It's funny how history repeats itself.
Saturday at high noon, the football team will take the field at Wallace Wade Stadium against Wake Forest looking to put an end to its 14-game Atlantic Coast Conference losing streak.
Last year, these same two teams met in week 10 in Winston-Salem, with the Demon Deacons intent on ending their own 14-game skid. That afternoon, Wake came back from a 16-3 fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Blue Devils 17-16 and has never looked back.
Now the tables are turned.
The Demon Deacons have ridden a surge from that win over Duke and have put together an impressive 3-4 (2-3 in the ACC) record so far this year, including three losses by a combined 11 points. In fact, Wake could easily be 5-2 right now, having lost to East Carolina 26-25 in week 2 and to Georgia Tech 28-26 the following week.
The Blue Devils (2-5, 0-4 in the ACC) missed out on their best chance for a win in 1996 at Groves Stadium and still have yet to get on track against ACC competition.
Last year, Blue Devil receiver Corey Thomas referred to the Wake Forest game as not only Duke's probable last chance at a win in 1996, but as the team's 'Super Bowl.' This year, things aren't so drastic, but with three of the ACC's top four teams-Clemson, Georgia Tech and North Carolina-all on the horizon, this game does take on the look of a last-chance showdown for the Blue Devils.
But Duke can't chalk up an ACC win that easily, the Demon Deacons are now considered by most coaches in the ACC to be the league's best-kept secret.
"This is the best Wake team we've faced since I got here," Duke coach Fred Goldsmith said. "Brian Kuklick is the best quarterback we've seen this year and you couldn't have a better passing game than they did last week."
Wake Forest comes into Saturday's game with the ACC's second-rated passing attack, led by Kuklick, a junior. The Deacs are averaging over 275 yards per game through the air, with Kuklick completing 61.4 percent of his passes while racking up 1,894 yards and 12 touchdowns.
The Wake Forest receiving tandem of Desmond Clark and Thabiti Davis provides Kuklick with a pair of experienced and accomplished targets. Both had 60 or more receptions in 1996 and have built on that success in 1997. Clark is second in the conference in receptions with 47, while Davis, the target of opposing defenses, has been limited to 28.
Jammie Deese has picked up the slack, however, hauling in 42 receptions on the year, good for third in the ACC.
But offensive balance has not been Wake's strength this year, as it has averaged just 88 yards per game on the ground. All that seemed to chang last week against Maryland, when the Deacs put together season highs in both passing yards (330) and rushing yards (151) in their 35-17 win over the Terrapins. Wake Forest came in having lost four in a row to Maryland.
The Demon Deacon rushing attack is still far from intimidating, however, as their starting running back, Morgan Kane, has thus far picked up just 231 yards on 74 carries-good for a mere 2.9 yards per carry.
Considering that Duke is last in the ACC in defending the run, though, the Deacons might look to cure their rushing woes against the Blue Devils. So far this year, Duke is giving up a hefty 180 rushing yards per game. It is a figure that the Blue Devils feel is extremely misleading.
"No one else in the ACC has played Army and Navy and the teams who rush the ball all the time," Goldsmith said. "So that figure is very deceiving."
It's a fact that is backed up by this telling statistic: Duke has actually held five of its seven opponents this year under their rushing averages. Still, the Blue Devils know they will likely see all four of the teams remaining on their schedule try and establish the run against them.
"We're small up front," Goldsmith said. "We send an inviting picture.... Chris Combs is our giant at 6-foot-3, 270-lbs but that's not big at all by league standards."
The Duke secondary, however, should have a very busy day Saturday. Once the Demon Deacons start going to the air, the Blue Devils could be in trouble. They may be without starting strong safety Darius Clark, who injured his ankle at Virginia last week. Aside from the possible loss of Clark, the Duke cover men have not been the model of excellence this year. An opening play, 78-yard touchdown pass surrendered at Maryland was Duke's most glaring miscue, but other coverage lapses have been scattered over Duke's season.
For a defense that has been credited by Goldsmith as putting together six consecutive solid outings, this could be the game that either breaks their back or proves that the young unit has come into its own.
The one gray area for Duke offensively is at the quarterback position, where freshman Bobby Campbell has struggled of later for the Blue Devils. With fellow freshman Spencer Romine, who led Duke to its two wins this year, back from a groin and hip injury, the rotating quarterback threatens to return to the head of the Duke offense.
Goldsmith maintains, however, that Campbell is still the starter for this Saturday's game, though Romine will be available to play.
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