Staff photo by Chuck Liddy
DURHAM — Miami and Duke have each won one ACC game since their meeting last September at the Orange Bowl. The Hurricanes are 1-9 and the Blue Devils are 1-8.
Make that 2-9 for Miami. The Hurricanes scored 35 straight points in the second half to run away from Duke for a 49-31 win.
DURHAM — The theme for the 2008-09 Duke basketball season is “Our house, our court.” ACC Now is taking that to mean the Devils promise not to lose at home this season.
The Devils didn't have to worry about that on Saturday. The Blue-White scrimmage ended at Cameron, telling the story that the Duke basketball team will be fast, it can be deep, and its freshmen will have roles on this team.
Duke basketball player Greg Paulus has a sense of what his brother Mike, a backup redshirt freshman quarterback for the North Carolina Tar Heels football team, is going through these days.
With UNC starter T.J. Yates getting injured in the second half against Virginia Tech with the Heels leading, Paulus came off the bench and threw two interceptions. The Heels let the lead slip in an eventual loss and Paulus took his share of heat as a result.
Paulus and Cameron Sexton both played the following week in a win at Miami where Sexton, a junior, emerged as Yates' replacement.
DURHAM —If you're into ogling, keep an eye trained behind the Duke bench during the Blue-White scrimmage starting at 1 p.m. You'll see the future of Duke basketball as Duke hosts all four of its recruiting commitments in its next two incoming classes.
Forwards Ryan Kelly and Mason Plumlee from the 2009 class and combo guard Tyler Thornton and forward Josh Hairston from the 2010 class will be taking in annual intrasquad scrimmage.
Also, small forward Harrison Barnes, a top five prospect in the 2010 class being recruited by, well, everyone, will visit Duke next weekend when the Blue Devils hosts Virginia Union at 1 p.m. in their first exhibition game of the preseason.
DURHAM — Duke will focus on the art of finishing games when it suits up for the annual Blue-White scrimmage in Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said they'll run two 15-minute halves, the first starting with a tie score with 15 minutes left in the game. Several players will switch sides then they'll reset the clock, again with 15 minutes remaining. Krzyzewski said he wanted to see how his players, including 11 returning letterwinners from a 28-6 team last season, reacted to free throws, pressure, etc.
"It's stuff we practice all the time but with a crowd we can have two end-of-game situations so it should be pretty good," he said. "Hopefully we win."
Duke's injury report
Out: RB Re'quan Boyette (leg),
C Marcus Lind (shoulder)
Doubtful: WR Johnny Williams (dental abscess)
Questionable: DE Wesley Oglesby (leg), CB Leon Wright (leg).
DURHAM — It's homecoming weekend at Duke and the festivities culminate with several sporting events on Friday and Saturday.
The basketball team opens its season with a practice session that coach Mike Krzyzewski will open to the public on Friday. Cameron Indoor Stadium doors open at 4 p.m.; practice begins at 5 p.m.
DURHAM — Duke coach David Cutcliffe doesn't think he's crazy for taking on the reclamation project that was Duke football after the 2007 season. Even now, with Duke 3-2 and 1-1 in the ACC, some of his coaching friends do.
"I've already had some coaching friends call me crazy," Cutcliffe said Wednesday during the ACC coaches' teleconference. "I've already had some people call me about [NFL] coordinator jobs. But I say, 'Listen, I am right where I need to be and I'm thrilled to be here."
The NCAA released its graduation rates and as a conference, the ACC tops the list with a graduation rate of 72.3 percent of its football players.
That's not surprising given the ACC's standing among the country's academic elite — six of the conference's schools rank among the top 50 in the US News & World Report's list of the top 100 schools.
DURHAM — The Duke defense has had a knack in ending drives for other teams in back-breaking ways — interceptions, forcing fumbles, key stops on third or fourth down. That's what the Devils did in beating Virginina 31-3 a couple of weeks ago.
Duke (3-2, 1-1 ACC) will have a much tougher time doing that against Miami, which ranks 11th in the nation in red-zone offense with 13 touchdowns and eight field goals. Twenty-three times this season the Hurricanes' offense has made it within 20 yards of the goal line and 21 times they've walked away with points.
Duke coach David Cutcliffe talks, in this audio clip, about what Duke will do to slow Miami down.
