In 1989, the bowl-bound Duke football team annihilated arch-rival North Carolina 41-0. It was the final year of Steve Spurrier's triumphant three-year reign in Durham, and when Spurrier took off to the University of Florida, he took his undefeated record against the Tar Heels with him. The Blue Devils hope to exclude the prefix of baker in front of their wretched losing streak to North Carolina Saturday at noon at Wallace Wade Stadium.
In the last 12 years, no team other than the perennially powerful Florida State Seminoles has dominated Duke over the past decade like arch-rival North Carolina. The last time Duke kept the margin of defeat under 22 points was in 1996. During current Duke head coach Carl Franks' three-year tenure the Blue Devils have been outscored 149-38.
Despite the Tar Heel's recent supremacy, the 2002 Blue Devils are eagerly anticipating Saturday's season finale. Both schools possess identical 2-9 records, including 0-7 marks in conference, and Duke badly wants a victory.
"Right now everybody's real excited to get out and play," said sophomore quarterback Adam Smith. "I think a lot of people are feeling like me that Saturday can't come quick enough. We want to get out there and show everybody--we want to play the best game of the year."
Adding to Blue Devils' enthusiasm are North Carolina's glaring vulnerabilities. Defensively, UNC doesn't even look like a shadow of its former self. With standouts like Julius Peppers and Ryan Sims gone to the NFL, the Tar Heels are dead last in the ACC in total defense, and are giving up 465 yards per game. UNC allows 229 rushing yards alone, which should allow the Blue Devils' successful running duo of Alex Wade and Chris Douglas to find open spaces.
Although acknowledging the Tar Heels' defensive struggles this season, the Duke coaching staff expects to face a tenacious North Carolina defense Saturday.
"They certainly don't have all those first round draft picks," Franks said. "But what they've got is some guys that are going to play very hard. Both teams are going to play very hard. It will be a war."
Having been physically manhandled over the past three seasons many Blue Devils are quick to point out that no matter how poor North Carolina looks on paper they still bring a certain physicality to every contest.
"One thing I notice is they come out ready to play," Smith said. "They come out hitting hard, they come out fired up. You can't ever take them lightly at all. So we're going to have to come out and match their intensity. We're going to have to come out and throw our weight around."
One area in which the Tar Heels do not look ripe for an upset is on offense.
North Carolina boasts the ACC's top passing attack and will undoubtedly be licking its collective lips when going up against the woefully poor Blue Devil secondary, which is once again ranked last in conference.
Although UNC head coach John Bunting has publicly stated that the recently struggling C.J. Stephens will be Saturday's starting quarterback, he has not ruled out the return of sophomore play caller Darian Durant. Durant had been posting All-ACC numbers until breaking his wrist in mid-October.
Not knowing whom to expect, the Blue Devils have been preparing for both potential signal callers.
Saturday's season finale presents an interesting oddity for the Blue Devils. Duke will field a team entirely devoid of seniors, as the team's only graduating player, linebacker Jamyon Small, will miss the game with a torn ACL.
Asked whether he thought a lack of senior leadership on the field would limit his side's feelings of desperation, Franks shook his head.
"I hope that's not something that our guys are thinking about," Franks said. "I don't think it is. I think they realize the importance of this game. I think there's a certain sense of wanting to play this game for Jamyon Small who's not coming back, who's not going to be able to play in the game."
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