Less than 48 hours after the football team's dramatic victory over Army, head coach Fred Goldsmith reflected on the Blue Devils' state of affairs as they look ahead to a tough road-test against No. 24 Maryland.
At his weekly press conference, Goldsmith discussed the play of his team before moving on to the threat posed by the Terrapins.
Goldsmith tempered the praise for his team's last-second win over the Cadets with criticism of the play of the special teams.
"I knew it would be a dogfight, and I felt very good about the way--for the most part--our defense and our offense played," the second-year head coach said. "We made it difficult on ourselves to a great extent by some key penalties on offense and then the horrendous kickoff coverage we had."
The Blue Devils amassed 68 yards in penalties and were burned twice on missed kickoff coverage. The Cadets broke a 52-yard return at the end of the first half to set up a 48-yard field goal. Following a Duke touchdown to open the second-half, Abel Young returned a kick 82 yards for a touchdown to keep Army in the game.
"There were some things on [special teams] that maybe I was taking too much for granted," Goldsmith said. "After our two drives, it should have been, hopefully, 10 unanswered points. We worked real hard for our 10 points, and then they got six points back in about 10 seconds."
Despite the problems on kick coverage, Goldsmith was encouraged by his team's tough play in the final minutes. After Army converted on fourth-and-one play with five minutes left in the game, the Blue Devils did not buckle, forcing the Cadets to punt two minutes later.
"For us to be able to stop them and then drive down for the game-winner, I'm very proud of this football team," Goldsmith said. "They did what they needed to do to win."
Doing what they needed to win distinguishes this Duke team from the 1994 version, according to senior free safety Ray Farmer. This Blue Devil squad has more fight in it.
"Winning in the last second just shows you that you've got to play 60 minutes of hard football," Farmer said. "Previous Duke teams may have collapsed and let things just fall apart. Last year, at the end of close games, it was still up in the air and you had to ask: `Will the ghost of Duke past come back and get us?"'
Farmer contributed mightily to the Duke effort, racking up 21 tackles, including three for losses. Those 21 tackles were the most for any Blue Devil since Mike Junkin recorded 22 against Clemson nine seasons ago.
"Ray Farmer probably played the finest game at safety I've ever seen a guy play against a running team," Goldsmith said. "There's no doubt about that from play one until the end of the game."
Shifting his focus to the nationally-ranked Terrapins, Goldsmith said he expects a much different team from the one the Blue Devils trounced 49-16 in last year's home-opener. Despite the loss of quarterback Scott Milanovich for the first four games due to a suspension for gambling, this year's Maryland squad has proved its legitimate, winning three straight games to open the season.
"I think there are some major differences that jump out at you [about Maryland]," Goldsmith said. "They got better and better as the season went on a year ago. There was a big improvement in their defense."
And even with Milanovich out, the Terps have rebounded nicely. Sophomore Brian Cummings has filled the quarterback role, adding a new dimension to the Maryland attack.
"The Cummings kid is a tremendous competitor," Goldsmith said. "He can run, and I've seen the coaching staff do a very good job of adapting an offense to his skills and the people surrounding him. The difference of the quarterback's ability to run has made a big difference in their offense."
On the injury-front, the Blue Devils expect sophomore linebacker LeVance McQueen to return to action this weekend after missing the first three games because of a hip injury. According to Goldsmith, McQueen will practice this week and should suit up on Saturday. His return should help take the pressure off the somewhat struggling defense.
"I think he'll fit in the picture, because he's in real good shape," Goldsmith said of McQueen. "He gives us a chance to have more quality rested people playing."
Goldsmith also said that banged-up players like junior linebacker Billy Granville, senior tackle James Kirkland, senior noseguard Bernard Holsey and senior tight end Bill Khayat are expected to practice this week and play against Maryland.
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