You can't blame Bobby Campbell for wanting to forget his last two appearances in Wallace Wade Stadium.
Blowout losses to both Maryland and North Carolina brought a disappointing end to a Duke season that seemed so promising just three weeks earlier. But the losses weren't nearly as bad as Campbell's performances.
Campbell threw an ACC-record seven interceptions against Maryland and was benched in the third quarter of the Tar Heel game the very next week having only connected on six of his 14 pass attempts.
Tomorrow afternoon, Campbell returns to the scene of his worst nightmares.
"I've had some very bad times there, and I've had some pretty good times there," Campbell said. "I just want to get out there, and I guess almost redeem myself. I just want to be able to play the way I know I can. It kind of went downhill at the end of last season, so hopefully I can get out there for myself, and show it again."
Campbell knows this game well. For the past three seasons, he has been one of the headliners in Duke's seemingly never-ending game of musical quarterbacks; constantly coming and going, going and coming.
"I'm not going to complain about anything," Campbell said. "It's a chance to play college football. I'm used to it by now and I think any situation you can put either of us in, we're going to be pretty experienced at it."
During
Before last season, Campbell lost the starter's job to Romine but took over the role in October when he led Duke to a 19-16 win over Wake Forest while Romine recovered from the flu.
Romine started the next game against N.C. State, but Campbell received another shot behind the center and almost engineered a second-half comeback before the Blue Devils lost 27-24. Campbell then led Duke to a 28-23 upset win over Clemson that left the Blue Devils 4-4 and dreaming of a bowl berth.
Against Vanderbilt the following week, Campbell threw for a career-high 316 yards but missed a wide open Scottie Montgomery on what would have been a game-winning strike. That double overtime loss was followed by the harrowing performances against Maryland and Carolina.
This preseason, Romine once again won the starting job but, like clockwork, Campbell finds himself in the lineup. After Romine's injury in the East Carolina game, Campbell came in and hit 4-of-9 passes for 46 yards.
"I was glad I got a couple of snaps in last weekend, to kind of get the feel for everything again," Campbell said. "It's good just to get a taste of a game again, because it's been four or five months since I've had it before."
During the preseason, Franks said that the main reason Romine was ahead of Campbell on the depth chart was Romine's better grasp of the offense.
Campbell said that gap no longer exists and believes he'll be ready to lead the team Saturday.
"I think Spencer beat me out because he played real well," Campbell said. "I don't know how much the mental aspect of it was, but I think I've got a pretty good grasp of this offense and I'm real excited to go out there and use it for the first time to my advantage."
Backup quarterback is an odd position. You directly benefit from a teammate's misfortune and if you achieve your goal-winning football games-your job is still far from guaranteed.
It is not a role quarterbacks want to have. It is a role Bobby Campbell knows better than just about anyone.
"I'm excited about getting back out there," Campbell said. "But I've played in this situation before, coming in off the bench.
"It's a week by week thing. Hopefully Spencer will be able to get back on the field pretty soon. If I can make it hard on Coach Franks to decide who to put out there, that's great, because it means I've been playing well. But it's a week-by-week thing. Right now this weekend I just have to be ready to play."
Victor Zhao contributed to this story.
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