Duke Football 2024

One team will be the underdog, one will be the expected winner, in any game. That doesn't matter.

If Duke Football has designs on earning respect, only results matter, not expectations. If we are expected to win, we need to show we deserve it. If we are expected to lose, well, then prove someone wrong.

Either way, just win. Just like pre-season awards, nobody remembers predictions. Let's be memorable.
 
Sagarin now predicts Duke to go 6-6. (Massey was showing similar results to Sagarin last week.) There's still a lot of preseason expectations baked in for some teams (FSU #30, SMU #27). Duke has played two opponents around #100 and two opponents around or less than #150. Only Wake Forest approaches the #100 mark, and there's a lot of time before that game.
 
I'm sure someone has this information handy - how many season has Duke started 4-0? I know we haven't played any powerhouse teams yet, but 4-0 against ANY schedule would have been beyond belief. Between 1990 and 2012, we only won more that four games in a SEASON twice in 2009 (five wins) and the notorious 1994 eight win season.
 
I'm sure someone has this information handy - how many season has Duke started 4-0? I know we haven't played any powerhouse teams yet, but 4-0 against ANY schedule would have been beyond belief. Between 1990 and 2012, we only won more that four games in a SEASON twice in 2009 (five wins) and the notorious 1994 eight win season.

Since 1994: 2014, 2017, 2018, 2023, and 2024. Lost the 5th game every time, this is the year to change that.
 
How college football has evolved since Spurrier was at Duke is nicely captured in the post game photo in front of the scoreboard. There are NO scoreboards left like that in major college football, even high schools have much fancier scoreboards...
 
Since 1994: 2014, 2017, 2018, 2023, and 2024. Lost the 5th game every time, this is the year to change that.
Yep, Cut kind of got us into the pattern of deceptively encouraging starts against weak opponents only to pancake badly once ACC play started. It was dispiriting to say the least. This next game is so very important in so many ways.
 
Yep, Cut kind of got us into the pattern of deceptively encouraging starts against weak opponents only to pancake badly once ACC play started. It was dispiriting to say the least. This next game is so very important in so many ways.
We also haven’t had the depth many schools have, so a couple injuries have an outsized impact.

-jk
 
We also haven’t had the depth many schools have, so a couple injuries have an outsized impact.

-jk
It is also true that Cut, despite his shortcomings, knew his math. His formula to getting six wins was to make sure he had at least three if not four very winnable games in his out of conference schedule. So we had a lot of seasons where the 4-0 was misleading. What about this year? I have no idea, but I do not think JMU's beat down of unc last week was helpful in the least.
 
Yep, Cut kind of got us into the pattern of deceptively encouraging starts against weak opponents only to pancake badly once ACC play started. It was dispiriting to say the least. This next game is so very important in so many ways.
-jk has an answer. Basically, we haven't had the depth of talent as other schools. So, November has been a problem.
 
Well...I think you are being too kind considering some of the monumental collapses our teams suffered, but it no longer matters. Those days are behind us hopefully.
 
We also haven’t had the depth many schools have, so a couple injuries have an outsized impact.

-jk
Oh no question, and my point was not to criticize Cut, even if I will never forgive his bizarre affection for the feckless sideways pass.
 
How college football has evolved since Spurrier was at Duke is nicely captured in the post game photo in front of the scoreboard. There are NO scoreboards left like that in major college football, even high schools have much fancier scoreboards...
Aint it the truth.
As it turned out, I was traveling during that season and missed seeing a lot of games. I watched that replay, all of Duke's offensive plays, and what struck me is that Dave Brown wasn't even that sharp in that game, compared to other games in that season for him. The Heels are lucky it wasn't something like 62-0.
 
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