2008 Previews: Duke
By Tim Cottrell
Sports Writer/Designer
Published: July 30, 2008
In the “They still have a football team?“ division at Preview No. 52 is Duke. Previews of all 65 BCS conference schools, plus Notre Dame and state schools, will be posted daily in no particular order. To view all previews, click here.
In 1994, Duke started 7-0 in the first year of the Fred Goldsmith era.
Since that moment, the Blue Devils are a whopping 23-129, with four winless seasons and no more than four wins in any season.
Former Ole Miss coach and Tennessee offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe joins the parade of Blue Devils coaches since Steve Spurrier left town, although he’s the first with any proven track record of winning.
And Cutcliffe inherits an experienced team.
Nine starters are back from a defensive unit that wasn’t particularly good last season, but there is reason for optimism. If the defensive line, which returns all four starters, gets some production they’ll have a chance to be relatively stingy.
On offense, the Blue Devils return only five starters, but that’s probably a good thing.
The offense ranked 117th (out of 120) in total offense last season, but returns two experienced quarterbacks in Thad Lewis and Zack Asack, along with high school All-America Sean Renfree (one of the advantages of bringing in a guy like Cutcliffe).
Receiver Eron Riley, who led the ACC in yards per catch, is back to catch passes from whoever wins the job.
Both Phil Steele and Athlon are drinking the Cutcliffeaide, saying Duke could potentially have four wins this season. While they’ll definitely be better, I really have no idea where they think those wins are coming from.
Here’s the schedule:
Aug. 30: James Madison
Well here’s one. (Although James Madison is a pretty good FCS school.)
Sept. 6: Northwestern
The Blue Devils beat the Wildcats in Evanston last year for their only win. I don’t see that happening this year.
Sept. 13: Navy
The Midshipmen will be down without Paul Johnson, but they’re probably still more talented than Duke. Call this one a toss-up.
Sept. 20: Virginia
If the Blue Devils are going to get their first ACC win since that random upset of Clemson in 2004, this is their chance.
Oct. 4: at Georgia Tech
The Yellow Jackets aren’t very good, but they’re good enough to beat Duke.
Oct. 18: Miami
The day I pick Duke to beat Miami in anything other than basketball is the day you should commit me.
Oct. 25: at Vanderbilt
Cutcliffe returns to the state of Tennessee for a beatdown at the hands of the Commodores.
Nov. 1: at Wake Forest
No chance.
Nov. 8: N.C. State
There’s probably a slight chance for an upset here.
Nov. 15: at Clemson
Nope.
Nov. 22: at Virginia Tech
Not happening.
Nov. 29: North Carolina
These two have been on relatively equal footing for a good part of this decade (the Blue Devils nearly won in Chapel Hill last year) but the Tar Heels are on their way up, and are a lot closer to the top than Duke.
There you go. If you can find four wins there I’d love to hear about it. There might be a slight chance of it, but I’m going with 2-10 (maybe 3-9 if they knock off Virginia or N.C. State).
