If you have been following college football this season, then you know that Duke has been a topic of discussion this season, at least recently. They are having quite the start to their 2023 campaign and you could say that they’re riding the momentum of their successful 2022 season. Now, if you have followed Duke football in the past, then you know that success and Duke football aren't really synonymous, not until David Cutcliffe arrived in 2007. Cutcliffe’s final season was in 2021, but he brought a resurgence to this program. A rebirth may be the correct term, and I must say, the program was in dire need of it. Mike Elko is in his second season leading the Blue Devils and has had this team playing good football and credit certainly has to go to him for the success of this team. The opening week win against Clemson turned heads, but tonight will be a much bigger game for them. Football powerhouse Notre Dame will be in town tonight and they are looking to get things straightened out after falling short against Ohio State last week.

Prior to Cutcliffe and Elko, the Duke football team only had 3 seasons with 7 or more wins since 1962. If you’re doing the math, that is a 46-season span. In that span, you could definitely argue that Duke football and winning were not synonymous whatsoever. Prior to 1965 however, Duke actually had a pretty good football program. From 1930-65, Duke had a record of 228-98-17. While they never were selected as the #1 AP at any point during that span, they were Top 10 numerous times. They even finished #2 under the tutelage of Wallace Wade in 1941. In that particular season, they lost the 1942 Rose Bowl to Oregon State, 16-20. The Rose Bowl was moved to Durham that season, because of the Pearl Harbor attacks that happened less than a month prior to the football game and they were unsure if the Pacific coast was a safe venue. This was the only time that the Rose Bowl was not held in Pasadena, California, prior to 2021. The ’42 Rose Bowl was technically a home game for the Blue Devils at Duke Stadium (later named after the team’s coach in 1967), but the 14-point favorites couldn’t close it out against Oregon State, who traveled cross-country to play the #2 team in the nation. Many of the players for both teams enlisted in the military shortly after the game. 31 Oregon State players enlisted and 29 ended up joining the war effort. Wallace Wade, who was 49 years old at the time, enlisted in the Army and encouraged his players to do so as well.

Duke’s football success was primarily under head coaches; Wallace Wade, Eddie Cameron, and Bill Murray. During that span between 1930-65, these men led the Blue Devils onto the gridiron in all but one of those seasons. During that time, the Blue Devils had a 3-3 bowl record. Back then, there weren’t nearly as many bowl games as there are today. There were practically only 5 or 6 each year during that span. They also had 17 conference championships during that time frame. Prior to 1965, Duke football was legit. In the years that follow, a lot of failure… In the 46 dreadful seasons in between Coach Bill Murray and Coach David Cutcliffe, Duke was bad. Very, very bad. The Blue Devils only made bowl games in 2 seasons. Two! They only accumulated 151 wins during that time. If you’re doing the math again, that is less that 4 wins a season. Their total record was 151-305-8 in that span.

1960 Cotton Bowl Champion Duke Blue Devils - Duke Archives

Duke Football has been an afterthought prior to 2008. David Cutcliffe brought them back to relevance and made them a winning football team again. Cutcliffe’s 77-97 record isn't tremendous on paper, but his win/loss record will never truly show how much he meant to the Duke Football program. He brought them back from the dead. Nobody, and I mean nobody, wanted to play football at Duke prior to Cutcliffe’s arrival. Duke is a basketball school. Now, it could be said that Duke is a good football destination. I must say, it’s about time! College GameDay coming to town is a huge honor and it shows that Duke Football could be the real deal. Or at the very least, they may appear to be. Their Field General is Junior, Riley Leonard. Leonard is projected to be a late 1st Round pick in the upcoming draft and has had a solid start to the season. At the moment, Leonard isn't in the running for the Heisman or anything like that, but if Duke gets on a roll and has big wins throughout the year, they will have no option but to put him in that discussion. Leonard can get it done through the air and with his legs and he will have a lot of chances for him to showcase that in the upcoming schedule.

Tonight, the Blue Devils will host a very stout Notre Dame team. The Fighting Irish are coming off of a big loss at home against Ohio State and are looking to get back inside the Top 10. Former Wake Forest QB, Sam Hartman leads their team and is having a great start to the season as well. This will not be an easy game for Duke, but I think it is one that they can be competitive in. If they win tonight, they will not only surprise a lot of people, but they tell the world that they’re ready to compete with the big boys. Tonight, will be one of the most monumental games in the program’s history. Will they capitalize on it tonight? I guess we shall find out. Duke is currently a 5.5-point home underdog for tonight’s contest. It should be a good game.

Yacs

Duke is a Football School