Saturday night, the Catamounts invade Wallace Wade Stadium to take on the Blue Devils in the football season opener for both teams. The first obvious question is, who are the Catamounts?
The Catamounts are Western Carolina University, owners of a 3-8 record in Division I-AA play last year, and for whom the prospects this season look equally bleak.
The Catamounts, picked to finish seventh out of nine teams in their own conference, find themselves in a situation familiar to Duke fans. They are an extremely young team with a few bright spots, trying to build for the future.
Duke has won just one season opener in the 1990s. Many of its season openers, however, have been against Florida State or tough Div.-I nonconference opponents. Given their lack of success over the past seven years, though, the Blue Devils are not taking their task on Saturday lightly.
"I think our players are preparing the same way as if they were playing an ACC football team," head coach Fred Goldsmith said. "Mentally, our players will be ready to play. They will be ready to play hard."
The sentiment among the Duke players is one of seriousness. They are looking to build momentum in what could be a pivotal year for the program.
The opener could prove to build early season momentum, confidence and respect for a maturing, more experienced team.
"You get a couple wins, you get that momentum, and suddenly you're sky high," junior inside linebacker Ryan Stallmeyer said. "We're in a good position to do that this year, to get a couple of wins together, get some momentum and get a little excitement in the University."
While Duke has many of its starters returning from last year, the Catamounts have only eight offensive players on their two-deep depth chart who have even played a game in a Western Carolina uniform. This is not to say that they don't have talent.
Sophomore wide receiver Aaron Wright should see significant playing time. A transfer from the University of Michigan, where he played in nine games as a freshman last year, he was recruited not only by Duke, but by many other schools nationwide before deciding to become a Wolverine.
In addition, while Duke has one of the best special teams tandems in the country in kicker Sims Lenhardt and punter Brian Morton, Western Carolina has a tandem of its own-except he is only one person. Combination kicker/punter Ken Hinsley, a senior, was dubbed "one of the best kickers in the country-at any level" by The Sporting News. He has converted on 64 consecutive extra points and has made 27-of-38 career field goals, not to mention his 44.2 yard punting average.
WCU's quarterback is Shawn Snyder, a junior transfer from Tennessee who saw limited action backing up Peyton Manning. Snyder started five games last year, tossing four touchdown passes against only two interceptions.
Duke will look to exploit the Catamounts' obvious inexperience and unorthodox defense in the Blue Devils' first game under new offensive coordinator Les Koenning. Preseason I-AA All-America safety Eric Johnson leads a defense which often employs 10-man or even 11-man fronts.
"We're just ready to play and show everyone that we can win," junior tight end Terrence DuPree said. "We know that we can, we just need to prove it to everyone else.... It doesn't really matter who our first game will be. We're just going to be ready to play because we're anxious to win and to do what we came here for. And that's to go to a bowl game, as well as have a winning season."
While a victory against any foe would be a good start on the road to accomplishing their goals and improving on last year's 2-9 campaign, the Blue Devils are looking to do more than just win. They want to dominate the Catamounts in order to convince their fans and critics that they can play winning football-a statement which they are driven to prove.
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