The 2003 football season began with great promise and ended in triumph. Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, what occurred between the alpha and the omega of the season can be described as nothing short of tumultuous.
Duke returned 22 of its 24 starters from a 2002 team that won two games and lost five games by five or less points to quality opponents and that had many predicting it would head would head to its first bowl game since the 1994 season. The Blue Devils were not shy about sharing this view.
"I feel as though we have the talent and we've got enough older guys to have a really good chance at playing in a bowl game," senior wide receiver Reggie Love said in the preseason.
But as Duke opened its season at Virginia, the gleeful optimism quickly turned to hopeless despair. The Cavaliers embarrassed Duke 27-0, prompting Duke head coach Carl Franks to bench 2002 starting quarterback Adam Smith in favor of redshirt freshman Mike Schneider.
The move proved to be at least a temporary solution, as the Blue Devils won their next two games, albeit to inferior competition. Duke blew out Division I-AA's Western Carolina 29-3 behind 106 rushing yards from senior running back Chris Douglas and then downed Rice 27-24 in overtime thanks to a 34-yard field goal miss by the Owls' Brandon Skeen that ended the game. The Blue Devils had mixed feelings about the win over Rice, as the players were happy to finally win a close game after the many heartbreaks of 2002, but were disappointed that they squandered a 10-point fourth quarter lead.
"I hope there is some confidence building [from the back-to-back wins]," Franks said. "I also sense that we haven't played nearly as well as we're going to need to play or are capable of playing."
Duke looked to have its first 3-1 record since the Hall of Fame Bowl 1994 season against what appeared to be a vulnerable Northwestern team the next week, but the fourth game of the season ended up being the beginning of the end for Franks. The Blue Devils lost the game 28-10 with the Wildcats scoring the last 14 points, while Duke appeared to give in to the relentless Northwestern team.
"It's tough," junior cornerback Kenneth Stanford said. "People are saying 'it's the same old Duke.' And we're not the same team we've been, but people won't know it unless we show it. We haven't done a great job of showing it."
Duke continued to squander its chance to earn a bowl bid, as its schedule became increasingly more difficult; the Blue Devils fell to Florida State 56-7 and to Maryland 33-20 in the next two weeks.
The bottom then fell out on the season in week eight when the Blue Devils trailed the comparably talented Demon Deacons of Wake Forest 42-0 at halftime. This led Duke athletic director Joe Alleva to fire Carl Franks on October 19, the day after the Wake loss.
"Halftime of the game yesterday [against Wake Forest] was the straw that broke the camel's back," Alleva said. "I was a bit disappointed with the Virginia game, I was a bit disappointed with the Northwestern game, and yesterday at halftime, frankly, was embarrassing."
Alleva named defensive coordinator Ted Roof interim head coach, and from that moment on the Blue Devils were a different football team. Roof started his head coaching career with two losses, but both were to highly talented teams--N.C. State and Tennessee--in highly competitive games.
Roof finally willed his players to end their 30-game ACC losing streak against Georgia Tech on November 8th, prompting a raucous celebration from the students that saw one of Wallace Wade's goalposts torn down in honor of Duke's 41-17 victory. Douglas ran for a career-high 218 yards against the Yellow Jackets, as the computer science major arguably benefited from the coaching change more than any other Blue Devil. Douglas ran for over 100 yards in four of the five games Roof coached, allowing the senior to become Duke's all-time leading rusher while being named first-team All-ACC.
Duke concluded its season with a 40-7 loss to Clemson before ending North Carolina's 13-year stranglehold over the Victory Bell. The Blue Devils survived a furious Tar Heel comeback to win 30-22, the first time Duke had defeated North Carolina since 1989. The win provided some vindication for Duke's senior class, as the highly talented group had few wins to prove their the merit of their abilities under Franks.
"I'm so happy for our players," Roof said. "I think it's a true test of their character. We got up, Carolina made a great run; got the momentum back and in the end the heart of the team came out. I'm so happy for our seniors to get a chance to experience this."
A few of the seniors were recognized for their talents by the ACC, as Douglas and defensive end Matt Zielinski were named first-team All-ACC and linebacker Ryan Fowler and defensive back Terrell Smith were named to the league's second team. The Blue Devils were not far away from adding more players to that list, as Alex Wade, the MVP of the 2002 Duke team, was slowed all season long by leg injuries.
The head coaching position for the Blue Devils is still in flux, as it has not been determined if Roof will remain in charge of Duke for the near future. However, it is clear who the players want as their long-term head coach.
"[Roof has] done so much for this team since he took over...give him some more time and he'll do more and more," Fowler said.
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