In any ordinary year, a less-confident, smaller, less-talented Duke football team would travel to Florida State with its heads down, just looking to get out of Tallahassee alive. The Seminoles would be looking past the Blue Devils to Florida, UNC or some other, more-prominent ACC team in the way of their quest for a national championship.
This isn't any ordinary year. The Seminoles are coming off a 24-7 loss last week in which N.C. State discovered several holes in the powerhouse team, most notably in their 26-year-old sophomore quarterback Chris Weinke and secondary. The Seminoles are simply looking to get back on the right track, now that the Wolfpack has dealt their national championship hopes a serious blow.
The Blue Devils are a young but experienced group of confident players after putting together the program's best game in years, a 44-10 thrashing of Northwestern. The players are confident that they can compete, and win, at Florida State, although they still understand that the task at hand is monumental.
"We know it can be done," cornerback Lamar Grant said. "Florida State is a good team, but anybody can be beat in the ACC on any given day, so we're looking forward to doing the same thing down there."
Grant will have perhaps the day's most difficult job for the Blue Devils as he will be asked to defend against wide receiver Peter Warrick, a Heisman Trophy candidate. In last year's game, a 51-27 Florida State victory in Wallace Wade Stadium, Warrick caught five passes for 134 yards and a touchdown. An explosive force on the field, Grant will need to use all his resources to stop the junior wideout.
"He's a big time receiver that makes big plays," Grant said of Warrick.
The one advantage that Grant might have this year is the relative hole that Florida State has at quarterback. Chris Weinke, who tried his hand at professional baseball before returning to Florida State to go with football, threw six passes directly to the N.C. State defense last Saturday, setting a school record for interceptions in a single game. Considering Grant and the rest of the secondary's sparkling play against receiver D'Wayne Bates and his cohorts in Northwestern, the job might not get any easier for Weinke.
So, in turn, Bobby Bowden might look instead to his rushing attack. Headed by Travis Minor, last year's ACC rookie of the year, it might be the best rushing attack that Florida State has put together since the days of Warrick Dunn.
"Travis Minor may be the best back I've seen in a number of years," Duke coach Fred Goldsmith said. "They have the potential to be just like any Florida State team has been, believe me."
Defensively, the Seminoles have yet to show their potential. Torry Holt, N.C. State's premier wide receiver, exploited the lack of depth that Florida State has at secondary. Duke wide receivers Richmond Flowers and Scottie Montgomery are one of the best tandems in the league, and they have helped Duke accumulate the best offensive totals in the ACC so far this year.
While Flowers and Montgomery could play a huge role in determining the outcome of the game, Florida State's rush defense is as strong as ever. It has allowed just 123 yards on 69 rushing attempts in two games this season. Very few teams in the country can rush successfully against the Seminoles. Duke will likely have to go to the air, where Florida State opponents have a 51-percent completion rate, as opposed to 44 percent for FSU itself, if it wants to keep the game close.
"All that psychological stuff goes by the wayside when you line up for kickoff," Goldsmith said. "You just gotta go play well. In order to beat Florida State, we're going to have to play our very, very best."
With FSU's loss to N.C. State, along with Weinke's disappointing play and Duke's increased confidence after rolling through Northwestern, a lot of psychological factors might come into play in this game. Even on top of that, however, it might take a Herculean effort from the Blue Devils to overcome the size, strength and talent of the Seminoles.
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