The football team is heading into uncharted territory this weekend. It will be favored to win. On the road, no less.
Duke will indeed be the favorite as it heads to Nashville to face Vanderbilt (1-6) tomorrow at 2 p.m. EST. The Halloween matchup marks the last road trip of the season for the Blue Devils (4-4) and gives Duke an opportunity to approach a winning season for the first time since 1994.
Having to deal with losing key players to graduation, Vanderbilt is facing a similar situation to what the Blue Devils confronted in previous seasons. The defense, ranked first in the SEC a year ago, lost six players to the NFL, and the offense has struggled to find stability at the quarterback position following the departure of Damien Allen. Vanderbilt has 21 players on its depth chart who are playing as true or redshirt freshmen.
Vandy has struggled on both sides of the ball, being outscored 195-76 and ranking among the worst in total offense and defense in the SEC. But despite all of its problems, Vandy could provide a challenge for the Blue Devils. The Commodores are coming off their first win of the season, a 17-14 victory against South Carolina.
The Commodores' offense has finally gotten on track in the past two games, producing its highest offensive outputs of the season. The Commodores benched freshman quarterback David Wallace in favor of redshirt freshman Greg Zolman, who responded against South Carolina with 279 yards passing and a rushing touchdown.
"That offense struggled all year and they brought [Zolman] in and he has run the team well," Duke coach Fred Goldsmith said. "He has a live arm and good agility. He made a bunch of big plays against South Carolina, so all of a sudden a team whose offense was dormant for a long time has increased the offensive production by over 100 yards."
Duke will have to prepare for a Vanderbilt defense that blitzes with reckless abandon. The Commodores use a pro-style blitz devised by head coach Woody Widenhofer, who was the defensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers during the 1970s.
The ability of Duke's offensive line to protect quarterback Bobby Campbell will be a key factor in the game. In Duke's last two victories, the offensive line gave up only two sacks per game. But in its season opener against Western Carolina, a team that plays a defense similar to Vanderbilt, Duke gave up four sacks for a loss of 23 yards and quarterback Spencer Romine was under constant pressure.
"We're getting better," Goldsmith said. "We still need more consistency. Vanderbilt is a big test because when we played Western Carolina, they blitzed us and made us look bad. We did not play well and we sputtered around.
"Now two months later we are facing a team that will probably do a better job of blitzing so we have to be a much-improved football team in order to win Saturday."
Added center Troy Andrew, "[Vanderbilt] held Peyton Manning to his lowest output last year so you know they are a formidable opponent. They have a good defense and they're going to give us fits with their blitzes."
The zone blitz, however, may be the least of Duke's worries. The Blue Devils have suffered a rash of injuries in the past two weeks to key players. Defensive end Chris Combs (knee), free safety Eric Jones (sprained MCL) and wide receiver Richmond Flowers (appendectomy) are all considered day-to-day but should be able to play tomorrow.
For perhaps the first time since 1994, Duke has major incentive to continue winning. At 4-4 and with their remaining three opponents having a combined record of 6-14, the Blue Devils have a chance to go 7-4 and be in contention for a postseason bowl.
"We're really playing for a lot of pride," Andrews said. "We have a lot of pride among us because no one wants to lose. When people tell us we aren't favored, it really burns inside of you and a lot of the guys are starting to feel that and are playing above themselves."
When asked about the possibility of going to a bowl, Goldsmith quickly noted there was work to be done before thinking about the postseason.
"We have to take care of our business one Saturday at a time," he said. "That's the only thing our staff and our team need to be concerned about. Believe me, finding a way to score against Vanderbilt will take every bit of intensity that we can muster."
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