To Duke students, playing the Pirates may not conjure up the same amount of hatred that playing the Tar Heels does, but for those people who go to Eastern Carolina University in Greenville, this week's game is a rivalry.
The Duke football team opens its season tomorrow at 6 p.m. in Wallace Wade Stadium against the East Carolina Pirates in a game that many expect will draw more ECU fans than Duke fans.
As far as the Greenville papers are concerned, the two teams will be continuing a budding rivalry that began in 1977, and whose latest chapter saw Duke take a 27-9 pounding in Greenville to open last year's season.
"Any time you play in the state of North Carolina I think it's a rivalry," Duke coach Carl Franks said. "It doesn't quite have the long-standing tradition that some of our other games have, but I think it's broken into a pretty good rivalry. If we can play better, it will make that rivalry better."
Last year the two teams had very contrasting seasons. After beating Duke in the first game of the season, the Pirates went on to a 9-3 year that included a Mobile Alabama Bowl bid and a top-25 finish. Meanwhile, Duke finished the season 3-8, but the Blue Devils have a strong recruiting class and are looking to improve on last year's record.
Duke leads the overall series 4-3 and has not lost to the Pirates at home since Sept. 6, 1980. During current ECU coach Steve Logan's tenure, the Pirates have lost two games at Wallace Wade.
"We've gone to Duke a couple of times and we have not won, so we have got to go and put together a strong effort," Logan said. "The recipe will include not turning the ball over, kick the ball well and keep their offense contained, and see if we can come away with a victory."
Logan said that because Duke's relatively new coaching staff would be more comfortable this year, he expected Saturday's game to be quite different from last season's match-up-Franks' first game as head coach.
Duke's running game tops the list of ECU coaches' concerns. Last year, Duke averaged just under 75 yards per game on the ground. But this year, ECU expects the Blue Devils to take a far different approach than last year's Airborne offense.
"I am not sure schematically what Duke will do on the ground, but I am sure running the ball will be more of an emphasis this season," Logan said. "They weren't all that successful last season on the ground and will probably try to run the ball more this year. Coach Franks is a good coach and knows where the problems lie and he will address them."
Duke, meanwhile, has been working this week to figure out how to match up against what Franks calls the "best team in the state." The Pirates' primary offensive weapon is quarterback David Garrard, a junior and Durham native. In the preseason voting, Garrard was picked first team All-Conference USA and player of the year.
With defensive starters B.J. Hill and Nate Krill both out with injuries, the Blue Devils' first game will be a test-run for younger members of the team.
"We can't let [Garrard] sit back there and have a lot of time to throw the ball," Franks said. "We need to try and create some confusion so he doesn't always know where he's going with it."
Another issue for the Blue Devils to contend with is keeping quarterback Spencer Romine from being knocked on his back-something that will be difficult with an all freshman back-up offensive line.
Romine, however, expects the passing game to go much better than last year, partly because last year's game was the first time the Blue Devils ran their new offense. This year they know the plays much better.
"The talent on the receiving core is definitely there," Romine said. "But also this year, our receivers are much smarter. They're far more reliable, and won't mess up their routes, which is preferable to having a lot of talent but stupid receivers."
Whether the Blue Devils take another crack at their Airborne offense is a mystery to even the ECU coaches, but critics agree that the Pirates will be in good shape to pick up their first win in Durham in 20 years.
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