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Duke Blue Devils 2006 Preview

Duke Football Preview By: Matt Fargo
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college football previews : #103 Duke Blue Devils Preview

by: Matt Fargo

Spring practices are in the books and fall camps will be here before you know it so that means getting an early jump on the 2006 NCAA football season. Knowing the teams now will save you time in August and Matt Fargo is here to help you get a grasp of what to expect this upcoming year. We go from worst to first in this 2006 College Football Preview.

#103 – Duke Blue Devils 1-10 SU; 1-9 ATS

Fargo’s Take - Losing has become an annual tradition at Duke and that isn’t going to change this season. The Blue Devils have not had a winning season since 1994 and they have won an embarrassing three ACC games over the last six seasons. But as bad as last season was with no wins against a 1-A opponent, there will be an improvement thanks to a lot of young players getting a lot of time last season. However, the improvement won’t be significant and if Duke can snag three wins, it will be a success. The schedule does the Blue Devils no favors and playing in the rugged ACC gives them no shot of a winning season. Only three starters are back on offense, an offense that averaged a mere 16.1 ppg and had only five touchdowns through the air. Defensively, more players are back but it is not a strong unit, which finished 111th in scoring defense and 108th in rushing defense. The lacrosse scandal that took over the athletic program should have no effect on the football team and if anything, it could provide a needed distraction and give the fans something positive to rally around.

Returning Starters on Offense – 3 The offense was offensive to watch as Duke finished ahead one only one team in total offense, Temple, and that was by fewer than one yard per game. Duke could not run the ball, had a tough time throwing the ball and couldn’t score on a consistent basis. Duke managed to surpass 24 points only once and that was against 1-AA William & Mary, its only win of the season. The offense did improve as the season progressed, scoring 20 or more points in three of its final four games and carrying that into this season is a must. Quarterback Zack Asack was thrown into the fire as a freshman last year and should be much better but with no offensive line to help out, having ‘sack’ in his name might be appropriate.

Returning Starters on Defense – 6 The defense allowed 37.1 ppg last season and even that is a flawed average. Taking out the game against William & Mary and that average jumps to 39.4 ppg which would have put the Blue Devils at 115th in the nation. The passing defense finished 36th in the country but teams with big leads had no reason to throw the ball. There are playmakers returning with cornerback John Talley and linebacker Michael Tauiliili but other than that, there is not much to build around. The secondary brings back the most experience but until Duke can stuff the run, it won’t matter. The Blue Devils were one of only seven teams that allowed more than five ypc the ground last year so that is priority one that needs to be set.

Schedule - Playing in the ACC will always mean a difficult slate but the Blue Devils are penalized this season with the toughest schedule in the conference. Not only are they stuck in the more difficult Coastal Division, but they are the only team in the entire ACC that has to play Florida St., Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College, the top four contenders. The only good part of the schedule is that seven of the 12 games are at home, including a game against 1-AA Richmond. The bad news is that the season finale against North Carolina might be the only other possible win on the home schedule. A three-week stretch of games against Alabama, Florida St. and Miami could be mentally disastrous.

You can bet on… Duke will be 1-0 starting with Richmond and with a winnable game at Wake Forest after that, the confidence in Durham could be sky high. Wake Forest is improved but the Blue Devils match up well so anything can happen. After that however, it will be all downhill. Duke started last season losing its first nine games against the number showing just how competitive it wasn’t. Seven of those nine losses were when receiving double digits so it’s a guarantee we will see similar high numbers in 2006. There could be some great value in some of these upcoming numbers but pulling the trigger on a team this bad will be hard to execute.