The Blue Devils have had a number of breakthroughs in the first two years of the David Cutcliffe era, like winning their first season-opener since 2002 and notching consecutive ACC victories last season. The team, however, has yet to defeat one of its primary in-state rivals—the Demon Deacons.
Saturday, Duke (1-0) gets a chance to exorcise the demons of some agonizing defeats to Wake Forest (1-0) when the two teams meet at BB&T Field at 12:00 p.m. in the first ACC contest of the season.
The Blue Devils haven’t beaten the Demon Deacons in 10 years, despite coming tantalizingly close on many occasions.
Last season, Duke was only down by four at halftime, but Wake Forest blew the game open in the third quarter, cementing the Blue Devils’ 15th consecutive losing season. In 2008, then-sophomore Nick Maggio missed a field goal at the end of regulation that would have given Duke the win, and the Demon Deacons intercepted Thaddeus Lewis at the goal line in overtime to secure the victory. The 2006 meeting between the two teams followed a similar tune as Wake Forest blocked Joe Surgan’s potential game-winning field goal as time expired.
“We know at Duke that every opportunity we have to stop a streak or to win a milestone game, that’s kind of what we’ve had to do,” Cutcliffe said. “We’ve passed a lot of those milestones. Certainly losing to Wake for 10 years is something we have to address. It’s fact. We’re big boys. We’ve got to be able to handle that.”
The Blue Devils will be facing a significantly different Wake Forest team this weekend than the one of the last four years. In past seasons, with four-year starter Riley Skinner directing the offense, the Demon Deacons were a passing juggernaut, scoring over 40 points in two of the teams’ last three meetings. Now, Wake Forest is establishing itself as a fearsome rushing team, having totaled 415 yards on the ground in the season-opener against Presbyterian en route to 53 points.
Duke’s rush defense was exposed against Elon, conceding six yards per carry, and the unit will have its hands full against the Demon Deacons’ mobile quarterbacks.
“They are very difficult to defend,” Cutcliffe said. “Their schemes, their run game, both quarterbacks can run, both quarterbacks can run the option, both quarterbacks can throw.... This is a very physical Wake Forest team, and we’re going to have to be physical on both sides of the ball to have any opportunity to go and have a road win.”
Nevertheless, the Blue Devils had enough of their own offensive firepower in their opener last weekend, particularly in the passing game. Duke has scored 30 points in each of its last three outings against the Demon Deacons, and Sean Renfree and company seem poised to repeat that feat after throwing for 350 yards against the Phoenix. Against a relatively inexperienced Wake Forest secondary, the Blue Devils will have to take full advantage of their ability to throw the ball.
Demon Deacon head coach Jim Grobe expressed concern about facing such a talented offense early in the season.
“You can be on your ‘A’?game and still give up a lot of yards to these guys,” Grobe said. “It starts with the quarterback [Renfree]—he is really special. [Conner] Vernon, [Donovan] Varner and all those receivers are all the real deal. Not only do they have good foot speed and run really good routes, but they also have great hands. I’m really impressed with the quarterback, but you don’t complete 80 percent of your throws without people catching the football.”
With top-ranked Alabama coming to town next weekend, the Blue Devils could use some positive momentum at the start of the season if they are to realize their goal of earning a bowl bid. And if Duke finally breaks its decade-long reign of futility against the Demon Deacons, the team could accomplish another impressive milestone—the first 2-0 start of Cutcliffe’s tenure.
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