Despite coming off a heartbreaking loss to Northwestern last weekend, the Blue Devils (2-2, 0-1 in the ACC) look towards the future, hoping to put the tomahawk chop on the Seminoles (4-0, 1-0 in the ACC) this Saturday at Wallace Wade Stadium. This will be quite an uphill climb for Duke considering Florida State is the sixth-ranked team in the country.
"It is a challenge, but a fun challenge," Blue Devils' head coach Carl Franks said. "We are preparing to win."
According to Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden, playing in Durham gives the away team more of an advantage than the home team.
"I feel sorry for Duke," Bowden said, "You might have more people there if you bring the (Florida State) band. It works in favor of the other team rather than the home team."
Besides claiming Wallace Wade as their own, the Seminoles, in their short history against the Blue Devils, lead the series 11-0. Of these 11 games, the closest one occurred back in 1997 when Duke lost by only 24 points, 51-27.
Thirdly, Florida State has one of the country's best quarterbacks in Chris Rix. Last week against Colorado, Rix had a career game when he blistered the Buffaloes' defense for 394 yards passing on 30 of 39 attempts. Also, the victory over Colorado gave Bowden career win number 336, moving him two wins behind college football's Division I-A all-time career wins leader,
Penn State head coach Joe Paterno. The Seminoles will be hungry for win number 337 under Bowden this weekend.
Finally, Florida State has one of the nation's top defenses to back up its unbelievable offense. In four games this season, the Seminole defense has held opponents to an average of 7.5 points per game. The Blue Devils have averaged only 16.5 points per game, second to last in the ACC.
"We have to play perfect football," Duke running back Chris Douglas said. "Also, we have to hope the football gods will be with us that day."
Despite looking to the heavens for a miracle, Duke does have some advantages over Florida State.
The Blue Devils have one of the ACC's best pass defenses this year. Granted, Duke has yet to play a truly pass-oriented team, but the secondary has performed well when facing the pass.
The Blue Devil's defense will need to come up big this weekend in stopping Rix and his highly explosive offense. A key factor to the Blue Devils' performance will be the play of safety Terrell Smith who looks to build off of his 10-tackle day against Northwestern last week against the Seminoles this Saturday.
Adding to the Duke effort is Douglas, who leads the ACC this year in rushing with 347 yards in four games for an average of 86.8 yards per game.
In light of Georgia Tech's impressive performance against Florida State two weeks ago, it is clear that the Blue Devils' running attack could be what keeps Duke in this game. The Yellow Jackets, by following a game plan of rushing first, passing second, were able to able to control the play clock in the first half.
By keeping the Seminole offense off the field, Georgia Tech was able to have the lead going into the third quarter.
All in all though, Florida State will probably be the highest ranked team the Blue Devils play this year.
The Seminoles will want to keep their national championship hopes alive; Duke will be looking to overcome an apparently insurmountable challenge.
But as Franks said, "With a big challenge, comes a big opportunity."
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