[CC06]

Raise The Roof: A Duke Blue Devils Dynasty

It's hard to pinpoint the saddest thing about Duke football.

Is it the Blue Devils' current 20-game losing streak? Or is it the fact the current run of frustration is merely the program's second-longest losing streak in the last decade? Is it that Duke has lost 17 straight ACC games? Or is it the fact that streak pales in comparison to the 26-game conference losing streak between 1999 and 2002 or the 21-game conference losing streak between 1995 and 1998?

The hard truth is that Duke hasn't been very good in a long time. The program's last winning season -- and last bowl trip -- came in 1994, when first-year coach Fred Goldsmith somehow coaxed an 8-4 season out of the players he inherited from Barry Wilson. Aside from Steve Spurrier, who was 20-13-1 in three seasons in the late 1980s, no other Duke coach has compiled a winning record since Bill Murray retired in 1965.

Current head coach Ted Roof, who took over for Carl Franks midway through the 2003 season, is a dismal 5-34 through his three-and-a-half seasons. Amazingly, he kept his job last fall while his Tobacco Road neighbors John Bunting and Chuck Amato were fired despite far superior records.

But Duke athletic director Joe Alleva is confident Roof is on the right track. He's so confident, in fact, that he convened a unique "Football Summit" last winter to explain Roof's plan to dozens of concerned former players. While the meetings were closed to the press, the majority of the attendees told reporters they were impressed by the presentation and were willing to give Roof the two more seasons he asked for to bring his plan to fruition.

In return, Roof promised that Duke would be bowl eligible by the 2008 season.

Is there any rationale for thinking the former Georgia Tech linebacker can convert an 0-12 team on a 20-game losing streak into a bowl team in the next two seasons? Well, there's at least some reason for optimism. The argument goes that Roof recruited very well in 2004 and 2005 (both classes were rated in the top 35 nationally by Scout.com). Many of the recruits in those classes had to play before they were ready (14 freshmen played in 2005 and nine more last season), but in the next two years, those promising prospects will start to come into their own.

"You really start to find out about your recruiting class, their third year in the program," Roof said, pointing out that his first full recruiting class will be third-year players this fall.

The one place where the growing experience of this team should make the most difference is at quarterback. Two years ago, Roof started freshman Zack Asack at the position and paid the price for playing a quarterback right out of high school. Asack was supposed to be the anchor for a young offense last season, but just before the start of spring practice he was suspended from school for a year for academic problems. That forced Roof to start a freshman QB for the second straight year.

Thaddeus Lewis displayed considerable promise -- his 2,134 yards passing ranks fourth in ACC history for a freshman -- but he wasn't mature enough to make Duke a winner.

"When I came out [for the first time], I forgot the play," Lewis said after spring practice. "Most of the time, I was thinking about what I had to do on each play. Now, I come out and understand the game. I'm able to run the operation and feel comfortable and play without thinking. It's totally different."

It wouldn't have taken a huge improvement to turn some of those 12 losses into wins. Duke lost three times on the final snap in 2006:

• After dominating eventual ACC champion Wake Forest for most of the game, place-kicker Joe Surgan had a chip-shot field goal for the win in the final seconds. His kicked was blocked.

• Down 20-15 to Miami, Duke was on the Hurricanes' six-yard line with time for one play. Lewis' pass to the goal line was intercepted.

• Patrick Bailey returned an interception for a touchdown that should have tied the finale against North Carolina in the closing minutes. But Surgan's game-tying extra point was blocked and Duke lost by one.

Mistakes in the kicking game hurt badly in a number of other games. It's not farfetched to suggest that with better performance on special teams, Duke could have won three or four games last year. Of course, the same could be said about the offensive line play or the quarterbacking or the play in the secondary.

There's no guarantee any of those problems will be addressed this season. But Roof remains optimistic his program is making progress. He sees that progress in the increased competition for playing time at a number of positions.

"Competition brings out the best in everybody," he said. "That's when you know you're starting to build something, when you start seeing those competitions for jobs and playing time."

Maybe more importantly, the Duke players still believe in what Roof is trying to accomplish.

"[Success is] right around the corner," junior linebacker Michael Tauiliili said. "Within our team, we see all the good things that are about to come. We just need to get used to winning. Once we know how to win, there's just going to be a domino effect from there."

Roof still has a long way to go to make good on his promise to be bowl eligible in 2008. But it would be surprising if Duke's improvement doesn't produce at least a few wins in 2007.

DEPTH CHART

Offense
QB - Thaddeus Lewis SO
HB - Re'quan Boyette JR
FB - Tielor Robinson SR (RS)
WR - Eron Riley JR
WR - Jomar Wright SR
TE - Nick Stefanow SR (RS)
LT - Cameron Goldberg JR (RS)
LG - Zach Maurides SR (RS)
C - Matt Rumsey SR
RG - Rob Schirmann JR (RS)
RT - Fred Roland JR (RS)

Defense
LE - Ryan Radloff SO (RS)
RE - Patrick Bailey SR
DT - Vince Oghobaase SO (RS)
DT - Ayanga Okpokowururk SO (RS)
LOLB - Charles Robinson JR (RS)
MLB - Michael Tauiliili JR
ROLB - Vincent Rey SO
CB - Leon Wright SO
CB - Jabari Marshall JR (RS)
FS - Chris Davis SR
SS - Adrian Aye-Darko JR (RS)

Special Teams
K - Joe Surgan JR
P - Kevin Jones FR (RS)
KR - Jabari Marshall JR (RS)
PR - Leon Wright SO

Bold denotes an Impact Player.



Coming Up: ESPN's 2007 College Football Season Preview

[ATL Jones Bro3]

please add some color, otherwise good.

[Marlinsfan99]

very good CC06

[Jordai]

Im following. Thought it was basketball but it couldn't be...

[rh6 and dtrain]

I'll follow CC, good start

[Hurley_2]

ill follow its going to be tough to try to get Duke out of the cellar of the ACC, Dukes QB a couple years ago (forget his name) is from a few towns over.

Originally Posted by CC06

Coming Up: ESPN's 2007 College Football Season Preview

how do people do that

[Tribe2841]

Originally Posted by hassan

how do people do that

Paint.

[SmoothTurn2]

haha, i thought this was going to be basketball and was thinking why is it here? haha...i love duke basketball so i am rooting for you.

[CC06]

2007 SEASON PREVIEW

Preseason Coaches' Poll
1. USC Trojans (32) - 0-0
2. Michigan Wolverines (27) - 0-0
3. LSU Tigers (1) - 0-0
4. Florida Gators (1) - 0-0
5. Texas Longhorns - 0-0
6. West Virginia Mountaineers - 0-0
7. Wisconsin Badgers - 0-0
8. Oklahoma Sooners - 0-0
9. Virginia Tech Hokies - 0-0
10. Arkansas Razorbacks - 0-0
11. Louisville Cardinals - 0-0
12. Ohio State Buckeyes - 0-0
13. Auburn Tigers - 0-0
14. Nebraska Cornhuskers - 0-0
15. Tennessee Volunteers - 0-0
16. Cal Golden Bears - 0-0
17. Penn State Nittany Lions - 0-0
18. Georgia Bulldogs - 0-0
19. UCLA Bruins - 0-0
20. Rutgers Scarlet Knights - 0-0
21. Florida State Seminoles - 0-0
22. TCU Horned Frogs - 0-0
23. Boise State Broncos - 0-0
24. Texas A&M Aggies - 0-0
25. Boston College Eagles - 0-0



Pre-Season All-Americans

Offense
QB - Brian Brohm, Louisville
HB - Mike Hart, Michigan
FB - Owen Schmitt, West Virginia
WR - Mario Manningham, Michigan
WR - Marcus Monk, Arkansas
WR - Limas Sweed, Texas
TE - Martin Rucker, Missouri
T - Barry Richardson, Clemson
G - Hercules Satele, Hawaii
C - Jeff Byers, USC
G - Will Arnold, LSU
T - Gosder Cherilus, Boston College

Defense
DE - Derrick Harvey, Florida
DE - Tim Jamison, Michigan
DT - Sedrick Ellis, USC
DT - Glenn Dorsey, LSU
OLB - Xavier Adibi, Virginia Tech
MLB - Vince Hall, Virginia Tech
OLB - Robert James, Arizona State
CB - Paul Oliver, Georgia
CB - Antoine Cason, Arizona
FS - Thomas DeCoud, Cal
SS - Tom Zbikowski, Notre Dame

Special Teams
RET - Darren McFadden, Arkansas
K - Art Carmody, Louisville
P - Andrew Larson, Cal

Coming Up: Live from Blacksburg, VA, the Gameday crew will preview Week 1.