Last week, Stanford beat Duke 44-14, bringing back some not-so-fond memories of the Alabama game in 2010.
When Duke and Boston College met last year, the Eagles narrowly escaped Wallace Wade Stadium with a 21-16 victory.
In his weekly luncheon with the media, Cutcliffe made a joke when asked about the number of injuries his team has suffered at the running back position.
The Blue Devils have their work cut out for them against Stanford, as they have not beaten a ranked team since November 1994.
Even before the first week of the season, Duke was going to be a double-digit underdog against Stanford.
The fact that Stanford is a top-10 football program, yet Duke would likely not make the AP rankings if they were expanded to seventy-five teams, should be alarming to the Blue Devil faithful.
The missed opportunities in the red zone that plagued the Blue Devils in 2010 returned in their 2011 season opener, as Duke fell short again against Division I-AA opponent Richmond.
It was déjà vu all over again... all over again.
The recent relative success of the football program has brought with it increased hopes, but along with those hopes come increased expectations.
By almost every statistic, Duke’s defense was abysmal last year—the Blue Devils were last in the ACC in rushing yards allowed, passing yards allowed, sacks and interceptions.