Normally when one talks about the Duke football team "going bowling," it refers to a recreational activity in which an individual throws a heavy ball down an alley at ten pins. But for the 2003 football season, the normally woeful Blue Devils have a legitimate shot of going to a bowl game.
While this seems like a gutsy call for the season, almost any analysis of this year's team would produce a similar claim. Last season Duke had a typical 2-10 record, but instead of the usual 30 point blow-outs, all but four of the games were competitive. The Blue Devils lost five games by five points or less, and three of its contests - against Clemson, North Carolina and N.C. State - were lost on the last drive of the game. While some would argue that these close losses are just part of the losing culture head coach Carl Franks has produced, it seems more likely to me that this team had to crawl before it could walk and walk before it could run.
And the use of the phrase "this team" in referring to last year's squad in the above paragraph was strategic. The Blue Devils have almost the exact line up it had last season, losing only two starters, Jamyon Small to graduation and Shawn Johnson to transfer. While both of the lost players started on Duke's defensive line, which produced statistically the best run defense in the ACC, neither loss is devastating.
The players that do return form the best team Duke has had since its 1994 bowl season. The defensive line should be dominant once again with the return of linebacker Ryan Fowler, who has led Duke in tackles for each of his first three seasons and is first among active ACC players in career tackles. Fowler is arguably one of the five best returning linebackers in the country, and has often optimistically compared his Duke career to that of his high school experience. Fowler's Seminole High School struggled during the star linebackers first three seasons before going 8-2 his senior year with an appearance in the Florida state playoffs.
"I honestly believe we'll do the same thing my high school did, and that's turn it around," Fowler said last season.
In addition to Fowler, defensive tackle Matt Zielinski, the Blue Devils' strongest weight lifter, should help create one of the rush defenses in the country. The secondary should once again be a team weakness, but cornerback Kenneth Stanford and safety Terrell Smith showed improvement as the 2002 season progressed and four of Duke's 14 signees for the class of 2007 could immediately help the pass defense.
Offensively, first-year offensive coordinator Jim Pry should have plenty with which to work. Quarterback Adam Smith is likely improve on his productive first season in the starting lineup with receivers Reggie Love, Khary Sharpe, Senterrio Landrum and true freshman Deon Adams producing plenty of options for the California native. Andy Roland anchors the tight end position, as he was put on the John Mackey Award's "watch list" for the best tight end in Division I-A football.
The rushing game could be as good as Duke's running defense, with Alex Wade and Chris Douglas, the third and sixth, respectively, most productive runners in the ACC in 2002, returning. Adding to this two-headed monster is Cedric Dargan, who after red-shirting in 2002 was perhaps the most impressive back during spring practice.
Despite having its best lineup in some time, Duke will by no means jump to the upper echelon of the ACC. Five teams in the expected pre-season top 25 are on Duke's schedule, all of which the Blue Devils are expected to lose. But against teams like Clemson and Wake Forest, the team with the highest graduation rate in the country will have its greatest chance in the Carl Franks era to collect multiple wins. A year before football powerhouses Miami and Virginia Tech enter the conference, more than ever it is now or never for the Duke football program.
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