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Duke Opens ACC Play on the Road Against Wake Forest
9/10/2010 10:30:00 AM | Football
DURHAM, N.C. - Saturday's noon tilt at Wake Forest will be the earliest that head coach David Cutcliffe has gotten into conference play since his arrival as the Blue Devil head coach, but the third year head coach has plenty past experience in early big games.
"I have been involved, my entire career, with early big games," Cutcliffe said. "At Tennessee we always played Florida early, prior to that it was Auburn. At Ole Miss we had conference games early, either Vanderbilt or Alabama, somebody would be early in the season. If you are not careful and you lose one of those games, it can blow up in your face."
You have to go back to 2007 for the last time Duke faced a conference opponent (Virginia) during the second week of the season. That game though didn't have the implications that follow this Saturday's matchup in Winston-Salem.
"I think both teams realize we are kicking off ACC play," Cutcliffe said. "It is a huge game. It is a rival game. The kids are going to be pumped. I don't think you have to make a big deal about it, more than what it is already going to exist just because it's Duke and Wake Forest."
The 2007 Duke squad entered that season following a winless 2006 campaign and a season opening loss at home to Connecticut. The current Blue Devils' enter Saturday following a five win 2009 season, the most for Duke since 1994, and a season-opening home win over Elon.
The expectations for this current Duke team ,whose sights are set on their first bowl berth since 1994, greatly outweigh the expectations from that 2007 team.
A win over in-state and conference rival Wake Forest, who has taken the last 10 contests from the Blue Devils, would be a momentous step in fulfilling that goal.
"There's is no hiding behind rivalries and streaks, 10 in a row is a streak," Cutcliffe said. "It's a pretty serious one. I have been a part of a few of those where you had to break those streaks and then often times if you do it and play your cards right, you start one yourself."
Luckily for Duke, Cutcliffe has been setting new trends for the Duke football since his arrival in 2008.
"There are a lot of those milestones that we have gone past," Cutcliffe said. "There are many still out in front of us. Winning an ACC game was one that doesn't sound like it needs to be one but it was. Then winning one on the road and then winning consecutive games and now certainly winning our rival games and being able to beat Wake Forest and being able to put some streaks together in a positive manner instead of the negative. All those things you better face them head on and don't deny them. It is part of what we have to do to grow as a program."
Duke came out of its season-opening win over the Elon Phoenix relatively healthy, which will help against a physical Wake Forest squad that is significantly different on offense from years past.
"This is a very physical Wake Forest team, and we're going to have to be physical on both sides of the ball to have any opportunity to go and have a road win," Cutcliffe said.
"We had, what I would call, a high contact practice [Tuesday morning], to prepare for the running game were going to be up against," he added. You can't get ready for that kind of run game, and that kind of defensive pressure, not hitting. So we went onto the practice field with that mentality. From my perspective, it was really good work. I thought the physical-ness of practice was a good thing."
The Demon Deacons will pose a greater threat than that of the Phoenix, who the Blue Devils were able to accumulate 542 yards of total offense against.
Redshirt sophomore Sean Renfree led the way completing 31 passes for 350 yards and two touchdowns in his first career start.
"This was what the whole off-season was, the preparation and everything," sophomore wide receiver Conner Vernon said. "Sean [Renfree] had us out there all the time just getting in sync with him because he knew it was his time. He knew that this year was strictly on his shoulders and he went out there and proved [Saturday night] what he could do.
Vernon led the receiving corps with 10 catches and 129 yards, which topped his eight catch 93 yard performance against the Demon Deacons last season.
Another performance like that will go a long way in helping the Blue Devils get off to their first 2-0 start under Cutcliffe.
"Jumping right into conference play changes a lot of things," Cutcliffe said. "This score goes on your record twice, which is what I have explained to the guys. So it's important."
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