Rarely has a rivalry been so one-sided.
When Duke crawls into Charlottesville, Va., on Saturday it will be looking for its first victory at Virginia in 14 years. The last time that happened Blue Devil quarterback Spence Fischer and the rest of the team were still in elementary school.
Unfortunately for Duke (2-4, 0-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference), it appears that this will not be the year that streak is broken. The Blue Devils enter the game giving up an average of more than 35 points a game.
Admittedly that number is inflated after Duke gave up 70 points in its opening game loss to No. 1 Florida State. But consider the Blue Devils have given up 30 points or more in all four of their losses.
In addition, Duke is ranked 107th out of 108 teams in Division I-A in total defense. It is allowing 493.4 yards per game. The only team worse than Duke is the Akron Zips.
Injuries have been a factor so far this year. The Blue Devils have yet to play a game with all of their projected starters on the field. But at what point this season do the excuses stop and improvement begin?
Hopefully for Blue Devil fans it will be on Saturday against the Cavaliers. Duke beat Virginia last year at home, 28-25. It was the type of tight win that has eluded Duke in recent weeks.
"Last year we were totally focused," Duke senior cornerback Sidney Wells said. "They were a ranked team at the time, and we had just come off a loss to Florida State. So we had a lot to prove still. People still had doubts in their mind whether the Duke football team was a good team, and so we were very, very focused throughout the week.
"I think we're going to come out with the same mentality this week. We have to be very focused--they're a ranked team."
Virginia comes into the game having been upset by North Carolina, 22-17, last Saturday. That loss dropped it to No. 19 in the national rankings and eased its record to 5-2 (4-1 in the ACC).
But the Cavaliers should be fired up for Duke. They always seem to get up for the Blue Devils when they meet at Scoot Stadium. In the last six meetings there since Duke last won 29-24 in 1981, Virginia has scored at least 34 points in every game.
That's not the end of the bad news for Duke faithful, though. The Cavaliers have amassed more than 400 yards in total offense in five of those six games. Finally, the Blue Devils have only scored three points in Scott Stadium this decade.
Goldsmith claims that he goes head-to-head with Virginia more than any other school in recruiting. Another loss to the Cavs will certainly hurt Duke's attempts to lure top-notch high school players. The burden falls on both the coaching staff and players.
"Beating UVa can definitely be done," Wells said. "You don't go somewhere and have any doubts in your mind that you could lose the game. Because then you're not playing all out, you're not playing with all the effort that you have.
"You have to believe that we can go up there and get a win. But in order to do that, we have to play a perfect ballgame."
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