Football seeks Deacons' blessing

Groves Stadium will be a carnival mirror Saturday.

When the football team (2-4, 0-2 in the ACC) looks across the field at Wake Forest (3-3, 1-2) before the 3:30 p.m. kickoff, it will see an exaggerated reflection of its own strengths and weaknesses.

With the double threat of running backs Alex Wade and Chris Douglas, Duke has the most potent rushing attack in recent school history. Wade opened the season by rushing for 100 yards in four of the first five games while Douglas struggled with an injured ankle. Against Virginia last week, Douglas returned to form and picked up 126 yards, providing the quickness to balance Wade's power.

"We want to keep running the football," Duke head coach Carl Franks said. "That keeps our time of possession up. That keeps us making first downs. And it's something we do very well."

Meanwhile, the Demon Deacons trot out a trio of running backs who combine for an ACC-leading 246.7 yards per game--almost 80 yards more than the Blue Devils have been mustering. Rounding out the group is Tarence Williams, who burned Duke for 275 yards and five touchdowns in his two previous games with the Blue Devils and who is finally returning from injury.

"Wake runs the ball very well and keeps the ball," Franks said. "We've got to try to control [the game] by keeping our offense on the field."

In addition to their running game, the Blue Devils have recently been moving the ball with an emerging passing game. Sophomore Adam Smith has solidified his hold on the quarterback job and has improved in each game; yet Duke's passing offense is only seventh in the ACC, at 185.5 yards per game.

"The running game is what we needed to do early in the season when we were playing young quarterbacks, so that you don't put all the pressure on them to have to get to the right place and put the ball in the right spot," Franks said. "It has helped our passing game, because now people worry about our running game."

Duke's spotty pass defense surrenders an average of 243.8 yards per game and has allowed nine touchdowns. The Demon Deacons have allowed an ACC-worst 274.0 yards per game in the air and an ACC-worst 15 touchdowns.

"We have a really big challenge this week," Wake Forest head coach Jim Grobe said. "Hopefully we can eliminate some of the big plays we've been giving up."

Perhaps the biggest improvement in this year's Duke squad-which could have entered Saturday's game with a 4-2 record if the fourth quarters against Northwestern and Virginia had gone slightly differently-is its turnover margin. Duke has a plus-five turnover margin thanks to an increasingly enthusiastic defense and Smith's accurate passing.

"The offensive line has really done a good job--I'm not feeling that much pressure," Smith said. "When I feel like it could be an iffy pass, I really try to put it either in a place where my receiver can catch it or it's going to be incomplete."

Again, Wake does Duke one better. The Demon Deacons lead the nation with a plus-15 turnover margin. MacPherson has thrown just one interception and the opportunistic defense has pounced on 11 fumbles.

But perhaps the most fundamental reflection is that both bottom-dwellers are starting to crawl out of the ACC cellar.

Redshirt freshman linebacker Brendan Dewan said that Wake Forest is not simply similar to Duke in strengths, weaknesses and styles of play, but both teams share a common character.

"They're exactly like us," said Dewan, who returned against Virginia from a broken ankle sustained against ECU. "They're a team coming from the bottom, starting to show people they're a lot better. They're tough--just like us. It's going to be tough playing a team that wants to win just as bad as you and doesn't just expect to win, like a lot of other teams do."