Heading into its game against Clemson last year, the Duke football team was undefeated and had entered the national rankings for the first time since 1989. Down 13-10 late in the fourth quarter, a Ray Farmer blocked punt rolled into the endzone. Farmer jumped on the ball and sealed Duke's unbeaten streak. For the Tigers, though, it was another dent in a forgettable season.
This year, the picture is a little different. While Duke (3-6, 1-5 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) is suffering through a disappointing year, the No. 24 Tigers (6-3, 5-3 in the ACC) are on a roll, having won three in a row.
To make matters worse for the Blue Devils, Saturday's 1 p.m. game is being played at Clemson's Memorial Stadium, more commonly known as Death Valley. The Tigers have won seven in a row at home against the Blue Devils, with the last Duke win coming in 1980.
In order to combat the noise the Blue Devils expect at Death Valley, head coach Fred Goldsmith enjoyed the luxury of an indoor practice. While the practice wasn't planned--rain forced the team indoors--it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
"The indoor practice was very beneficial to our offense, because we had everyone else except the 11 on offense to simulate the crowd noise," Goldsmith said. "We got it to such a pitch that you could hear nothing in the indoor workout area.
"We got a good workout running and throwing the football without being able to hear our quarterback. If the game is exciting over there at Clemson, the crowd will be in it. It was good to get in a situation that was helpful to us."
About the only advantage the Blue Devils have is health. Duke is coming off an bye week in which many of its players gained needed rest. Returning to a battered Blue Devil defense are seniors Farmer and Bernard Holsey and junior Brandon Pollock. Holsey returns after missing much of the season with ankle sprains. Farmer has been hobbled by a foot injury he suffered against Georgia Tech, and he played only one quarter against Wake Forest.
Clemson, on the other hand, had a tough Nov. 4 contest, as it pulled out a 17-10 win over North Carolina.
"We are a drained football team on both sides of the ball," Clemson head coach Tommy West said. "The health is the biggest concern within our team, especially on the defensive line. We have four defensive linemen that are banged up and bruised up. We're doing everything we can to get them ready to play.
"We're looking at people that are not going to practice this week that are going to have to go in and win a very big game for us. Most of them are defensive players going against a very explosive offensive team."
Even though Duke will be facing a tired Tiger team on Saturday, Clemson is still much improved over last year. Goldsmith considers the 1995 Tigers to be the best offensive team Clemson has seen in a while, as the squad has already scored 100 points more than it did all of last year.
The leader of this potent offense is sophomore Nealon Greene, whose first collegiate start came one year ago against the Blue Devils. In that game, Greene had a solid debut, going 16-for-30 for a total of 172 yards. This year, he has racked up nearly 1,500 yards in the air.
But Greene's passing arm isn't his strength. Rather, it is his quickness and ability to perfect the option that has made the Tigers so successful this season. Clemson's main weapon on the ground has been sophomore Raymond Preister, who is 24 yards short of the 1,000-yard mark going into Saturday's game.
"Raymond has played extremely well," West said. "The thing that he has done which is amazing is that he doesn't have a 60-, 70- or 80-yard run. All the yards he has gained this year are on four-, five-, and six-yard runs.
"He's not a guy that just makes peoples miss. He gets on peoples' shoulders and breaks a lot of tackles, but he takes a lot of hits. I was concerned how long he would last. He's a tough character that keeps coming back--that's his number one attribute."
How to stop Clemson's strong running game is the question Duke desperately needs to answer. Goldsmith hopes a healthier defense will be part of the solution. But he admits even that will not fully stop the Tiger attack.
"We better get a whole lot better than we've been," Goldsmith said. "Against N.C. State--Tremaine Stevens has been tired ever since that game--he gained so many yards. I think we have improved.
"But Clemson runs the same option that Georgia Tech and N.C. State run, and we didn't stop the tailback against those teams very well. That's the thing that bothers me, to an extent."
On the other side of the ball, the Tigers have an improved defense, led by their speedy secondary. Goldsmith said the athletic ability of the defense is the factor that makes it so good.
"They have a lot of good football players," he said. "The thing that helps them is that they have so much speed at linebacker. The linebackers can get around and do the things they need to do on pass defense. And the athletic ability is there that when they want to blitz and bring pressure, they have all good players that can cover you man-to-man."
Last year, the Blue Devil offense against Clemson was led by tight end Bill Khayat, who had a career-high 10 catches for 119 yards. Khayat is out for the rest of the 1995 season. At the same time, while Duke has improved its running game over the past two games, the Tigers have been adept at stopping the run, shutting down two potent ground games against Georgia Tech and North Carolina.
"We've been able to run the ball better," Goldsmith said. "But when you try to run it against Clemson, it's a little different than running it against some of those other people we've played in recent weeks. Carolina tried to do that, and they didn't go very far. We didn't have a whole lot of luck running against them last year, and that's probably not the way to go."
So all in all, things look bleak for the Blue Devils. Clemson has a much improved team, and the one area where Duke has improved--its running game--is one of the things the Tigers have played stongly against in recent games. Still, neither Goldsmith nor his players is conceding defeat before the opening kickoff.
"For a team that is 3-6, our kids have really practiced hard," Goldsmith said.
"We did get down at midseason, but we had a little attitude check, and the guys have practiced hard. We haven't had great results.
"But it has turned from a miserable year to one that one where you enjoy going out there and practicing and playing the last three weeks. It's been kind of fun the last three weeks.''
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