There's a new sheriff in town.
Head football coach Carl Franks was named honorary sheriff of Durham County for his heroics in saving a man who drove his car into Rolling View Marina Sept. 21, 2001. Durham Sheriff Worth Hill unexpectedly presented Franks with an honorary plaque at a press conference Monday.
"Where's my badge?" Franks joked.
Franks was completely surprised by the honor, and appeared as if he did not know how to react.
"It was very nice of Sheriff Hill to come over and present [the plaque] himself," he said. "I don't know, it's a nice honor to have."
Franks also congratulated Hill on his win in the recent election, but when asked if he voted for him, he sheepishly responded, "Oh, yeah."
Matters quickly turned to football, with Franks optimistic about Duke's chances Saturday against Navy. At the beginning of the season, the game against the Midshipmen was looked at as the key game to end the Blue Devils' losing streak. And although Duke defeated East Carolina in the first game of the season to end its woeful streak, Franks still considers the game as the most important of the season.
"It's a game we need to win," he said. "It's a game as important as East Carolina. It's not going to be easy. I'm sure Navy feels they can win, too."
Junior running back Chris Douglas, who sat out the game against Florida State with an ankle injury, will play this week. Franks said that Douglas was available to play last week, but he felt it was better for Douglas to rest an injury that he has continually re-aggravated every game.
"He could have played," Franks said. "I was just concerned that it would have continued to be a problem. We had to give him some time to rest it. I just thought it was much better off in the long run if we rested Chris Douglas and let him get healthy."
"I don't know how much improvement he's made other than [that] he's stayed healthy," he said. "He's had the ability to do this stuff since his freshman year."
Franks said that he needs the running game to be successful to help develop his new quarterbacks, and that Wade's running for over 100 yards in three of the four games this season has been instrumental. Franks said he hopes he can continue his successful season against Navy.
Northwestern, the team that defeated Duke 26-21 Sept. 14, beat Navy last week 49-40. Franks said he feels that it will be an advantage on offense to have common opponents. This will allow Duke to see how Navy's defense reacts to game situations Duke has experienced.
Contrarily, Franks said having a common opponent will not help at all for Duke's defensive strategy. Navy runs an option offense, something the Blue Devils have not yet seen this year. Franks added his team may practice without a football in order to make sure all assignments are covered.
"The only thing that's going to help us defensively is to go out there and practice as much as we possibly can," he said.
Many undersized teams run the option because it forces low blocks. Low blocks are dangerous, though legal, and Franks said he is worried for his players health in the game.
"It allows their lineman, who aren't as big as some people, to block down," he said. "[N.C.] State had a lot of injuries after they played Navy. They're legal blocks. We have the halo rule to prevent injuries on the punt returners. If we really wanted to prevent injuries, we would do-away with blocking below the waist."
Franks also said that the option has been successful for some teams without much talent because of its limited use.
"[The option] is something that you don't see very often," he said. "You only have four days to prepare for it."
Franks added that he is going to try to improve on his team's lackluster depth and short bench. He began to work on the problem by playing the most players of any game this season against Florida State.
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