Most major schools around the country can treat a week one matchup against a Division I-AA opponent like an NFL preseason game and still cover the spread.
For Duke, Saturday's 7 p.m. contest in Wallace Wade Stadium against I-AA powerhouse James Madison is quite the opposite.
In fact, it's virtually a must-win game.
Since his hiring last December, head coach David Cutcliffe has breathed life into a previously deflated football program, elevating Duke from its consistent laughing-stock status to a level of expectations not seen since the early 1990s. And they haven't even played a game yet, making this weekend's opener all the
more crucial.
"Thank goodness there are expectations. I like that," Cutcliffe said. "I've never been afraid of expectations. I've always believed that if you don't go in expecting to do well, you generally will not. We welcome that challenge. All we can do is take that challenge on at full speed, but it's a very appropriate challenge. People are expecting more."
Simply put, a win, and the Blue Devils are off to the 1-0 start they're supposed to attain. A loss, and like a punch to the gut, the air would all at once be sucked from the program and the lungs of its supporters.
And James Madison is no pushover. Cutcliffe referred to Rodney Landers, the Dukes' quarterback, as the "Tim Tebow of Division I-AA" and credited their defense with having "extremely good tacklers." That could be bad news for a Duke team that lost its starting running back Re'quan Boyette to a knee injury and has yet to settle on a firm replacement.
But despite the mounting pressure of Duke's first should-win game since the last time it faced a Division I-AA opponent-a 13-0 shutout loss against Richmond in 2006-the Blue Devils are going in with the confidence that this Saturday should be the first of several wins this season. And like every other positive change this program has undergone over the last nine months, it all stems from Cutcliffe.
"He'll let you know that if we're not energetic and motivated, it's his fault," third-year starting quarterback Thaddeus Lewis said. "He's going to tell you, 'You're either going to get on my level, and you can get motivated like how I'm motivated, or you can do your own thing.'
"He knows what he's talking about; we don't know what we're talking about. So with his track record and everything that he's accomplished, who are we to go against what he's saying. Basically, what he says, we should do."
The Blue Devils' no-huddle, pro-style attack should give James Madison headaches. Even without Boyette, Lewis has the weaponry to pick apart the Dukes' secondary with the help of one of the ACC's best receiving corps, led by senior wideout Eron Riley.
But it will be important for Duke to get off to a good start. The players' confidence has been be building since Cutcliffe's arrival, but it remains to be seen whether they possess the fortitude to overcome adversity. An early touchdown the other way off a punt return or a turnover could revert the Blue Devils back into their "Oh no, not again" mentality of the last three seasons.
It's that beast of a thing called momentum. Duke fans saw what wonders it could do too many times in the Ted Roof Era when fourth-quarter chances turned into heartbreaking losses. Perhaps the most wrenching loss came two years ago when the Blue Devils squandered numerous opportunities to run away from Wake Forest in Winston Salem, yet still had a chance to win it at the end. Of course, they didn't. The Demon Deacons blocked the kick, went on to win the ACC championship and earn a BCS berth, and the Blue Devils didn't win a single game all season.
Over the last several years, Duke has championed the art of the almost-win, but Cutcliffe believes his team is finally ready to get over the hump.
"We're not the most talented team in the league by any stretch of the imagination," Cutcliffe said. "But we have enough talent to be a good football team, and when you are a good football team you carry the game into the fourth quarter and find a way to win games."
If Duke has its way, the game will be safely in the win column before the fourth quarter even begins. But if not, everyone knows what the Blue Devils must do.
At this point, there's really no other option.
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