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Devilsforlife
09-25-2016, 11:03 PM
As there is a thread devoted to Coach K's biggest wins at Duke, and in honor of Coach Cut's 50th victory on Saturday, I figured I'd start a thread about his 10 most important wins in my opinion since taking the helm in 2008.

1. - September 24, 2016, Duke 38 @ Notre Dame 35

A massive victory in front of a national TV audience at storied Notre Dame Stadium. Since Cut feels it was the biggest win of his tenure, I do too.

2. - October 20, 2012, Duke 30 vs. UNC 27

Renfree to Crowder will live on forever. Clinched a bowl berth for the first time since '94 and earned first win at home against the Cheats since 1988. A major stepping-stone toward the success of the next few years.

3. - December 26, 2015, Duke 44 vs. Indiana 41 - Pinstripe Bowl

A thrilling bowl victory to end the 55-year drought and erase three straight years of postseason heartbreak. Some great reverse-karma with the Indiana FG at the end too. A "Big Fat W", indeed.

4. October 26, 2013, Duke 13 @ #16 Virginia Tech 10

A low-scoring slugfest ended in Duke's favor, earning the Devils' their first road win over a ranked team since 1971. Ross Martin hit two 50+ yarders and the defense was stout throughout. This game really was the start of the magical 2013 run.

5. - November 30, 2013, Duke 27 @ UNC 25

Second-straight win over our nemesis, this time to clinch the Coastal and a spot in the ACC Championship Game. Clutch FG by Ross Martin and a late interception by DeVon Edwards sealed the deal.

6. - October 24, 2015, Duke 45 @ Virginia Tech 43 (4OT)

A four overtime heart-stopping win earned Duke a fourth-consecutive bowl berth. Sirk was a gamer throughout the overtimes and his two-point run for the win, with a little help from Shaq Powell, was pure grit.

7. - September 27, 2008, Duke 31 vs. Virginia 3

Blowout victory for Cut's first ACC victory and the program's first since 2004! Although it was the only conference win of the season, it was an early harbinger of future success.

8. - November 16, 2013, Duke 48 vs. Miami (FL) 30

Punishing win over Miami on Senior Day to move to 8-2. Absolutely torched them on the ground and nearly hung half-a-hundred on the Canes.

9. - September 29, 2012, Duke 34 @ Wake Forest 27

A rather under-the-radar win, but moving to 4-1 and snapping a 12-year losing streak with a road win at the Deacs was key to the breakthrough season in 2012.

10. - October 10, 2009, Duke 49 @ NC State 28

Big triumph in Raleigh to earn our first ACC road victory since 2003. Thad Lewis was a stud throughout. First win of a three-game conference winning streak.

Have any memories from these 10 games, or a game you'd have put on the list instead? Comment below!

OldPhiKap
09-25-2016, 11:41 PM
As there is a thread devoted to Coach K's biggest wins at Duke, and in honor of Coach Cut's 50th victory on Saturday, I figured I'd start a thread about his 10 most important wins in my opinion since taking the helm in 2008.

1. - September 24, 2016, Duke 38 @ Notre Dame 35

A massive victory in front of a national TV audience at storied Notre Dame Stadium. Since Cut feels it was the biggest win of his tenure, I do too.

2. - October 20, 2012, Duke 30 vs. UNC 27

Renfree to Crowder will live on forever. Clinched a bowl berth for the first time since '94 and earned first win at home against the Cheats since 1988. A major stepping-stone toward the success of the next few years.

3. - December 26, 2015, Duke 44 vs. Indiana 41 - Pinstripe Bowl

A thrilling bowl victory to end the 55-year drought and erase three straight years of postseason heartbreak. Some great reverse-karma with the Indiana FG at the end too. A "Big Fat W", indeed.

4. October 26, 2013, Duke 13 @ #16 Virginia Tech 10

A low-scoring slugfest ended in Duke's favor, earning the Devils' their first road win over a ranked team since 1971. Ross Martin hit two 50+ yarders and the defense was stout throughout. This game really was the start of the magical 2013 run.

5. - November 30, 2013, Duke 27 @ UNC 25

Second-straight win over our nemesis, this time to clinch the Coastal and a spot in the ACC Championship Game. Clutch FG by Ross Martin and a late interception by DeVon Edwards sealed the deal.

6. - October 24, 2015, Duke 45 @ Virginia Tech 43 (4OT)

A four overtime heart-stopping win earned Duke a fourth-consecutive bowl berth. Sirk was a gamer throughout the overtimes and his two-point run for the win, with a little help from Shaq Powell, was pure grit.

7. - September 27, 2008, Duke 31 vs. Virginia 3

Blowout victory for Cut's first ACC victory and the program's first since 2004! Although it was the only conference win of the season, it was an early harbinger of future success.

8. - November 16, 2013, Duke 48 vs. Miami (FL) 30

Punishing win over Miami on Senior Day to move to 8-2. Absolutely torched them on the ground and nearly hung half-a-hundred on the Canes.

9. - September 29, 2012, Duke 34 @ Wake Forest 27

A rather under-the-radar win, but moving to 4-1 and snapping a 12-year losing streak with a road win at the Deacs was key to the breakthrough season in 2012.

10. - October 10, 2009, Duke 49 @ NC State 28

Big triumph in Raleigh to earn our first ACC road victory since 2003. Thad Lewis was a stud throughout. First win of a three-game conference winning streak.

Have any memories from these 10 games, or a game you'd have put on the list instead? Comment below!

Thanks, I'll take some time to ponder this. Oddly enough too, one of his biggest games was a loss -- Peach Bowl v. Texas Tech and Johnny Football. Even though we came up short, we got a huge bounce out of that game.

I seem to remember an early win against Army too that showed we had maybe turned a corner.

I also note that six of the ten were road games, and one neutral. We need to turn Wally Wade into more of a home field advantage.

Wander
09-26-2016, 12:00 AM
Good thread!

I don't agree with Cutcliffe. Yesterday was a good win for our program - and great win for this specific Duke team - but I think Notre Dame sort of sucks this year, and I doubt we'll do anything this season with the historic importance of the 2012 and 2013 seasons. I think the top game is Duke-UNC in 2013. Cutcliffe going 10-2 and winning an ACC division championship at Duke is one of the most impressive accomplishments in college football in the past decade. I honestly think that's more difficult than winning the national championship at, say, Alabama. I'd rank Duke-UNC in 2012 to make our first Cutcliffe bowl game second.

For our third best "win," I'm going to cheat and pick Duke-TexasA&M in 2013. Beating Indiana was nice to shake the bowl losing streak, but non-playoff bowls have too much of a glorified exhibition game vibe to me for me to get too obsessive over a win vs. loss. But proving ourselves equal to an SEC power led by a previous Heisman winner was really the moment when we got mainstream, widespread, national respect as a football school.

OldPhiKap
09-26-2016, 12:12 AM
Good thread!

I don't agree with Cutcliffe. Yesterday was a good win for our program - and great win for this specific Duke team - but I think Notre Dame sort of sucks this year, and I doubt we'll do anything this season with the historic importance of the 2012 and 2013 seasons. I think the top game is Duke-UNC in 2013. Cutcliffe going 10-2 and winning an ACC division championship at Duke is one of the most impressive accomplishments in college football in the past decade. I honestly think that's more difficult than winning the national championship at, say, Alabama. I'd rank Duke-UNC in 2012 to make our first Cutcliffe bowl game second.

For our third best "win," I'm going to cheat and pick Duke-TexasA&M in 2013. Beating Indiana was nice to shake the bowl losing streak, but non-playoff bowls have too much of a glorified exhibition game vibe to me for me to get too obsessive over a win vs. loss. But proving ourselves equal to an SEC power led by a previous Heisman winner was really the moment when we got mainstream, widespread, national respect as a football school.

While this is not a vintage ND team, they started the season in the top ten IIRC; went to the wire with Texas @ Texas (losing in overtime) who is now # 22 in the nation; went to the wire with Sparty who is now # 18 in the nation; and were a twenty point favorite at home. They have had top fifteen recruiting classes each year for an extended period of time. And we beat them, at home, on national coast-to-coast television.

Rankings cite: http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/football/fbs

Not sure it is number one -- a little time and distance will help put it in perspective -- but it's a darn strong contender.

Olympic Fan
09-26-2016, 12:24 AM
While this is not a vintage ND team, they started the season in the top ten IIRC; went to the wire with Texas @ Texas (losing in overtime) who is now # 22 in the nation; went to the wire with Sparty who is now # 18 in the nation; and were a twenty point favorite at home. They have had top fifteen recruiting classes each year for an extended period of time. And we beat them, at home, on national coast-to-coast television.

Rankings cite: http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/football/fbs

Not sure it is number one -- a little time and distance will help put it in perspective -- but it's a darn strong contender.

I agree ... Notre Dame will end up in pretty good shape, probably eight wins or so. They'll get back on the winning track the next two weeks (Syracuse and NC State). It was not a great Notre Dame team we beat, but don't diminish the win by trying to downplay Notre Dame. I think they'll end up making us look pretty good.

I like the original list a lot, but I would like to include the 35-22 win over Virginia on Oct. 19, 2013 -- the rally from an 22-0 deficit is the greatest comeback in Duke history. It was an important win in Duke's surge to win the Coastal Division title. Not sure exactly where it ranks, but it should be somewhere on the list.

patentgeek
09-26-2016, 08:46 AM
I would move the Miami win in 2013 up the list a few places. To me, that was that game that really made me believe. Miami (while somewhat down that year) was regarded as the better and more talented team, and the winner would be in the driver's seat for the division title. Miami went ahead early in the 1st half (including scoring on a punt return), but Duke clawed back and took the lead at halftime. I believe Duke still held a one-point lead as the forth quarter started. But the remainder of the game essentially consisted of Duke dominating both lines of scrimmage and pulling away - Duke was clearly the better team in the 4th quarter. Watching Duke physically overpower a team like Miami in the 4th quarter was something that I, as a 25-year Duke football fan, thought I would never witness.

loran16
09-26-2016, 09:19 AM
Duke-UNC 2012 is clearly number 1 honestly- Duke still will struggle to make a bowl this year most likely and the news coming out of the ND game is all about ND failing, not Duke winning. I think we overestimate the win here due to expectations. That UNC win made us bowl eligible, snapped our losing streak to UNC, and showed we were not a joke. It was HUGE.

Duke -VT 2013 would be my number 2, a big win on the road and the first of cut's era, showing how far we'd come on the way to winning the coastal.

ChillinDuke
09-26-2016, 09:24 AM
While this is not a vintage ND team, they started the season in the top ten IIRC; went to the wire with Texas @ Texas (losing in overtime) who is now # 22 in the nation; went to the wire with Sparty who is now # 18 in the nation; and were a twenty point favorite at home. They have had top fifteen recruiting classes each year for an extended period of time. And we beat them, at home, on national coast-to-coast television.

Rankings cite: http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/football/fbs

Not sure it is number one -- a little time and distance will help put it in perspective -- but it's a darn strong contender.


I agree ... Notre Dame will end up in pretty good shape, probably eight wins or so. They'll get back on the winning track the next two weeks (Syracuse and NC State). It was not a great Notre Dame team we beat, but don't diminish the win by trying to downplay Notre Dame. I think they'll end up making us look pretty good.

I like the original list a lot, but I would like to include the 35-22 win over Virginia on Oct. 19, 2013 -- the rally from an 22-0 deficit is the greatest comeback in Duke history. It was an important win in Duke's surge to win the Coastal Division title. Not sure exactly where it ranks, but it should be somewhere on the list.

Agree with both of you. I don't think this game will lead to a magical postseason run, although possible but highly unlikely.

The real impact of this game is the press coverage and media attention. While the ND fans were a complete class act on Saturday, the one nit I had was their underestimation of Duke Football. They all seemed to expect a beatdown of gigantic proportions as if they were dealing with a Duke team circa 2007. There was a complete lack of knowledge on how far this Duke program had come. You would explain the progress, Cut, the bowl games, the bowl win, and you'd sort of be met with blank nods.

It's the same thing with the ACC Media who always picks Duke at the bottom and we always comment around here on how could we be picked so low.

This is the type of game (same with the Johnny Football loss in the bowl game) where a national audience takes notice, and like it or not, reasonable or not, this will have staying power in the minds of anyone who watched. The next time they see Duke Football on TV, they probably won't have the same perception as they did just a few days ago.

- Chillin

Olympic Fan
09-26-2016, 12:46 PM
Agree with both of you. I don't think this game will lead to a magical postseason run, although possible but highly unlikely.

The real impact of this game is the press coverage and media attention. While the ND fans were a complete class act on Saturday, the one nit I had was their underestimation of Duke Football. They all seemed to expect a beatdown of gigantic proportions as if they were dealing with a Duke team circa 2007. There was a complete lack of knowledge on how far this Duke program had come. You would explain the progress, Cut, the bowl games, the bowl win, and you'd sort of be met with blank nods. It's the same thing with the ACC Media who always picks Duke at the bottom and we always comment around here on how could we be picked so low.

This is the type of game (same with the Johnny Football loss in the bowl game) where a national audience takes notice, and like it or not, reasonable or not, this will have staying power in the minds of anyone who watched. The next time they see Duke Football on TV, they probably won't have the same perception as they did just a few days ago.

- Chillin

It's hard to get attention for Duke's accomplishments ... but Saturday provided a national forum.

There was a moment during the telecast where they displayed a graphic that showed that over the last four years, Duke had the third most road wins among power five programs -- 13, tied with Michigan State, but more than Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Florida State, Baylor or Oregon. Only Ohio State (15) and UCLA (14) had more.

It is a stunning stat and it seemed to stun Tirico and Flutie, who kind of stuttered for a few moments before Flutie said something about how some of those wins came against "low-level" power five opponents, such as Wake Forest and Virginia. I would have argued that all those other teams play their share of "low level" opponents too.

Of course, some of those schools schedule more home games than Duke (Duke played 7 in 2013 and 2014; only 6 in 2015 and 2016). The really big schools get to play an occasional neutral site game -- kind of like Duke basketball. Still, Duke's road success is freaking amazing.

I hope ESPN breaks out that graphic again when we play our next road game, which will also be our next true national TV exposure -- at Louisville. I don't expect to win that one, but it would be nice for the network to acknowledge that Duke has been one of the nation's best road teams in the last four seasons.
And, oh yes, after the "low level" win in South Bend, Duke now has 14 road wins since 2012 ... tying UCLA for second place, behind only Ohio State.

Reilly
09-26-2016, 11:56 PM
I would not put this ND win as #1. UNC in 2012 much more massive. (One way to judge Duke's best wins under Cut might be to go back and count posts in threads after the win.) VT in 2013 is a wonderful call -- Duke's first over a ranked team during the Cut era I believe, and on the road. UNC in 2013 is massive for what was at stake. All of 2013 could be included -- State, Miami, the UVa comeback. I would remove State 2009 from this list. Heck, I'd even put Army 2009 over State 2009, given the Renfree glimpse we got. And for putting first things first, Cut's fist thrust on the track during the delay against JMU in 2008, and seeing a fit, organized team for the first time in years/decades (they hurried and caught the Dukes unawares when inside the 5) brought a warmth to my heart that I'll never forget.

UrinalCake
09-27-2016, 12:38 AM
Great thread, and I like your list. I was an undergrad in the late 90's and I don't think we won ten games total my entire time as a student. So the fact that we can even have this discussion still amazes me. The notion of making a bowl was unfathomable when we were in the midst of that 20-some game losing streak.

Last weekend's win was enormous from an emotional standpoint, but if ND goes on to have a terrible season and reveal themselves as an awful team, then it won't seem like quite as big a deal that we won. Don't get me wrong, any time you walk into that stadium and come away with a win it's huge, but football-wise it might not feel like as big of an biggest accomplishment as some of the other games on your list.

Agree that the Peach Bowl loss to Texas A&M belongs somewhere on this list. My wife and her family are all die hard Aggies, and before the game they felt embarrassed and disrespected that they were matched up against such a weak opponent as Duke. They knew they'd blow us out pretty easily. If not for some miraculous plays by Manziel, that would have easily been the program's biggest win.

AustinDevil
09-27-2016, 12:27 PM
Great thread, and I like your list. I was an undergrad in the late 90's and I don't think we won ten games total my entire time as a student. So the fact that we can even have this discussion still amazes me. The notion of making a bowl was unfathomable when we were in the midst of that 20-some game losing streak.

Last weekend's win was enormous from an emotional standpoint, but if ND goes on to have a terrible season and reveal themselves as an awful team, then it won't seem like quite as big a deal that we won. Don't get me wrong, any time you walk into that stadium and come away with a win it's huge, but football-wise it might not feel like as big of an biggest accomplishment as some of the other games on your list.

Agree that the Peach Bowl loss to Texas A&M belongs somewhere on this list. My wife and her family are all die hard Aggies, and before the game they felt embarrassed and disrespected that they were matched up against such a weak opponent as Duke. They knew they'd blow us out pretty easily. If not for some miraculous plays by Manziel, that would have easily been the program's biggest win.

Those who differ between this week's win and UNC 2012 as #1 are, IM(H)O, really just using different benchmarks--this week is a bigger deal in terms of national media and exposure, and UNC 2012 was a bigger deal on this board and around Duke. Both are very strong candidates.

One nit: some of these comments are carefully limited to Cut's tenure, as was the thread-starting post, and some are not, like this one. Beating 20th-ranked Texas A&M in an important but not-top-tier bowl would not have been the biggest win for a program that beat #7 Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl when that bowl was at the height of its importance as one of the four big New Year's bowls, and that also has won Orange and Sugar bowls over Alabama and Nebraska, respectively.

BLPOG
09-27-2016, 01:09 PM
Thanks, I'll take some time to ponder this. Oddly enough too, one of his biggest games was a loss -- Peach Bowl v. Texas Tech and Johnny Football. Even though we came up short, we got a huge bounce out of that game.

I seem to remember an early win against Army too that showed we had maybe turned a corner.

I also note that six of the ten were road games, and one neutral. We need to turn Wally Wade into more of a home field advantage.


I agree ... Notre Dame will end up in pretty good shape, probably eight wins or so. They'll get back on the winning track the next two weeks (Syracuse and NC State). It was not a great Notre Dame team we beat, but don't diminish the win by trying to downplay Notre Dame. I think they'll end up making us look pretty good.

I like the original list a lot, but I would like to include the 35-22 win over Virginia on Oct. 19, 2013 -- the rally from an 22-0 deficit is the greatest comeback in Duke history. It was an important win in Duke's surge to win the Coastal Division title. Not sure exactly where it ranks, but it should be somewhere on the list.

These are the two that I might substitute for others on Devilsforlife's list. I might have some slight bias in that I was present for both (along with several from the original list, of course). That Virginia game was also a testament to the class of their fans. They showed exceedingly good sportsmanship before, during, and after the contest.

Wander
09-27-2016, 02:25 PM
I do think the Notre Dame win should be comfortably in the Top 10 list, but I think you guys are overrating how much exposure the game really represented. Yes, it was on national TV, but because Notre Dame was unranked, the game didn't appear on lots of the scroll bars at the bottom of TV screens, wasn't on the default score webpage on ESPN, wasn't talked about much before the game in weekend previews, etc. Even afterward, the stories were mostly about Notre Dame's defense sucking and their DC getting fired. I think the later parts of the 2013 season (especially the Texas A&M loss) gave Duke much more positive exposure, against better teams, to the average viewer.

jafarr1
09-27-2016, 02:55 PM
Keep in mind that it's Cutcliffe's job to (a) market the program, and (b) motivate his players. I don't blame him one bit for talking up this game like it's a huge deal.

Going into South Bend and beating Notre Dame by a comparable margin to what Texas and Michigan State did will resonate with recruits, especially if Notre Dame can right the ship and beat teams like Syracuse and NC State. For a program that has tended to beat the weaker teams and struggle against the stronger, this is a nice feather in Duke's cap.

bob blue devil
09-27-2016, 03:58 PM
i'll echo those who note that this win is hard to rank without the benefit of understanding how the season plays out - for ND and for duke. if they both go on to lose all their games, well, then maybe less of a big deal. if it's a springboard for duke to have a surprisingly good season and ND gets itself on track, well then its quite a big deal.

rasputin
09-27-2016, 04:06 PM
i'll echo those who note that this win is hard to rank without the benefit of understanding how the season plays out - for ND and for duke. if they both go on to lose all their games, well, then maybe less of a big deal. if it's a springboard for duke to have a surprisingly good season and ND gets itself on track, well then its quite a big deal.

We've heard the argument before that the team we beat must not be as good as advertised, since we beat'em. The heck with that. Yes, I get that Notre Dame's record is now 1-3, but ND were heavy favorites, got off to a 2-touchdown lead, and Duke found a way to win anyway, on ND's field. It's a big deal (as Joe Biden would say, more colorfully).

Reilly
09-27-2016, 06:58 PM
Julian Robertson was just asked a question about the ND/Duke score on Bloomberg TV.

Wander
09-27-2016, 07:45 PM
We've heard the argument before that the team we beat must not be as good as advertised, since we beat'em.

Notre Dame was unranked before we beat them. Maybe they turn it around and do really well this season. But otherwise, this isn't the Duke of 10 years ago. For those teams, beating any power program on the road - hell, beating any division 1A team period - would be that era's best win. But now, after a bunch of bowls and a division title, we don't need to settle for calling a victory over some mediocre team (no matter what their name is) our best recent win.

On another note, I don't think anyone has mentioned the 2014 win over Georgia Tech. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that is our best win based strictly on quality of opponent. So it belongs on a Top 10 list somewhere.