Others receiving votes: Duke
posted by LW, Monday, November 02, 2009
Duke received three points yesterday in the USA Today Coaches' Poll.
Tell me the last time that's been said in November ... about Duke football.
Second-year coach David Cutcliffe is putting together quite a story in his second year at the helm of the doormat Blue Devils program.
Duke came from behind to beat Virginia on Saturday in Charlottesville to improve to 3-1 in the ACC.
For those of you who aren't aware of just how hard conference wins have been to come by for the Blue Devils for the last, oh, 40 years, here's some perspective:
-- Entering this season, Duke had won a grand total of two ACC games over the previous five years.
-- Since Steve Spurrier won the ACC at Duke in 1989, the Blue Devils posted losing ACC records 18 times in 19 years. Nine of those 18 losing seasons were winless seasons.
-- The last time Duke finished a season ranked was in 1962.
-- Over the last 14 seasons, the Blue Devils have totaled four winless seasons overall (0-12 in 2006, 0-11 in 2001, 0-11 in 2000, and 0-11 in 1996). Their best records over that stretch were 4-8 in 2008, 4-8 in 2003 and 4-7 in 1998.
As a lot of you know, the Blue Devils control their fate in the Coastal Division. A trip to the ACC title game still seems far-fetched given their remaining schedule (at North Carolina, Georgia Tech, at Miami, Wake Forest), but still ...
Here's a story from Bryan Strickland of the Durham Herald-Sun about the Blue Devils learning to deal with success.
The buzz around the Blue Devils from external sources is nice, but it's nothing compared to the feelings inside a football program that's had just one winning record over the past 19 seasons.
"There was a lot of joy," Cutcliffe said of the loud locker room in Charlottesville. "Our seniors, I made eye contact with all of them, and there was a lot of emotion. Those guys have been knocked around pretty good, and they know how hard they've worked.
"The atmosphere was wonderful. It was fun."
In the Raleigh paper, a piece on Duke gaining confidence.
"Finally," redshirt sophomore nose guard Charlie Hatcher said. "For the last two years, we put in all this work, and we finally get some results. We're in it at the end of the season. Going into November, we're in the fight."
On the other side of the fence, the noose tightens around the neck of Al Groh. The ninth-year Virginia coach now has the distinction of losing to Duke in back-to-back years.
Ouch.
Making matters worse for Groh: Saturday's game in Charlottesville drew just 41,713 fans, the lowest turnout since their stadium was expanded in 2000.
Virginia finished 5-7 last year, and the Cavs have to win three of their remaining games against Miami (away), Boston College (home), Clemson (away) and Virginia Tech (home) to become eligible this season.
Not looking good for the Chessmaster.
In Tallahassee, Christian Ponder says his bruised ribs are feeling better.
Even so, that injury is a huge deal given how much Ponder runs around. If his mobility is limited Saturday as a result, that's a big plus for the Tigers as they try to bottle up the Seminoles' prolific offense.
That was one heck of a gutty performance by Ponder in Saturday's shootout win over N.C. State. He suffered the injury in the first quarter and was in a tremendous amount of pain thereafter.
"What a warrior," defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews said. "You'd don't want anybody to get hurt, but you'd like sometimes for each one of those guys to experience that kind of pain and have enough fortitude, want-to and desire to see it through. … If we can get everybody playing with that kind of determination, we might be a pretty good team before it's over."
Andrews briefly interrupted his postgame interview to walk over to Ponder and ever-so-gently hug him and tell him how much he appreciated his effort and performance.
"He is a leader, he is tough and they're learning to take his personality and fight and claw and scratch," echoed offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher. "I don't have enough words for him. I really don't. I don't have the words to describe the kid. I'm blessed to be able to coach him."
Speaking of injuries, Da'Quan Bowers likely will be on the shelf Saturday.
Gene Sapakoff remains on the Clemson bandwagon in his weekly Braggin' Rights Barometer.
Paul Strelow of The State writes about what might've been Willy Korn's swan song at Clemson.
Wake Forest QB Riley Skinner is banged-up after suffering a concussion against Miami.
Man, the Deacons gift-wrapped one Saturday against Miami.
Up 27-14, they fumbled a punt return at their own 2 to set up a Canes touchdown. Then they allowed Miami to convert on fourth-and-16 on the go-ahead touchdown drive.
One more thought on Bowers: If he can't play, maybe he could rip the national anthem on his guitar before the game -- Jimi Hendrix style.
I'd pay to see it.
LW
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Duke received three points yesterday in the USA Today Coaches' Poll.
Tell me the last time that's been said in November ... about Duke football.
Second-year coach David Cutcliffe is putting together quite a story in his second year at the helm of the doormat Blue Devils program.
Duke came from behind to beat Virginia on Saturday in Charlottesville to improve to 3-1 in the ACC.
For those of you who aren't aware of just how hard conference wins have been to come by for the Blue Devils for the last, oh, 40 years, here's some perspective:
-- Entering this season, Duke had won a grand total of two ACC games over the previous five years.
-- Since Steve Spurrier won the ACC at Duke in 1989, the Blue Devils posted losing ACC records 18 times in 19 years. Nine of those 18 losing seasons were winless seasons.
-- The last time Duke finished a season ranked was in 1962.
-- Over the last 14 seasons, the Blue Devils have totaled four winless seasons overall (0-12 in 2006, 0-11 in 2001, 0-11 in 2000, and 0-11 in 1996). Their best records over that stretch were 4-8 in 2008, 4-8 in 2003 and 4-7 in 1998.
As a lot of you know, the Blue Devils control their fate in the Coastal Division. A trip to the ACC title game still seems far-fetched given their remaining schedule (at North Carolina, Georgia Tech, at Miami, Wake Forest), but still ...
Here's a story from Bryan Strickland of the Durham Herald-Sun about the Blue Devils learning to deal with success.
The buzz around the Blue Devils from external sources is nice, but it's nothing compared to the feelings inside a football program that's had just one winning record over the past 19 seasons.
"There was a lot of joy," Cutcliffe said of the loud locker room in Charlottesville. "Our seniors, I made eye contact with all of them, and there was a lot of emotion. Those guys have been knocked around pretty good, and they know how hard they've worked.
"The atmosphere was wonderful. It was fun."
In the Raleigh paper, a piece on Duke gaining confidence.
"Finally," redshirt sophomore nose guard Charlie Hatcher said. "For the last two years, we put in all this work, and we finally get some results. We're in it at the end of the season. Going into November, we're in the fight."
On the other side of the fence, the noose tightens around the neck of Al Groh. The ninth-year Virginia coach now has the distinction of losing to Duke in back-to-back years.
Ouch.
Making matters worse for Groh: Saturday's game in Charlottesville drew just 41,713 fans, the lowest turnout since their stadium was expanded in 2000.
Virginia finished 5-7 last year, and the Cavs have to win three of their remaining games against Miami (away), Boston College (home), Clemson (away) and Virginia Tech (home) to become eligible this season.
Not looking good for the Chessmaster.
In Tallahassee, Christian Ponder says his bruised ribs are feeling better.
Even so, that injury is a huge deal given how much Ponder runs around. If his mobility is limited Saturday as a result, that's a big plus for the Tigers as they try to bottle up the Seminoles' prolific offense.
That was one heck of a gutty performance by Ponder in Saturday's shootout win over N.C. State. He suffered the injury in the first quarter and was in a tremendous amount of pain thereafter.
"What a warrior," defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews said. "You'd don't want anybody to get hurt, but you'd like sometimes for each one of those guys to experience that kind of pain and have enough fortitude, want-to and desire to see it through. … If we can get everybody playing with that kind of determination, we might be a pretty good team before it's over."
Andrews briefly interrupted his postgame interview to walk over to Ponder and ever-so-gently hug him and tell him how much he appreciated his effort and performance.
"He is a leader, he is tough and they're learning to take his personality and fight and claw and scratch," echoed offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher. "I don't have enough words for him. I really don't. I don't have the words to describe the kid. I'm blessed to be able to coach him."
Speaking of injuries, Da'Quan Bowers likely will be on the shelf Saturday.
Gene Sapakoff remains on the Clemson bandwagon in his weekly Braggin' Rights Barometer.
Paul Strelow of The State writes about what might've been Willy Korn's swan song at Clemson.
Wake Forest QB Riley Skinner is banged-up after suffering a concussion against Miami.
Man, the Deacons gift-wrapped one Saturday against Miami.
Up 27-14, they fumbled a punt return at their own 2 to set up a Canes touchdown. Then they allowed Miami to convert on fourth-and-16 on the go-ahead touchdown drive.
One more thought on Bowers: If he can't play, maybe he could rip the national anthem on his guitar before the game -- Jimi Hendrix style.
I'd pay to see it.
LW
For questions or comments on this blog entry, please visit The West Zone message board.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
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