Game Commentary: Angry locker room reflects Blue Devils' discontent

While only a few miles away in Chapel Hill fans were tearing down goalposts in celebration and witnessing the potential rebirth of a slumping program, the scene in Wallace Wade Stadium Saturday was much more gloomy.

Not only had Duke lost for the 15th straight time, but it had been utterly dismantled by an efficient, experienced Northwestern squad that exposed nearly all of the Blue Devils' weaknesses.

Make no mistake about it--this was not a game Duke was supposed to win. In fact, after the game, Duke coach Carl Franks stated that Northwestern was the best squad the Blue Devils have faced all season, even better than perennial national championship contender Florida State.

Nonetheless, the Blue Devils were saddened, or in some cases, angered by their performance, which was filled with missed opportunities, turnovers, and a few key breakdowns that broke an otherwise close contest into a humiliating blowout.

In the Duke football headquarters after the game, reporters listened to the melancholy, yet rational responses of Franks, tight end Mike Hart, and defensive lineman Nate Krill.

But in the background, they could hear intense verbal disputes breaking out in the locker room that, in all likelihood, represented a collective expression of the players' disappointed post-game sentiments.

"I tell you what, I try not to think of it because it's such a mind-blowing number, but I've been a part of every one of them," Hart said of Duke's losing streak. "It makes me feel like crap personally, but everybody says, Okeep your head up.' You think about the hole we're in right now and you have to dig yourself out of it some way.

"We need a win desperately now. If we get one win, we can turn things around.... But right now, with that monstrous number in front of our face, it doesn't really help."

But with these few heartening episodes Saturday evening came many other problems that have arisen throughout the past two seasons. In particular, Duke's inability to convert on third down and its tendency to give up back-breaking plays were quite apparent.

"We just gave up too many big plays," Krill said. "It just kills morale out there. I think we only played 86 plays--which is not a ton--and I think last week we played 102. They were up-tempo, they were no huddle, which is something we were prepared for. But at the same time, we've got to control the big plays."

Despite his disappointment over Duke's performance, Franks remains the eternal optimist about the state of his team and about the health of the overall course he has set for it. And many believe this optimism is not unwarranted, and in fact, is very realistic.

But until the Blue Devils realize their potential and fulfill their hunger for victory, Duke will continue to answer to its skeptics, not reap the benefits of its backers.

"I think we're a much better football team than we showed out there tonight. I know we're a better football team than that. We're a team that's got to learn how to win," Franks said. "But I feel good about our football players. We've got some talent out there. A lot of it is talent that hasn't played a lot of football.

"I believe in the plan that we have to become a very good football team, and I think our players believe in that plan. A win would certainly do a great deal for everybody's psyche right now. But we've got to continue to win the small battles during the football game to win the big battles on the scoreboard, and we're not winning enough of those right now."