Our college football countdown stays in the ACC and visits Duke, where the football team is perennially an after-thought. Will a talented offense mostly in tact from last season put the defensively-challenged Blue Devils on the map?
2010 Record: 3-9
2010 Skinny: Duke’s defense was atrocious last season. It allowed 35.4 points per game and gave up an eye-popping amount of yards in most games. Like, say, contests against Wake Forest (500 yards), Alabama (626) and Virginia (643). The Devils’ D also gave up 406 yards to Elon. It’s so bad it deserves its own sentence. But somehow, Duke stayed in games; it suffered five setbacks by 10 points or less (four of those were by six or less). The Devils’ three losses to end the season came by a combined 20 points. You can thank their passing offense, which finished second in the ACC.
Returning Starters: 14
Coach: David Cutcliffe (fourth season, 12-24)
Key Players: QB Sean Renfree, WR Conner Vernon, WR Donovan Varner
2011 Schedule:
Sept. 3 vs. Richmond
Sept. 10 vs. Stanford
Sept. 17 @ Boston College
Sept. 24 vs. Tulane
Oct. 1 at vs. Florida International
Oct. 15 vs. Florida State
Oct. 22 vs. Wake Forest
Oct. 29 vs. Virginia Tech
Nov. 5 @ Miami
Nov. 12 @ Virginia
Nov. 19 vs. Georgia Tech
Nov. 26 @ North Carolina
Anthony’s Take: David Cutcliffe has won 12 games in three seasons at Duke, the best stretch by a Blue Devils coach since Steve Spurrier went 20-13-1 from 1987-89. Cutcliffe has done it like Spurrier might – with an explosive offense led by a talented quarterback. Sean Renfree is that man under center, and he threw for 3,131 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2010. Some improvement from Renfree and the continued steady hand of Cutcliffe – who’s famous for tutoring Peyton Manning – may land Duke five or six wins. Hey, it’s an improvement.
Jim’s Take: You think Cutcliffe is regretting the fact he didn’t take the Tennessee job before last season? Last year’s 3-9 campaign was painful as Duke finished 109th in points against. The Dookies have plenty of offense to work with but they aren’t going to win games until the defense is turned around. Needless to say, defensive coordinator Jim Knowles doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence after his first year on the job and a woeful tenure as the head coach of Cornell before that. The offense – especially the passing attack – can hang with anyone in the ACC and with a soft early schedule, the Blue Devils will compete and could even steal a game from an ACC power. But expect the school’s postseason drought dating back to 1995 to continue.
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College Football’s FBS 120 Countdown
#120: New Mexico
#119: Memphis
#118: San Jose State
#117: Akron
#116: New Mexico State
#115: Buffalo
#114: UNLV
#113: Western Kentucky
#112: North Texas
#111: Louisiana-Lafayette
#110: Eastern Michigan
#109: Colorado State
#108: Tulane
#107: Central Michigan
#106: Kent State
#105: Rice
#104: Florida Atlantic
#103: Ball State
#102: UAB
#101: UTEP
#100: Bowling Green
#99: Utah State
#98: Louisiana-Monroe
#97: Wyoming
#96: Marshall
#95: Indiana
#94: Kansas
#93: Louisiana Tech
#92: Vanderbilt
#91: Minnesota
#90: Washington State
#89: Wake Forest
