Following its 34-20 loss to Wisconsin in the Hall of Fame Bowl, one might have expected the Duke football team to be in a bad frame of mind. But, if that was the case, the Blue Devils' spirits were not down for long, as their thoughts quickly turned to next season.
Duke lost its last three games of the year and four of its last five games. Critics would say that it was just a case of a mediocre football team coming back to earth, but the Blue Devils say otherwise.
"I thought it was a great season for us," junior quarterback Spence Fischer said following the Hall of Fame Bowl. "Being picked last in the conference and then coming out and going to a bowl game, that speaks a lot in and of itself. We lost two ball games by one point, and we were in this ball game throughout the game.
"We can use this a building block for next year, and we'll win these games next year."
It's not too early for the players to be thinking about next year. As soon as they returned to Durham they began the intense offseason workout program of running and lifting weights that head coach Fred Goldsmith instituted last year.
While the players may not enjoy the program, they appreciate the results that it brought this year. The team as a whole has rebounded from four straight years of mediocrity, and the players are determined to keep it at this new, higher level.
The first concern for the Blue Devils will be replacing the graduating seniors. They graduate five starters on offense and three on defense.
Duke will need to replace Baldwin, the Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year, and offensive tackle Matt Williams. Both of them were captains on the team and provided immeasurable leadership.
"We have to step up leadership next year," junior cornerback Ray Farmer said. "We had great leadership from our seniors this year, and we'll have to have the same next year for us to be productive. We've got to have someone on the offensive line step up with Matt Williams graduating."
Defensively, the Blue Devils lose senior safety and captain Zaid Abdul-Aleem. They also will lose cornerback Jamal Ellis. That leaves a big gap in the secondary, a crucial part of the defense for a Duke team that frequently puts its secondary in man-to-man coverage when it blitzes.
"We've got to have somebody step up on our defense with Zaid Abdul-Aleem and Jamal Ellis leaving," Farmer said. "Somebody in our secondary has to step up, whether it's me, Brandon Pollock or Tee Edwards. One of us has to take it upon our shoulders to give some senior leadership."
Goldsmith has prepared for the loss of the seniors with solid recruiting. He has collected 21 verbal commitments so far, and he hopes to garner more before the Feb. 2 signing date when high school seniors can sign actual letters of intent.
Regardless of the final number of recruits, the newcomers will have to come to fall training camp ready and in shape. The upperclassmen will have no problem doing that as they focus on their first opponent next season -- Florida State. The Seminoles, who pasted the Blue Devils 59-20 last season, stand on a level that Duke, right now, only aspires to reach.
"[The opener against FSU] will be the focus of most of the things that we do in the offseason: working out, running and getting prepared for the season," Farmer said. "We know FSU's a very talented ball team. They always have great receivers, and they're very big and quick up front. So we have to get ready for them and for the speed of the game."
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