The Duke football team will get its first chance to end its nation-leading 23-game losing streak against East Carolina Saturday at 6 p.m. in Wallace Wade Stadium. After nearly nine months off the gridiron as the butt of jokes, the Blue Devils are eager to prove their critics wrong.
"Our goal [against East Carolina] is to play well, and carry over what we've done in the off-season," head coach Carl Franks said.
The off-season saw many personnel changes, most notably at the quarterback position. D. Bryant had been the starter for the past two seasons, but was suspended from the team this summer. He subsequently transferred to Iowa Wesleyan for his final year of eligibility.
This created a big opportunity for sophomores Chris Dapolito and Adam Smith. The two have vigorously competed for the starting spot this August, and Franks has said he would be confident if either of the two were on the field.
Franks has selected his starting quarterback, but is not publicly announcing the player to confuse East Carolina.
 |
| ||||
| |||||
The team has taken a vow of secrecy about their knowledge of the starting quarterback, and Franks has given no hints to the press. Franks did mention that both quarterbacks will receive some playing time in the game.
Last year's leading rusher, junior tailback Chris Douglas, along with much improved junior fullback Alex Wade, will have to compensate on the ground for the lack of experience in the air.
With the Blue Devils' beefy offensive line, Duke is confident in its running game.
The offensive line has a new coach this season in Rich McGeorge has only been complimented in his brief tenure, with players glowing over his rampant enthusiasm.
"You can see that the players look to try harder because [McGeorge] expects that out of them," linebacker Ryan Fowler said.
In other changes, last season's best defensive player, Fowler, has moved from the outside linebacker to the middle linebacker position. The move has allowed more quickness for the team, and it gives Fowler the chance to make more big plays.
Duke will also battle inexperience this season, with Jamyon Small being the sole senior. The team does not look at this as a weakness.
"Our juniors have more experience than most seniors on other teams because we played at such a young age," Fowler said.
After finishing second in conference USA a season ago, ECU appears headed for a down year.
The major loss for the Pirates this season is quarterback David Garrard. This will be the first time since Oct. 31, 1998 that Garrard did not take the first snap of the game for ECU. Sophomore Paul Troth is to replace him this season.
The Duke defense plans to exploit Troth's inexperience.
"I think we're going to try to shake him up a little bit," Fowler said. "If we get a chance to hit him, we're going to hit him hard."
Although not dwelling on its losing streak, Franks mentioned that the team will be happy with nothing less than a win.
"I've been upset when we've won--though it's been a while--and we played bad," he said. "I've been proud of them when we've played well, and came up short. But I've never felt particularly good about losing. Maybe if we played well against the New England Patriots, and lost, I'd consider it a moral victory."
Duke is scheduled to play 12 games this regular season; the first time in its history.
The season marks the Blue Devils 90th football campaign. Duke has compiled a 434-390-31 over that stretch.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.