Those who showed up to Wallace Wade Stadium for Duke's season-opener against Elon last Saturday could be forgiven for not recognizing the place.
Coach David Cutcliffe said that it was certainly something he had never seen in his three years as the Blue Devils' head coach. The weather was picture perfect, there was electricity in the air all during Duke's 41-27 victory, and the energized crowd of 33,941 arrived early and stayed late. Some stayed later than late.
"It was awesome," Cutcliffe said. "It was a sellout crowd, and we had people in the stadium early. It was a fantastic night weatherwise. Good gosh. I have personally in 35 years of coaching never experienced an opening Labor Day weekend game like that. Just a perfect night.
"I left here I guess about midnight, a little afterward, and there were still a lot of activity on campus, a lot of people around. I got in here about 6:30 (Sunday) morning, and I think there were still some stragglers. I saw a few people who it looked, as I was on my way in, they were on their way out. I thought that was kind of comical.
"But I think they had a good time, and it was a good crowd and a fun crowd."
With Duke planning to add almost 4,000 seats for its visit from Alabama on Sept. 18, the Blue Devils certainly have the look of a program in ascendency. But a better indicator of that will come between the holiday atmosphere of last week and the much-anticipated arrival of the Crimson Tide.
On Saturday, Duke will play at Wake Forest, which has won 10 straight in the series. The last three games in Winston-Salem were decided by a total of six points, with the most recent game going to overtime. But Duke hasn't defeated Wake Forest since it almost derailed the Deacons' bowl hopes with a 48-35 victory in Durham in 1999.
Duke has something to prove to Wake Forest and to itself, a recognition that is not lost on anybody.
"I know Duke wants this just as bad as we do," senior Alex Frye of Wake Forest said. "They haven't been to a bowl game in however long (since 1994), and they haven't beaten us in however long.
"And I know that's on the top of their list."
Cutcliffe and Coach Jim Grobe of Wake Forest -- whose Deacons opened with a 51-13 victory over Presbyterian last Thursday -- are preaching the same sermon this week. For all the satisfaction with winning big on opening night, much work remains for the team that wants to open the ACC schedule with a victory.
The Deacons amassed 509 yards against the Blue Hose, scored four touchdowns on plays of at least 34 yards and led 35-7 by halftime. But they also twice failed to pick up first downs on third and 1, gave up two long touchdown passes and allowed Presbyterian to grind its way to 18 first downs.
"We played terrible," junior Kyle Wilber of Wake Forest said. "No disrespect to Presbyterian. They're a good team and everything. But we played terrible.
"On defense, we gave up too much yardage. We didn't put enough pressure. We let them score. We're always trying to pitch a shutout. I think our defense has the ability to pitch shutouts vs. anybody, but we've got to cut out all the mental mistakes and play disciplined."
Duke, getting an impressive first start from quarterback Sean Renfree (31 of 39 for 350 yards), piled up 542 yards and 32 first downs. But the Blue Devils never established the kind of running game that Cutcliffe wants to see, and their defense allowed the Phoenix to pick up 24 first downs.
"All this is just one football game," Cutcliffe said. "So if you don't get better fast you're going to struggle.
"But we've got a chance to get better fast because we do have some athletes."
dcollins@wsjournal.com
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