Airborne era begins Saturday

He leaned into the microphone, a Blue Devil logo square on his chest and a smile slowly creeping out from beneath his mustache, and with a simple statement on his team's progress, coach Carl Franks officially cleared Airborne for takeoff.

The sports slogan-cum-Duke football synonym has simply become part of the language, part of the myth of Blue Devil football this season, and it's found itself at the heart of what is for Duke a full-fledged maelstrom of hype.

"It's a promotion thing, and it's been great, but obviously we're not going to be that one-dimensional," Franks said.

It's hard to remember the last time a Duke football season was so eagerly anticipated, or for that matter when it was anticipated at all.

And maybe fittingly, it's hard to imagine a less likely suspect than the hometown-boy-makes-good Franks to be at the center of it all.

But there they are, almost a single word: Duke football, Carl Franks, expectations.

"The excitement is incredible this year, and it's everywhere: the players, the fans, and coach," tailback B.J. Hill said. "[Franks] has really brought an excitement to the program, and excitement breeds success."

Franks arrived on campus last December, with a Florida pedigree and Steve Spurrier's backing to his name, and an exciting wide-open offense that soon became "Airborne" to kick off all the hype. Two parts of one, three of another and suddenly the school that was mired in a 22-game ACC losing streak a season ago started talking bowls-in December.

"I'm sure we'll go to Greenville and be the underdog," Franks said. "And that's probably right for right now."

A rare first-week bye left the Blue Devils with a host of opening-game jitters to be worked out and a host of questions only game situations will answer. But for Franks, the bye week was half full.

"On one instance you get to watch them on TV, get an idea what they're doing, and they're probably a little bit not quite clear with what we're going to do," Franks said. "But they did get a chance to go out, get those first-game kinks out of the way, iron out some things I'm sure Coach Logan was worried about."

The down time also gave the Blue Devils' walking wounded a chance to recuperate. Hill, who set a series of freshman rushing records last season, had been out much of the preseason with a pulled hamstring. Despite reporting that he was 98 percent on Monday, Franks named Duane Epperson, the only Duke tailback to avoid injury in the preseason, the starter in tomorrow's showdown.

"B.J. Hill is going to be fine, and he'll do a lot of playing [tomorrow]," Franks said. "We'll see how the game goes. Sometimes the guy who starts isn't the guy who does the most playing. When you've got three tailbacks as good as they can play, how long the starter stays there... all depends on what kinds of plays get called."

If the product lives up to the billing, the lionshare of those calls will send the ball downfield, courtesy of the arm of starting quarterback Spencer Romine. The only question that remains to be answered is how efficiently the junior will handle the offense he'll no longer just be taking for a test-drive.

"I think [Romine and backup Bobby Campbell] have got a good handle on what we're trying to accomplish," Franks said. "They're getting a good handle on where everybody is, what plays we want to get to in different formations."

If all else fails, Romine could simply take cross-field notes. The Pirates sport an explosive offense, led by ultra-mobile quarterbacks David Garrard and Richard Alston. If Airborne crash lands, it will probably be at the hands of the quarterback duo.

"I was very impressed with the East Carolina offense," Franks said. "David Garrard... that guy is a strong run man, and he threw the ball pretty well.... Richard Alston, when he comes in, Coach Logan says you better not go to the bathroom, anything in the world is liable to happen."

Just like head coaching debuts.