While Georgia Tech’s recent domination of Duke is historic in its scope, it can be safely assumed that coach Paul Johnson isn’t getting the scores of the annual conquests tattooed on his biceps.
Duke, it perhaps need not be emphasized, has had a way of losing.
That said, the Blue Devils have inched up on Tech and the rest of the ACC. When the two teams meet Saturday in Durham, N.C., Duke will be in the market for a statement game. While the Blue Devils will be without quarterback Anthony Boone, who fractured his collarbone in Saturday’s win over Memphis and is out indefinitely, Tech will probably get a better test of the program’s fitness than most fans may realize.
Said Johnson, “I think they’ve been competitive for a while.”
That’s indicated in the results since Johnson and Duke coach David Cutcliffe were hired within days of each other in December 2007. The Jackets won in 2008 and 2009 by a combined 76-10. The most recent three Duke-Tech games, though, all of them Yellow Jacket victories, have been decided in the fourth quarter.
Last year, the Blue Devils went to their first bowl game since 1994. This season, with wins over N.C. Central and Memphis, Duke is 2-0 for the first time since 1998. One of the next steps that Cutcliffe wants the team to take is to compete for an ACC title.
“That’s what the goal is,” Cutcliffe said last week. “They’ve got to believe that. Nobody else really believes it, but the most important (people) who believe it is the players. And I certainly do.”
Beating Tech would be an attention-getter. The Jackets have defeated the Blue Devils in their past nine games, as well as 17 of the past 18. Tech’s nine-game winning streak over Duke is its longest over any ACC team since the Jackets joined the conference in 1983.
A win for the Blue Devils would be a foothold in a wall that they have been unable to clear in years. Beginning in 2005, when the ACC split into two divisions, Duke lost 29 consecutive games against Coastal Division opponents Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Miami and North Carolina.
The Blue Devils finally broke through against one of their Coastal tormentors last year with a win over North Carolina, Duke’s first win over the rival Tar Heels since 2003. They’ve also had close calls against each of the other three.
That’s not to say the Blue Devils were exactly titans against the rest of the ACC; they were 0-8 in the league from 2005-2007. But since Cutcliffe’s arrival, the Blue Devils are a not-terrible 8-12 against the rest of the conference. The 1-19 mark in the same time span against the Hokies, Jackets, Tar Heels and Hurricanes, though, underscores their struggle.
“I see us every day in practice. I know who we recruited,” Cutcliffe said. “We’ve continued to get better each year we’ve been here. … There’s no question we’ve gone (up) a lot of levels, we’ve taken a lot of steps.”
In two games, albeit against lesser opponents, Duke has allowed one touchdown while on defense. N.C. Central and Memphis were a combined 8-for-32 (.250) on third downs. Cutcliffe said the defensive line is the best in his tenure. Preseason All-ACC cornerback Ross Cockrell stalks the secondary.
“They look to be playing faster on film (from the) first game, for sure,” Johnson said last week. “I’ll tell you more after we play them.”
The loss of Boone, though, is significant. After the graduation of quarterback Sean Renfree (now on the Falcons’ injured-reserve list), Cutcliffe assembled an option scheme to take advantage of Boone’s running ability. The Duke offense will now be led by Brandon Connette, whose previous distinction was being a versatile player who played not only quarterback but also running back, wide receiver, special teams and even safety on defense.
“We’ll have a plan that fits Brandon’s needs, but we’re not going to change who we are, because, the other players, you can only learn ’em so much,” Cutcliffe said in his Sunday night teleconference.
