Duke To Open 2001 Football Season With Florida State - Duke University

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Duke Kicks Off 89th Season Of Intercollegiate Football: Duke enters its 89th season of intercollegiate football, and holds an all-time record of 434-379-31 ... Football was introduced at Duke by Dr. John Crowell, who coached then Trinity College to victories in its first two games ever -- wins of 16-0 and 25-17 over North Carolina in 1888 ... After the 1894 season, football was banned at Duke by the Board of Trustees, but returned in high form in 1920 when Floyd Egan guided the team to a 4-0-1 ledger.

Duke Vs. Florida State: Duke begins the 2001 season by hosting nine-time defending ACC Champion Florida State ... The game marks the season opener for both squads ... The Blue Devils posted an overall record of 0-11 in 2000 while the Seminoles went 11-2, captured the ACC title and fell, 13-2, in the Orange Bowl to eventual national champion Oklahoma ... The Blue Devils and Seminoles have met just nine times, with Florida State coming out on top each time ... The series began in 1992 when Florida State joined the ACC ... The two teams have met twice in Durham, with Florida State picking up a 45-7 win in 1993 and a 51-27 victory in 1997 ... Last season, the Seminoles posted a 63-14 win in Tallahassee.

Eyeing The Schedule: Duke's 11 opponents posted a combined record of 70-58 last season, with six of those teams -- Clemson, Florida State, Maryland, N.C. State, Northwestern and Virginia playing in postseason bowl games ... Duke's 1999 schedule ranked as the ninth-toughest in the nation by the Sagarin Computer, while last year's ledger was rated as the 18th hardest.

Season Openers: Duke enters 2001 with a 53-32-3 all-time record in season openers including a 24-7 mark in home lid-lifters.

Two For 200: Duke needs just two more victories at home to reach 200 wins in Wallace Wade Stadium ... The facility, constructed in 1929, was referred to as Duke Stadium until 1967, when the Board of Trustees approved the renaming of the stadium to honor legendary Coach Wallace Wade, who directed the Blue Devils to a 110-36-7 record and two Rose Bowl berths ... Wallace Wade Stadium has been the home of 198 Duke wins, with 58 of those coming by shutout.

Erdeljac Overcomes Injuries, Ready For Final Season: Senior wide receiver Ben Erdeljac has spent much of his Duke career in the training room, but enters his final season with 54 career pass receptions -- the second most on the club behind senior tight end Mike Hart's 56 career catches ... A native of Oakmont, Pa., Erdeljac looks to become just the fifth player in Duke gridiron history to earn ACC All-Academic honors three times -- the four Blue Devils to accomplish the feat are Ben Fordham (1972-74), Bill Obremskey (1981-83), Mike Diminick (1986-88) and Sims Lenhardt (1997-99) ... Over the couse of his career at Duke, Erdeljac has overcome a separated shoulder that forced him to miss the 1997 season finale, a kneecap injury that kept him out of the entire 1998 season and torn posterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments that caused him to miss the last two games in 1999 and the entire 2000 spring practice ... He joined D. Bryant as the only Duke players to throw a touchdown pass, score a touchdown on the ground and catch a touchdown toss during the 2000 season.

Mr. All-Purpose: In 2000, Chris Douglas led all freshmen nationally in all-purpose yards per game (131.1), and his total of 1,442 yards fell just 121 yards short of the ACC record for freshmen ... That mark was established in 1981 when Georgia Tech's Robert Lavette amassed 1,562 all-purpose yards ... Douglas is officially on pace to become the ACC's all-time leader in all-purpose yardage as the league's career leader Leon Johnson of North Carolina recorded 1,266 all-purpose yards as a freshman ... Despite not starting a single game last season, Douglas also paced the Blue Devils in rushing (503 yards) and scoring (42 points).

Hart A Candidate For The John Mackey Award: Senior tight end Mike Hart, an All-ACC pick last fall, is a candidate for the John Mackey Award which is presented to the nation's top tight end ... Last year, Purdue's Tim Stratton captured the honor ... The award is named for John Mackey, only the second strictly tight end to be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame ... Mackey played inthe NFL for 10 seasons, was elected to the Pro Bowl five times, was a three-time All-NFL pick and played in two Super Bowls with the Baltimore Colts ... The award is sponsored by the Nassau County Sports Commission.

Senior (Frosh) Statesman: Twenty-four year old Jim Scharrer, a freshman from Erie, Pa., enrolled at Duke in January and participated in spring practice with the Blue Devils ... A second round pick of the Atlanta Braves in the 1995 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft, Scharrer played six seasons of professional baseball in the Atlanta and Anaheim organizations prior to joining the Duke football program ... Scharrer came out of spring drills as a projected starter at one inside linebacker slot.