"Take me to another place, take me to another land," goes the refrain to Arrested Development's 1990's hit song Tennessee. While the Blue Devils blasted music in their practices this week in preparation for the communication disruptions the 104,079 fans will inevitably create inside of Leyland Stadium, Duke (2-6) hopes to be singing a far different tune after its 4 p.m. matchup with Tennessee (5-2) Saturday in Knoxville.
"When you go out in front of that many people, you want to prove that you can play football," said wide receiver Khary Sharpe, who thinks the large crowd will help the Blue Devils more than it will hurt them.
"Regardless of what people say, Duke is a good football team. We're excited to go down there and show off."
Duke will have a difficult time impressing the crowd in Knoxville, as the national powerhouse is ranked in the top 25 yet again this season. The Volunteers are led by 6-foot-4 senior quarterback Casey Clausen, who has thrown for 1,581 yards and 15 touchdowns in seven games this season. While Clausen has no clear-cut star in his receiving corps, the balanced air attack has 10 speedy players that are all legitimate threats at any given moment. Six-foot-three sophomore James Banks leads the group with 30 receptions and six touchdowns so far this season, though he does not start.
Tennessee head coach Philip Fulmer hopes to use his considerable options to expose the Blue Devil secondary, which gave up 369 passing yards to N.C. State last week.
The Volunteers are looking to use the Duke game as a catalyst for the rest of their season, as Tennessee was hoping for a smoother ride in 2003. After a disappointing 8-5 record in 2002, which included an embarrassing 30-3 loss to Maryland in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Volunteer fans felt 2003 would be more like the glory days.
Tennessee has had two surprising losses to Auburn and Georgia this season, and the Volunteers have needed overtime to down mediocre South Carolina and Alabama squads.
"We have five big weeks of football that will really determine the success of this season, starting with Duke," Fulmer said. "As I told the team yesterday, this is the time of year we must continue to improve."
The low-scoring Blue Devils may be able to get their offense going this week, as the Volunteers give up nearly 25 points per game. Duke, however, will have a tough time matching Tennessee's passing and running offense (146.7 rushing yards per game).
"We have a heck of a challenge this week," Duke head coach Ted Roof said.
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