For some of Duke's players, the Blue Devils' four-game road trip lasted so long that they seemingly forgot where the stadium was.
"Somebody's got to get out there and show us how to get back [to Wallace Wade]," junior running back Re'quan Boyette said.
After four weeks spent in buses, planes and hotels, Duke is glad to finally return home after going 1-3 on the team's longest road trip this century.
The road games gave the players an opportunity to focus especially hard on football since they did not have any of the extra distractions that often arise from being home.
"You don't have the large amount of ticket requests, and you don't have people coming to stay at your dorm or your apartment," head coach Ted Roof said. "You just get on a bus or a plane, then you sit in a hotel and go play football."
The focus translated onto the field, as the Blue Devils won their first game since 2005 and stayed competitive in their three losses. In its 24-14 loss at Miami Saturday, Duke also produced its most effective running output of the year, gaining 120 yards on the ground. Nine quarterback sacks dropped the Blue Devils' total rushing yards for the game down to 61.
Boyette, the Blue Devils' leading rusher through five games with 160 net yards rushing, said that the improvement could be attributed to a change in attitude on the part of the backfield.
"We had such high expectations and maybe we had too much pride," Boyette said. "The first few weeks really humbled us and showed us we still have to go out and play. There's always work to be done, and nothing's going to be perfect."
While nothing may ever be perfect, Duke hopes to carry its road success back to Wallace Wade this weekend against Wake Forest. The Blue Devils are looking for their first home win since they defeated Division I-AA VMI 40-14 in 2005.
Duke, however, is looking to avoid a repeat of what happened in its last home game. In the season opener against Connecticut, the Blue Devils led 14-11 before giving up 34 unanswered points after the intermission in what Roof called the team's worst half of the season.
Duke, however, is confident that a much-improved team will take the field Saturday for its second home game, prepared to deliver a win to its devoted fan base.
"We haven't won a home football game in a while," Roof said. "We've had a lot of people hang in there for a while, and it'd be nice to get a win for our fans that have been so loyal through this time."
Projected attendance at Saturday's game, though, is difficult to gauge. With fall break coming up, most students will head home for the long weekend. Nevertheless, the players know they cannot rely on the crowd to help them get a win.
"Even if there's just 5,000 fans in the stands, we have to bring some type of motivation for ourselves," junior cornerback Glenn Williams said.
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