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believe it: Duke wins second straight in ACC
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Published: October 25, 2009
DURHAM -- The rain came and went and came again.
The wind blew, and half the crowd blew out of Wallace Wade Stadium before halftime. The ball slipped in the quarterbacks' hands and glanced off the receivers' fingers.
It was a good day to punt.
For Duke -- surging Duke -- the last punt turned out the best, sealing the 17-13 win over Maryland.
With the clock ticking below 2 minutes and momentum shifting, Kevin Jones' punt descended only 29 yards from the scrimmage line. Maryland's Tony Logan hurried forward at his own 20, trying to field the ball cleanly in heavy traffic. He didn't. The ball squirted loose, and Duke end Brandon King recovered.
The Blue Devils' second straight ACC victory -- nobody has uttered the phrase in 15 years -- raised the record to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in the league. The win also raised bowl hopes with savvy scouts from the Atlanta and Orlando bowls watching.
Based on NCAA definitions, Duke has only three wins out of the six necessary to qualify for any bowl. That's because N.C. Central, making the transition from Division II to the second level of Division I, doesn't count. The Blue Devils need three wins in five games (Virginia, North Carolina and Miami on the road, Georgia Tech and Wake Forest at home).
However remote, the bowl prize represents a sweet carrot fueling the Duke motor.
"There's that mountain," King said. "You're climbing that mountain, but you have to know what's at the top. That bowl game's at the top, but you've still got to take every game as it is."
Coach David Cutcliffe seemed unsure how to measure Duke's balance sheet. He was ecstatic about expectations of success evident down the stretch but irritated about 12 penalties, a paltry running attack (28 carries for 23 yards) and an absurd 67-yard Maryland touchdown on Davin Meggett's meandering run with a screen pass. That slapstick play gave the Terps (2-6, 1-3 ACC) a chance with nearly 20 minutes left, but neither team scored again.
Not at their best
"I think that's a step in the right direction, there's no doubt, when we're not at our best but can compete and win," Cutcliffe said.
"But you're also playing a Maryland team that's also wondering about what they can do. They're a great program, but they're having one of those tough years, so I don't know how much stock to put in it."
Cutcliffe put two weeks into preparing for the Terps after pounding N.C. State 49-28. The extra time didn't produce perfection. Maybe you could blame the weather. Mottled clouds whisked overhead during warm-ups, depositing a few drops on the 24,650 spectators, but the rain intensified.
"It would stop for a little bit, get clearer, and you'd feel good," King said.
"And then it would start pouring. My cleats were flooded. Every step, I was squishing around with my feet. My socks were soaked. I was constantly looking for a dry towel. You weigh an extra 10 pounds because of all the rain on you, but sometimes those games are kind of fun."
If you're young and competitive. The heavier rain ended the fun for thousands of umbrella-toting fans as the second quarter started, and the exodus continued through halftime.
"I know a lot of people left," Cutcliffe said, "and it would be hard to blame anybody because of the weather. It just worsened and worsened and worsened. But there were a lot of people there to start with, a great crowd. The dadgum folks that stayed there? You couldn't tell anybody left. Their energy was phenomenal. ... You know who was believing we could win, too? The crowd. When's the last time they believed we could win in that situation? That may be a bigger change than anything that occurred."
It's change, all right, but the biggest change is the simplest change: Duke wins again.
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