Last season, a disappointing home loss to N.C. State all but quashed Duke’s chances at a bowl bid. This year, the showdown between the in-state rivals provides an opportunity for each team to overcome a slow start to the season.
And while both squads enter Saturday’s 4 p.m. contest at Carter-Finley Stadium after tough losses, Duke (2-3, 0-1 in the ACC) feels it may be playing its best football of the season so far, especially on the offensive side of the ball.
“I feel like we have an energy that we are more confident,” wide receiver Austin Kelly said. “We have confidence in each other. We have confidence in our quarterback. We have confidence in our offensive line. Everybody knows that they are going to make a play when their number is called. That is the mindset you have to have to be successful.”
The Blue Devils’ renewed confidence comes despite a 34-26 loss to then-No. 6 Virginia Tech last weekend. Even though it was more than a two-touchdown underdog to the Hokies, Duke remained within seven points of Virginia Tech for the majority of the game before giving up two late touchdown runs.
Quarterback Thaddeus Lewis had arguably his best performance of the year with 359 yards passing and two touchdowns, while freshman running back Desmond Scott provided a spark in the running game, averaging almost five yards per carry.
N.C. State (3-2, 0-1), meanwhile, lost a 30-24 heartbreaker to Wake Forest in a game the Wolfpack were expected to win. Three turnovers and eight penalties stymied their normally high-powered attack.
While sophomore quarterback Russell Wilson, who has already thrown for 1,244 yards and 14 touchdowns this season, has lived up to expectations, the Wolfpack have yet to live up to the potential that led N.C. State to be a trendy preseason pick to win the conference.
Still, Duke head coach David Cutcliffe knows playing an in-state rival at home could be just the impetus to wake the sleeping Wolfpack.
“I know it is going to be a very intimidating atmosphere over at Carter-Finley,” Cutcliffe said.
Furthermore, Lewis knows that the N.C. State secondary, which allowed Wake Forest quarterback Riley Skinner to throw for 361 yards and three touchdowns last week, will be ready for Duke’s own high-powered passing attack.
“They can correct the things they did wrong last week and come out and play their best game in the secondary this week,” Lewis said. “We have to take what they give us on Saturday.”
But if the Blue Devils are to take advantage of the Wolfpack’s questionable defense, a key cog will be the play of Kelly. After catching only 13 passes all of last season, the junior leads the team with 25 receptions and 299 yards receiving this year.
The veteran’s leadership has helped to shepherd the improvement of younger receivers Donovan Varner, Conner Vernon, and Johnny Williams, all of whom have more than 245 yards receiving. Vernon has been one of the Blue Devils’ big play threats, averaging almost 17 yards per reception.
“Conner, being a freshman coming in, it is a big transition,” Kelly said. “But when his number is called, he has it in his mind that he is going to make a play, and he has been doing that.”
Cutcliffe, though, said Kelly’s own improvement had been the driving force behind Duke’s aerial attack.
“[Austin’s] plight, and he knew it, was his consistency and focus as a player was so average a year ago,” Cutcliffe said. “Austin got his conditioning level much better. When you do that, it seems like your focus and then your consistency becomes an easier thing.”
And for the Blue Devils to get back on the winning track Saturday in a hostile environment, consistency not only from Kelly, but from the entire offense, will be crucial.
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