith's recruiting efforts, either.
And that's saying nothing of the extra practice time. Goldsmith said he will bring his squad together for nine practice sessions between now and Christmas. After a short break from Dec. 20-25, the players will return to Durham, charter a flight to Tampa and continue practicing for another week before the game. That's 15 extra practices (and one extra game) for guys that by this time of year are usually perched in front of the TV, catching up on the daytime soap operas.
"Our team has demonstrated a commitment to do the things it takes to win," Goldsmith said. "But once we get done with our work, we're going to enjoy the dickens out of ourselves.
"When we conclude this Hall of Fame Bowl trip, this football team will be itching to go back to a bowl game next year. I promise you that."
The entire experience can only do wonders for the Blue Devils. This team does not consider itself a one-year wonder or a flash in the pan like the way Vanilla Ice was with "Ice, Ice Baby."
It does not see this trip to the Hall of Fame Bowl as its last for another five years. It plans to be back next year to continue its winning ways and solidify the impression it has made this season.
"Everybody's talking about us being a Cinderella team," Farmer said. "But I don't like Cinderella.
"She only went to the dance one time."
These Blue Devils will return to dance again.
And down the road, this season will prove to be no fairy tale at all.
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