At this time last year, the Blue Devil football team was on its way to a 7-0 start.
Now just 12 months later, Duke is diving to a 2-3 record.
What a difference a year makes.
In what could be the pivotal game of the season for head coach Fred Goldsmith's troops, Duke (0-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) entertains Georgia Tech (2-2 overall, 1-1 in the ACC) in a Saturday homecoming matchup in Wallace Wade Stadium.
The Blue Devils are coming off consecutive defeats, including the worst performance of the Goldsmith era against an overmatched Navy squad last Saturday. The Midshipmen won that contest handily, 30-9.
"We were extremely disappointed with our football game last Saturday," Goldsmith said. "We've had to get that behind us and prepare for a very good Georgia Tech team, one that is much improved over a year ago."
Improved is the key word to describe the Yellow Jackets.
Last year, the Jackets self-destructed, failing to defeat a single Division I-A opponent en route to a final 1-10 record. In what many Duke players and coaches have termed the defining game of last season, the Blue Devils stormed into Atlanta and wrestled a convincing 27-12 win from Georgia Tech. The Jackets coughed up six turnovers in what became an exercise in futility. That game--the first road test of the year against a Tech team that had not yet bottomed out--helped to vault the Blue Devils to 4-0 and into the top 25 two weeks later.
But the Yellow Jackets, in head coach George O'Leary's first full year at the helm, have already made great strides to exorcise the bad memories of last year.
In the second week of this season, Georgia Tech had a solid Arizona team on the ropes for most of that contest before falling 20-19. The Jackets may have finally turned the corner last week with a 31-3 shellacking of ACC rival Maryland--the Yellow Jackets' first win over a Division I-A opponent since a November 13, 1993 win at Wake Forest.
"I think [that win against Maryland] was something that was needed, not just for the players, but for the program and the school and the city of Atlanta," O'Leary said. "What it did for our players was to show that through good practice and hard work, eventually things are going to work out how they should work out."
That performance should worry the Duke coaching staff tremendously. The Terrapins were coming off a 41-28 win over Duke when they headed to Bobby Dodd stadium. Despite a quarterback controversy before the game, the Terps proved outmatched in every phase of the game--only five days after dominating the Blue Devils.
With a faltering ground attack--witness last week's measly 17 yards rushing--Duke has had to rely on the arm of senior quarterback Spence Fischer to propel the offense. And as the Blue Devils' record demonstrates, that just hasn't been too successful.
"We're not as bad as what statistics show," Goldsmith said. "We are looking at some things. If we're healthy on defense, we'll be able to execute a good plan. Hopefully, we'll be healthier this Saturday and it'll give us a better chance."
Healthy personnel should prove to be the difference on Saturday.
The Blue Devils will be without several key players, including sophomore back Joe Opalenick and sophomore punt returner Adam Geis. Senior tight end Bill Khayat and senior linebacker John Zuanich will play, but are still feeling the effects of injury.
Whereas the Blue Devils are desperate to find a suitable replacement for 1994 ACC Player of the Year Robert Baldwin, and to plug the many holes created by injury, the Yellow Jackets are finally on the upswing after a forgetful year.
Gone is quarterback Tommy Luginbill. He's been replaced by former starter Donnie Davis. Davis, who had been the starting quarterback two years ago, has done a solid job of guiding the once-hapless Ramblin' Wreck through the first weeks of this season.
Against Maryland last week, he completed 17-of-23 passes for 150 yards in what O'Leary has termed his "most complete game" of the season.
"Of the four games that we've played, it was probably the game where he was in control," O'Leary said. I saw him making some plays. I feel it really helped him from a confidence level. I did see him step up a level last game and he needs to do that for us to be successful."
Helping ease the burden on Davis is the exemplary play of tailback C.J. Williams. Unlike the Blue Devils, who have had up-and-down games from sophomore running back Laymarr Marshall, Williams has provided a constant threat for the Yellow Jackets. His 131.7 yards per game average is tops in the ACC.
"They are playing more aggressively on the offensive side," Goldsmith said. "They have a hard-nosed approach to the game. They have a great running back in C.J. Williams and a very good offensive line. So we've got our work cut out for us."
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