When Duke looks into the mirror to find answers on how to improve itself, the reflection may closely resemble this week's opponent Vanderbilt.
Like Duke (0-7), Vanderbilt is also a private school fighting for attention in a major conference, and that may serve as hope for the winless Blue Devils. Although the Commodores (3-5) are not a powerhouse team, they are consistently competitive and even have graduated players like quarterback Jay Cutler, who was chosen 11th in last spring's NFL Draft.
Vanderbilt head coach Bobby Johnson said he knows what it's like to be a small fish in a big pond.
"My hat is off to those guys," Johnson said about Duke. "They battle over there in a tough league, and we battle over here in a tough league. I have respect for them, believe me."
Duke head coach Ted Roof said one of the most important aspects of building a solid program like Vanderbilt's is developing mature players, which can be measured by a team's redshirting policies.
Both Vanderbilt and Duke have nearly 100 players on their rosters, but the Commodores have 63 redshirted players compared to the Blue Devils' nine. Although Duke's young squad has presented problems for some of its opponents this season, it has not been able to secure a win yet.
Last Saturday against Miami, the Blue Devils had their second chance at a last-second victory this year-the other came in a 14-13 loss to Wake Forest in week two-but failed to convert on the game's final play. Nevertheless, Duke hopes to continue the momentum of its impressive second-half performance against the Hurricanes, when the Blue Devils lost 20-15 and fell just short of erasing a 17-0 halftime deficit.
"We've got to find a way to dial that back up and build on that," Roof said. "I said it after the game, 'This team can still be a good football team.' We've showed it for periods of games-even most of some games-but we need to play a complete ballgame like that and we have a chance to win."
Roof said playing a complete game means eliminating breakdowns and avoiding mistakes, something that may prove difficult against a talented Commodore squad. Vanderbilt has averaged two takeaways per game this season, while the Blue Devils have committed 23 turnovers-15 giveaways and eight failed fourth down conversions-through seven games.
"They're first in the SEC [in takeaways], which gets back to our issue of ball security and honoring the football," Roof said. "We know they're going to be sound and they're not going to beat themselves."
Similar to the Blue Devils' situation with Thaddeus Lewis, Vanderbilt starts a first-year-starting quarterback in redshirt sophomore Chris Nickson. The dual-threat sophomore, who replaced Cutler, has passed for 994 yards so far this season while also running for more than 500 and scoring four touchdowns on the ground.
Roof said Duke's defense needed to stay disciplined in order to stop Nickson and the rest of Vanderbilt's offense.
"Their quarterback is really mobile and makes a lot of things happen," Roof said. "We've got to do a good job of slowing him down."
With 16 career interceptions, senior cornerback John Talley is a key factor in Duke's ability to pressure the quarterback. He is also one pick away from being in sole possession of the Duke record for career interceptions and five away from holding the ACC record outright.
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