Since the day I saw the Blue Devils' schedule, I have thought this team can go to a bowl. I know that sounds unrealistic-ludicrous, even-but I have also thought, at times, that this team can go winless. Again: unrealistic, even ludicrous.

And both extrema hinge on Duke's Sept. 6 home game with Northwestern.

Football seasons are naturally segmented. They are divided into games, further into quarters, drives, first downs, even play clocks-which is to say that deeming one of 12 games more important than any other is, at best, not possible, and, at worst, absurd.

But the matchup with the Wildcats is still early enough for us to know, at least somewhat, the mental and physical status of the Blue Devils. Duke will enter the game either riding high having validated the hype that has built since David Cutcliffe's introductory press conference in December, or it will trudge into Wallace Wade having lost, again, to a Division I-AA opponent and, worse, squandered a large chunk of its momentum. There are no in-betweens; Cutcliffe's team will be 1-0, or it will be 0-1.

Northwestern, a Big Ten foe Duke managed to beat in Evanston, Ill., last year, offers the opportunity to further the energy around the football program to heights it hasn't seen since 1994. What's more, if the Blue Devils top James Madison and Northwestern, I firmly believe the snowball effect will boost them to a win over Navy the following week, pushing them into their ACC opener against Virginia after a bye week-a game that will generate the most football buzz since the days of Steve Spurrier. That's three wins, with the potential for more victories against Virginia, Georgia Tech, N.C. State and North Carolina, three of which would result in a likely bowl berth. It's also a monstrous jump-perhaps illogical-but it has made more sense to me every day, especially when I hear Cutcliffe talk about posting 30 points per game.

Then there's the other, uglier scenario.

Should Duke lose this weekend to JMU-which is, of course, a verifiable possibility-it has the chance to salvage its season the next week against Northwestern and maybe even attain the previously mentioned, best-case scenario.

But if the Wildcats avenge last season's outcome after the Blue Devils had surrendered a golden stab at revival the previous week? Then, Cutcliffe will have to make a journey to the Blue Zone to see any students on Saturdays.