The new era of Duke Football has officially begun, but it didn't start when you might have thought.
It didn't begin when fans started to enter the stadium at 5 p.m. for a game that would not ultimately start until 8:30 p.m. It didn't begin when head coach David Cutcliffe came out of the tunnel about 20 minutes into the rain delay, walked over to the student section and pumped up the crowd. It didn't even begin when the Blue Devils put together an impressive 11-play, 66-yard scoring drive on their second possession.
No, the new era of Duke Football started in the third quarter.
Last spring, Cutcliffe did not inherit a team that frequently opened games with horrendous starts-he had one that was famous for fading down the stretch. This habit was put to rest by one word that has been casually discussed ever since Cutcliffe rolled down Tobacco Road: conditioning.
And in its first game, Duke showed a strength in conditioning that has been absent in the Blue Devils for years-and it paced them all the way to victory.
"Our conditioning level has been very much advertised," Cutcliffe said. "You could tell at halftime [we] were ready to go play more. Everything we have designed to do, whether it's our offseason program, our spring scrimmages, our summer work, our camp work is designed to finish better than you started. We make a big deal of that. They have gained confidence in playing in those situations. Certainly, tonight is something to build on."
Duke won the game in the third quarter, when the better-conditioned team became evident, as the Blue Devil offense continued grinding down the field without huddling and the Duke defense made stops and forced turnovers.
After the special teams unit let James Madison open with a 60-yard return all the way to the Blue Devils' 30-yard line, the defense responded immediately. Cornerback Jabari Marshall intercepted opposing quarterback Rodney Landers' third pass attempt of the game and returned it 67 yards to the Dukes' 22-yard line. Six plays later, running back Clifford Harris, with the help of a much-improved and more fit offensive line, converted on third-and-goal from the 1-yard line for his second rushing touchdown of the game. That score gave Duke a 14-point cushion, but the Blue Devils were not about to let up on the pressure.
With the stadium noise level at decibels not heard since the Rolling Stones played at Wallace Wade in 2005, the defense came out and forced another turnover. On James Madison's first offensive play after the Duke touchdown, Landers coughed up the ball when he was hit in the backfield by defensive end Wesley Oglesby. Fellow defensive end Greg Akinbiyi recovered, and the ball was given back to Thaddeus Lewis and the suddenly potent Duke offense. Lewis aired out a 20-yard pass to wide receiver Eron Riley, and for the second straight possession, the Blue Devils had capitalized on the mistakes of their opponent.
Cutcliffe could have easily switched to a conservative play calling strategy to save energy for the week ahead. He could have put in third- and fourth-teamers who might not see action for the rest of the season. But he didn't. Cutcliffe said after the game that he did not feel the team had enough depth to give the starters and regular subs a rest. Good thing the Blue Devils were physically up to the challange.
"We finish," Lewis said. "Coach stressed that all offseason. We actually made it through extra conditioning. The receivers are in better shape than I have ever seen them, and they never gave up, and we finished the game off like we have not been able to in past years."
The final third quarter stats read like they could have been lifted from any top-25 team. Duke scored 17 unanswered points, forced two turnovers and gained 44 yards on the ground, which is more than it gained in their entire games against Connecticut, Florida State, Clemson and Georgia Tech last year. It did not allow the Dukes to earn a first down until there was 1:58 left on the game clock. All this points to an increase in performance on both sides of the ball. Anytime the defense forces turnovers in the second half, a coach knows his team is still fresh.
The attitude-and defining trait-of the new era also extended after the game. There was no celebratory goal-post teardown for the first home win in three years. There was no Super Bowl-type midfield celebration. Instead, there was an unpracticed embrace with the fans, who, like the players, could get used to this kind of celebration.
A couple of players even had the energy to make the Wallace Wade edition of the Lambeau Leap into the front row of fans.
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