Game day in Durham

This Saturday is game day in Wallace Wade, and as Blue Devil fans from across the country converge onto campus to cheer on our team, some key differences will be noticeable.

Wallace Wade has undergone one of its largest renovation projects since it was built in 1929. A lowered field and increased seating will give all fans a better view of the field. But the changes apparent on Saturday will be more than just physical. The Blue Devil team who will surge onto the field just before kick-off against our Bull City rival, North Carolina Central University, is also different. When the class of 2016 entered their freshman year, David Cutcliffe’s team was scraping the bottom of the ACC. They had won only a handful of games over the course of three seasons and were struggling to maintain any relevancy among a basketball-centric student body. But as our campus has made significant leaps and bounds since then, so has our football team.

Cutcliffe’s Blue Devil squad has gone to a bowl game three times in a row, determined for a fourth. They’ve overcome ACC rivals at home and pulled off upsets on the road, leading them to a bid for the ACC championship in 2013. Cutcliffe’s efforts have re-energized the football culture at Duke, attracting national attention and local awe, as Duke fans pour into Wallace Wade in the hopes of catching a win.

However much Cutcliffe has helped bring the blue devils into the spotlight, there is still a key piece of the puzzle missing for his teams. It’s not a new quarterback or a new offensive tactic but something more tangible — student support.

This is clearly something that Duke students are very able and very talented at doing. Duke’s basketball culture helped propel Duke into the national spotlight, entrenching the fans, the atmosphere and the school in history. That same passion exhibited every winter in Cameron is what the football team needs to elevate themselves to the next level. What Duke football needs is your buy-in.

DSG has done their best over the past few years to help increase student turnout but have faltered nonetheless. However, this year we are offering what we think is the best solution to date, but first we need your help to make it a success.

DevilsGate 2.0 starts at 3:30 PM on Saturday. You’ll notice a few key changes from past events, including a location change to the main quad. DSG has worked with many campus groups over the past few months to help secure support and attendance for this new development. We have a new organization — the Gatekeepers — who will help to carry out DevilsGate and lead the student section in Wallace Wade.

We have reached a time when many students on campus feel fragmented, and we believe events like DevilsGate can help develop a strong community that all Duke students are welcome to. We invite you to join us Saturday for free food, music, fanfare, frockets and most importantly to invest yourself in our football team.