This Saturday the Duke Blue Devils (0-7, 0-4) square off against the Vanderbilt Commodores (1-5) at Wallace Wade Stadium in what has been referred to by the national press as "the worst thing ever."
While the media scoffs at a matchup of arguably the two worst teams in major conference football, this is a huge game for both teams.
After Vanderbilt, the Blue Devils have N.C. State, UNC and Clemson left on the schedule. Duke would hardly be favored in any of those contests.
If the Blue Devils want to prevent a winless season, they are going to have to stop Vanderbilt quarterback Greg Zolman.
The fifth-year senior quarterback has led the Commodores to a very respectable No. 5 ranking in Southeastern Conference passing offense.
"Our quarterback position is the best that it has ever been since I have been here," Vanderbilt coach Woody Widenhofer said.
This season Zolman surpassed Whit Taylor as the team's all-time leader in passing yardage. His career total now stands at 6,736 yards.
Against Duke this week, Zolman can also become Vanderbilt's career leader in passing attempts, as he needs only eight to surpass another of Taylor's records.
Despite the Commodore's unimpressive record, Zolman has played well for much of the season. However, he arrives in Durham fresh off his worst outing of the year.
Zolman had a disastrous outing last weekend in Columbia, S.C., as the Commodores suffered a 46-14 schlacking against the South Carolina Gamecocks.
"I thought we took a step backwards," Widenhofer said of the loss. "We went down there and played a very, very good football team in South Carolina.... Coming off a tough opening and we fought hard to get back into it, a 19-14 game, and the momentum shift should have picked us up and we should have gone on to play them tough to the end. But we didn't do that. That bothers me."
Zolman didn't do much to keep the Commodores in the game. He completed 7-of-20 passing attempts for only 126 yards. Moreover, he threw two interceptions to only one touchdown pass.
"I think a quarterback is going to have a night like that every once in a while," Widenhofer said. "Unfortunately when they got ahead by a couple of touchdowns, he probably took it upon himself to make things happen. And that's what you can't do. You probably have to play within yourself and live to play another day."
Despite the South Carolina performance, Zolman remains a danger to the Blue Devil defense. He has thrown for over 300 yards twice this season, including a 316-yard performance against the Georgia Bulldogs.
In addition to being a threat to put up big numbers, Zolman generally does a good job of holding onto possession of the football. In the five games before South Carolina, he had thrown only one interception, compared to six touchdowns.
Zolman has the advantage of having two potential playmakers at the wide receiver position. M.J. Garrett put up Vanderbilt's season-leading receiving performance, with a eight-catch, 208-yard day against Middle Tennessee State in the opener. Dan Stricker had 137 yards receiving against Georgia.
The Commodores bring more talent than expected from a 1-5 team, and they will be very focused heading into Saturday.
"Duke is a team that will do anything to win," Widenhofer said. "I am sure of that. They haven't won a game in a long time. I do know that we have to get a lot better this week to go down there and beat Duke."
In order to shut down Zolman, the Blue Devils' best chance may be to get to him before he throws the ball. The Commodores have allowed an SEC low three sacks, but this week they will be playing without fifth-year senior offensive guard Duncan Cave, who fractured his left ankle against South Carolina. The changes in the line may leave Vanderbilt's best hope flat on his back.
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