Now comes the easier bit. Maybe.
After a succession of losses to three of the ACC's top four teams, the Blue Devils get to slide down and face the bottom half, save N.C. State.
The Blue Devils (0-7, 0-4 in the ACC) are not worried about their minuscule chances against the 21st-ranked Wolfpack two weeks from now. They are probably more concerned with this year's Parents' Weekend game tomorrow at noon against the Maryland Terrapins (3-4, 1-3) at Wallace Wade Stadium.
In the next two weeks, Duke gets the opportunity to face the only two teams left that it may be able to beat, and thus not repeat the infamous 0-11 season of 1996.
However, for the Blue Devils to take their second in a row from the Terrapins, many things must go right. Winless or not, though, coach Carl Franks is still rather optimistic.
"I hope it's a better chance than we had in the first seven just due to the fact that me may get a little better," Franks said. "We are not playing the No. 7 teams in the country, like we did two weeks in a row. We have to go out there and play better. They are not going to be much easier than the other ones."
For the fourth straight game, the Blue Devils will be lead by sophomore quarterback D. Bryant. As many people, including Franks, have
"Some of the reasons are because we dropped some or threw some interceptions in the endzone," said Franks about his team's lack of touchdowns. "We found a way not to score."
On the other end of the ball, Duke must be able to contain Maryland's running game, which remains up in the air after preseason All-America candidate LaMont Jordan was benched last week against Wake Forest. Jordan, who has not lived up to his preseason expectations, comes to Durham with something to prove. He and the rest of the Maryland team will be seeking revenge against the Blue Devils, who helped keep them from a bowl bid last season.
"Right now, I am not looking ahead of Duke," Maryland coach Ron Vanderlinden said. "Duke kept us out of a bowl game a year ago. I watched that game again last night before I went home, and I wish that I hadn't because that was a very frustrating game.... Our only focus right now is on how we can find a way to get a win against Duke."
Maryland believes it has something to prove against Duke-and a second straight loss isn't it. The Terps should come out ready to throw everything against this young Duke team.
After two losses, Maryland is coming off a win against Wake Forest and plans to extend its ACC winning streak against the league's worst team.
"After the Virginia game, we made it our intent to get better, to make improvement and to refocus," Vanderlinden said. "I felt that our effort at Clemson was a step in the right direction and in the Wake Forest game there is no question that we were a much better football team. I think that we have been playing hard and playing with a lot of emotion and enthusiasm."
However, if Duke does hold one edge, it is in the intangible category. The Blue Devils have always played well when the parents roll into town, and the fifth-year seniors will not want to finish their tenure here in the same manner they started it, 0-11.
"We are going into this week and hopefully we can come out and improve," Franks said. "We are trying to improve on the mental mistakes that we keep making. We are trying to eliminate the things we can control. Hopefully our concentration level will get a lot better. I think our seniors will look to be big leaders this week."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.