What a wonderful debut!

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Congratulations to Coach Cutcliffe, the entire coaching staff and especially the Duke Football Team on a job well done!

Also, many kudos to the students - you guys were great! You came early and filled the stands, you wore blue, you stayed during the weather delay, and you stayed for the entire game, and you were loud! No one could ask more of you today. Now, do it again next week!

[godukecom]

...and what a great sight it was to see the opposing fans being the ones to leave the game early!

[CameronBornAndBred]

I was thinking I couldn't remember the last time I saw Duke fans leave early because we were up by so much, ha! Luckily, though, the majority stayed for the celebration, it was great. I posted more photos in the game thread, but I'll put this one here.


Protected until Carolina!
I was happy to see them left on the field, now the students have a reason to come back again..they get more tries! But, I don't think they will need more reason than what the team gave them tonite, the whole student section was great and really was fun to watch during a winning game.

[dukemomLA]

3,000 miles away I was rooting every moment. Yahoo!! Such a great start to the rebuilding of Duke football. Kudos to the team, the coaches, and the Duke fans who showed up to cheer them on!!

Fan support is crucial as the season progresses. PLEASE Dukies in the area, keep coming on!!

[dcarp23]

great win. When was the last time the Devils beat someone by 24 (probably more recently than I'd think)?

[Oriole Way]

great win. When was the last time the Devils beat someone by 24 (probably more recently than I'd think)?

I believe the Devils trounced VMI by a significant margin in 2005.

[peloton]

Yes, a fantastic debut for this 2008 edition of the Duke football team and Coach Cutcliffe. Although I live in Cary I'm bummed that we won't be in NC next weekend for the NU game. We'll be in 'Bama for some r & r with a couple of diehard Auburn fans and the others being Tarheel fans. Coach, rest assured I'll be making the other home games though...this is going to be an expensive (but me thinks an enjoyable) season!

Go Devils!

[YmoBeThere]

Certainly tops the debut of Rich Rodriquez at Meeechigan...

I'm 2-0(yes, you must understand that my rooting alone determines the outcome on the field).

[devilish]

http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/c...y/1201141.html

Love the new Devil!

[Buckeye Devil]

Certainly tops the debut of Rich Rodriquez at Meeechigan...

Actually, it's Mee-chicken, especially if one is an Ohio State football fan.

Rod obviously does not have the personnel to run his type of system on offense and Utah is a decent team with a veteran starter at QB. U of M is a couple of years (and quite a few players) away from being a Top 10 team and will have some rough spots until that time. But he will get them there.

Good luck Duke football. JMU is a very small step in an otherwise big hill to climb, but you have the best coach since Steve Spurrier was there and good things lie ahead.

[Papa John]

Protected until Carolina!
I was happy to see them left on the field, now the students have a reason to come back again..they get more tries! But, I don't think they will need more reason than what the team gave them tonite, the whole student section was great and really was fun to watch during a winning game.

Thanks to Indoor66 for providing the link to the radio broadcast from Albemarle! It was great to listen to the second half and literally hear how this team seems to have been inspired to take their game up to a competitive notch by Cut and company!

One of the best parts of the broadcast for me, however, pertains to your photo... Bob Harris at the end of the broadcast indicated that Cut was talking to the student section, essentially telling them that the goalposts are not to come down--we need to act like we expect to win, not be surprised by it... Winning is habitual when you put all the pieces in the right place--sounds like Cut is trying to instill that type of attitude...

[captmojo]

Congratulations to all responsible for the first win of the new era!

Ain't it good to BOTH go to bed and wake up confidently smiling?

[ehdg]

Last nights showing by our team, students and older fans was remarkable!! To hear how loud the place sounded on the radio was awesome and specially with having to wait through a 88 minn. weather delay. What a great start to the Cutliffe ERA and hopefully this is only the begining and Duke football is finally back on the map!! I haven't been this stoked about our football team since '94 when we last had a winning record. Congrats to our coaches and players!! Keep up the hard work!!

[godukerocks]

A lot of those pics from newsobserver.com are really good. Thanks for the link.

Is there anywhere, anywhere online where I can watch any video from this game? Unfortunatly was not able to listen on the radio or watch ACC Select last night.

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

Last night was like Duke football was years ago when Duke was ranked nationally in both football and basketball. If you were waiting to see how it would turn out, whether Coach Cutcliffe is for real, the wait is OVER!

DBRers were there meeting and greeting, but there's room for more!

[Classof06]

I couldn't be in Durham for the game but I can't tell you how happy I was to see that final score and how hopeful I am for what the future brings.

The last time Duke won their opening game, it was 2002 against ECU and it was my first weekend of college. Needless to say, it's been a while.

Can't wait to see the 9/13 Navy game on ESPNU.

[Olympic Fan]

great win. When was the last time the Devils beat someone by 24 (probably more recently than I'd think)?

For the record, Duke beat VMI 40-14 (26 points) on Sept. 17, 2005 -- almost three years ago. The comparison between the 2005 VMI team and the 2008 James Madison teams is worth looking at -- VMI was one of the worst teams in Division 1-AA that year. JMU is projected to be one of the best in the renamed FCS.

In Division 1-A (FBS) terms, that's like the difference between beating last year's Duke team and beating last year's Georgia team.

How significant was a 24-point victory over James Madison? Hard to say, but in the eight FCS polls, JMU ranks either No. 1 (Phil Steele), No. 2 (The Sporting News, SME Network, AnygivenSaturday.com), No. 3 (the FSC Coaches, Lindy's), No. 4 (USA Today) or No. 6 (The Sports Network).

Well, by comparison, Georgia Southern ranks No. 16 in one poll, No. 17 in five polls (including the coaches, which is probably the most official), No. 18 in another and is unranked in another. Why is this important? Well, yesterday while Duke was beating JMU by 24 points, No. 1 Georgia was beating Georgia Southern by exactly 24 points.

Could you argue that Duke was more impressive than the top-ranked Bulldogs? Okay, I concede that LSU's rout of FCS No. 1 App State was the MOST impressive, but still ...

But I should also point out that McNeese State ranked between No. 8 and No. 14 in the eight polls (No. 10 by the coaches) -- in every case, lower than James Madison. Yet, while Duke was routing JMU, UNC was fighting for their life in a 35-27 victory over McNeese.

My point is that this was a significant win for Cutcliffe in his opener. Great atmosphere, despite the weather ... great performance.

Wow, the Cut era could not have started any better. Now, we just have to hope he and his team can keep it up.

BTW: Based on the FCS coaching poll, the rank of the ACC's FCS opening opponents:

3. JMU (Duke win 31-7)
8. Delware (Maryland won 14-7)
10. McNeese State (UNC won 35-27)
unranked (Jacksonville State; Charleston Southern)

[Acymetric]

I think the biggest question going into the next game is pass coverage. JMU didn't try to pass the ball much, and we did a good job stopping their running scheme, but will we fare as well when teams try to throw the ball on us? I think so, and look forward to finding out!

[wilson]

For the record, Duke beat VMI 40-14 (26 points) on Sept. 17, 2005 -- almost three years ago. The comparison between the 2005 VMI team and the 2008 James Madison teams is worth looking at -- VMI was one of the worst teams in Division 1-AA that year. JMU is projected to be one of the best in the renamed FCS.

In Division 1-A (FBS) terms, that's like the difference between beating last year's Duke team and beating last year's Georgia team.

How significant was a 24-point victory over James Madison? Hard to say, but in the eight FCS polls, JMU ranks either No. 1 (Phil Steele), No. 2 (The Sporting News, SME Network, AnygivenSaturday.com), No. 3 (the FSC Coaches, Lindy's), No. 4 (USA Today) or No. 6 (The Sports Network).

Well, by comparison, Georgia Southern ranks No. 16 in one poll, No. 17 in five polls (including the coaches, which is probably the most official), No. 18 in another and is unranked in another. Why is this important? Well, yesterday while Duke was beating JMU by 24 points, No. 1 Georgia was beating Georgia Southern by exactly 24 points.

Could you argue that Duke was more impressive than the top-ranked Bulldogs? Okay, I concede that LSU's rout of FCS No. 1 App State was the MOST impressive, but still ...

But I should also point out that McNeese State ranked between No. 8 and No. 14 in the eight polls (No. 10 by the coaches) -- in every case, lower than James Madison. Yet, while Duke was routing JMU, UNC was fighting for their life in a 35-27 victory over McNeese.

My point is that this was a significant win for Cutcliffe in his opener. Great atmosphere, despite the weather ... great performance.

Wow, the Cut era could not have started any better. Now, we just have to hope he and his team can keep it up.

BTW: Based on the FCS coaching poll, the rank of the ACC's FCS opening opponents:

3. JMU (Duke win 31-7)
8. Delware (Maryland won 14-7)
10. McNeese State (UNC won 35-27)
unranked (Jacksonville State; Charleston Southern)

Very interesting analysis. Unfortunately, I don't think it provides much in the way of a predictor for the remainder of the season (not only is the transitive property essentially meaningless in this context, we are also talking about the season's first game), but it does provide some insight as to exactly how much of an accomplishment this win is. I regarded this as quite a dangerous game for our team, and had you offered me a single-digit relative squeaker before kickoff, I'd have taken it.

[ugadevil]

Well, by comparison, Georgia Southern ranks No. 16 in one poll, No. 17 in five polls (including the coaches, which is probably the most official), No. 18 in another and is unranked in another. Why is this important? Well, yesterday while Duke was beating JMU by 24 points, No. 1 Georgia was beating Georgia Southern by exactly 24 points.

Could you argue that Duke was more impressive than the top-ranked Bulldogs?

Maybe Georgia and Duke should play each other to figure out who's more impressive. Nevermind, Georgia fans are sick of their team being unable to stop a Cutcliffe offense!