The Blue Devils' 0-4 start to the season may have critics trying to pick them apart, but the Duke family is committed to sticking together.
Despite the team's struggles, head coach Ted Roof is making sure the Blue Devils do not tear apart by emphasizing the closeness between everyone involved in the program.
"He's been stressing not to worry about the outsiders," tailback Ronnie Drummer said. "We're all one family and a family never breaks apart."
Although the team has lacked success on the scoreboard and in the win column, the Blue Devils insist that they are as determined as ever. Drummer said a loss like Saturday's 37-0 defeat to Virginia sparked fervor within the Duke locker room, and the team hopes to use its emotions as motivation for the rest of the season.
"A lot of people were angry," Drummer said. "I think that should make us all come out and practice even harder and make everyone even madder and make us do well."
A positive attitude and strong motivation, however, may not be enough to fix all of the Blue Devils' problems. Many of the mistakes that plagued Duke Saturday were also present in its other three loses. In order to improve, Roof said the team must eliminate its self-inflicted errors and focus on not beating itself.
"I think that's the reality of life," Roof said. "There is no perfect football game.. But when you practice all week and you don't see [mistakes] on the practice field and then they show up on the game field, you have got to find out why and how. Then, you have to address them and talk through some of those things and get them corrected. And that's what we intend to do."
One of the primary problems from Duke's third shutout loss of the season was the quarterback-center exchange. True freshman quarterback Thaddeus Lewis dropped four snaps Saturday, all resulting in negative-yardage plays. In practice Monday, Roof addressed this problem by specifically working on this aspect of the game.
"Even though [snapping the ball] seems like something simple, something that's like Pop Warner," Drummer said. "Sometimes when you get higher, you don't concentrate on the simple things and the fundamentals."
The Blue Devils remain optimistic because of their successful practices. Despite the lopsided score against the Cavaliers, Duke players said they felt prepared and ready.
Roof said the team's goal is to have one successful practice at a time. This progressive motion throughout the week is meant to ensure that the team remains focused.
"We have eight games left," linebacker Jeramy Edwards said. "It's a long season ahead of us. We play it one day at a time, starting with tomorrow's practice. You can't dwell on what happened in the past. You just have to play now, and then play the next play."
The stress of another potential losing season has Duke trying to fight back its frustrated feelings. Drummer said if the team manages to stay together, things will start to come around for the Blue Devils. To maintain this close-knit family, Duke has refused to point fingers at anyone for its problems this season.
"There's a wide gamut of emotions that we're all feeling," Roof said. "Our team and our coaches, we're not getting into the blame game. Everyone's looking inward and not outward. That's what teams do, and we are a team and we will remain a team."
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