Imagine this scenario. Two local college football teams are both playing their season openers at home.
One cruises to a 17-0 lead at halftime and then turns its attention to the local rival, who is about to get upset by a MAC team on a field goal with one second left.
Insert UNC and Duke. Then switch the order.
While North Carolina was stunned by Miami of Ohio Saturday night, the Blue Devils (1-0) won their first season opener in four years with a somewhat uneventful 24-10 win over Western Carolina (0-1) in Wallace Wade Stadium. The game was no masterpiece, but at this point in time, the repercussions were clear.
"I don't know if it was a statement, but any kind of win we're pleased with," coach Fred Goldsmith said. "We have to get used to winning. But a win any time is a win, there's no question about it."
It took the Duke offense a quarter to warm up, but the defense held Western Carolina to 52 yards in the first 15 minutes and set the Blue Devils up at their own 46 with just over nine minutes left in the first half.
On first down, quarterback Spencer Romine connected with Richmond Flowers on a 42-yard pass down the middle of the field, and four plays later, Romine scampered in from a yard out to give Duke the lead.
The Catamounts went three and out on their next possession, and after a 10-yard punt brought on by pressure from Eric Jones and Darius Clark, Duke took over at the Western Carolina 40.
From there, freshman tailback B.J. Hill, who just a few weeks ago was practicing at strong safety, picked up 34 yards on four carries and set up a Sims Lenhardt 24-yard field goal for a 10-0 Duke lead.
Hill ended up with 121 yards on 23 carries for the evening, setting a Blue Devil record for a rushing debut.
"I don't know if I expected this in my debut," Hill said. "The holes were so numerous on the line that it wasn't hard to find them. I just knew where to go and where to look for them. Having these last few weeks to prepare really helped."
While Hill was running through the Catamount defensive front, Romine was keeping the offense balanced by taking advantage of an overmatched Western Carolina secondary.
Both Flowers and Scottie Montgomery caught five passes, with Flowers going over 100 yards for the first time in his collegiate career.
With under two minutes left before intermission, Romine connected with a wide-open Flowers on a 21-yard reception and then found Montgomery in the endzone for 25 yards and a 17-0 halftime lead.
"Spencer did a great job throwing the ball," Flowers said. "We kept mental errors to a minimum. I'm really excited; the offense has opened up to give Scottie, Reco and I a chance to make plays and make things happen and win ballgames.
"I feel like if we can keep it up and keep improving more in our offense, we're going to become a major threat in the ACC this year."
Flowers later closed out Duke's scoring on a diving 19-yard catch in the right corner of the end zone late in the third quarter.
"He's a big-play guy," Goldsmith said of Flowers' touchdown grab. "That last one down there, their defensive back couldn't believe it, I couldn't believe it. You usually see a guy cut one way or the other, but you don't usually see a guy dive underneath him. Richmond made big plays."
Indeed, while Hill's performance in the absence of tailbacks Letavious Wilks and Duane Epperson was a pleasant surprise, Duke's passing game performed as expected. Romine looked more comfortable in the pocket than he did a year ago, and the receiving tandem was constantly open downfield.
But there is still more to come.
"We've still got a lot of stuff we didn't show," Romine said. "That tells me that we've got a ways to improve, and we've got things out there that we're not showing anybody yet. We can be a lot better offensively when we start breaking some of the stuff out."
Defensively, the Blue Devils certainly didn't hold anything back, but they did allow tailback Brad Hoover to pick up 193 yards, with 57 of those coming on one carry against Duke's second-team defense in the fourth quarter.
Inside linebacker Todd DeLamielleure, a redshirt freshman, led the defense with nine tackles while corner Lamar Grant broke up three passes, two less than he had all of last year.
Goldsmith expressed displeasure with Western Carolina's 50-yard third-quarter drive that resulted in a one-yard touchdown plunge by Hoover, but Duke's overall defensive team speed was too much for the Division I-AA offense.
"We did real well at times tonight, and then we struggled at times," Goldsmith said. "I think that's good for us. We've got a lot of corrections to make in a hurry."
After dispatching Western Carolina, Duke's thoughts will now quickly turn to this Saturday's contest at Northwestern. The Wildcats, after all, are definitely not a Div. I-AA opponent.
"We've got to get better than what we were," Goldsmith said. "We need as many wins as we can get for confidence, that's for sure. Every game is pivotal."
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