Duke head coach David Cutcliffe got a nearly ideal nonconference schedule this season Credit: TAKAAKI IWABU

As the Blue Devils prepare for their final nonconference game of the year, they have a chance to equal the 3-1 mark the team reached in 2008, David Cutcliffe’s first season. That’s partly due to the fact that Duke is better than it has been the past few years. And it’s party due to better scheduling.

“It's a great question, it's a great philosophical question, but there's a reality to it,” Cutcliffe said when asked last week about his ideal nonconference schedule.

Part of the reality for Duke is looking for programs in similar building modes, such as Tulane (2010) and this week’s opponent, Memphis (2011), Cutcliffe said in a story that ran Saturday looking at the nonconference schedules for all three Triangle schools.

Josh Snead rushes for a touchdown in the thrid quarter of Duke's 54-17 win. Credit: BERNARD THOMAS - AP/Herald-Sun

5:30 p.m. update

Welcome to this edition of Sunday morning quarterback. In case you missed it, here’s the story from the largest win of the David Cutcliffe era, a 54-17 rout of NC Central.

Also, here is the story of Blair Holliday’s return to Duke. Just about two months ago, on July 4, Holliday was pulled unconscious from the water, bleeding out of his mouth, after his jet ski collided with one driven by teammate Jamison Crowder. In the interim, Holliday has waken from his coma and relearned to walk and talk.

The initial plan was for Holliday to watch the game from the Yoh football building that overlooks Wallace Wade Stadium. But he wanted to stay on the sideline, so teammates, including fellow WR Conner Vernon, took turns standing guard to make sure he stayed out of harm’s way.

“From where he’s come as quickly as he’s come defies a lot of logic and defies a lot of medicine,” Cutcliffe said after the game. “A large person of that is the person that Blair Holliday is. He ‘s much tougher than anyone might imagine.”

No truer words were spoken Saturday night.

With that, a look back at Duke’s victory:

11:27 p.m update

DURHAM -- Throughout the week, Duke head coach David Cutcliffe said the only way Duke could truly put its loss at Stanford in the past was to get back to work.

Saturday night, the Blue Devils saw all their efforts during the week pay off, as they never trailed and rolled to a 54-17 win over N.C. Central. Duke also scored on offense, defense and special teams for the first time since 2004.

The 37-point victory over the Eagles, a second-year FCS program, was Duke’s largest victory of Cutcliffe’s five-year tenure, eclipsing the 35-point victory during previous meeting of the two teams in 2009.

“To get better was important,” Cutcliffe said. “We’re not where we want to be, our team has some personal changes and some things we need to correct, but we did get better.”

Duke's Blair Holliday (8) was an honorary captain. Credit: LAURA KEELEY 

DURHAM—Good evening from Wallace Wade Stadium. Duke has taken the field in all black, and in about a 45 minutes’ time the contest between the Blue Devils and the Eagles of NC Central will commence.

The action started around 5 pm, though, when Blair Holliday led Duke into the stadium. The fact that he could do so only two months removed from a July 4 jet ski accident that left him unconscious in the water is, truly, a miracle.

Duke will be looking to bring the pregame feel-good vibes onto the field. If you haven’t already, check out the game preview. And here are a few other things to watch for:

Blair Holliday, wearing a purple-checked tie, walks into Wallace Wade Stadium two months removed from a life-threatening jet ski accident. Credit: LAURA KEELEY

DURHAM—As Leslie Holliday watched her son Blair lead the Blue Devils into Wallace Wade Stadium two hours before their game against NC Central, she could have cried.

She could have cried because two months ago her son was pulled unconscious from the waters of Lake Tillery after a July 4 jet ski accident. He was in a coma after a helicopter took him to UNC Trauma Center. Since then, her son has moved from inpatient to outpatient therapy, relearning how to walk and talk, at the Sheppard Center, an Atlanta rehabilitation hospital specializing in medical treatment, research and rehabilitation for people with spinal cord and brain injuries.

But Leslie Holliday didn’t cry Saturday because she didn’t want to embarrass her son, she said. Instead, she gave him a hug as he walked by in his black suit and purple-checkered tie. 

David Cutcliffe, Sean Renfree and all the Blue Devils are looking for a win Saturday against NC Central. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

Duke vs. North Carolina Central

When: 7 PM

Where: Wallace Wade Stadium, Durham

Line: no line

TV/radio: ESPN3/WDNC-620 AM, WKIX-102.9 FM

What they're saying nationally about Duke: 

ESPN’s Andrea Adelson: “Miami and Duke play FCS opponents this week, and it probably could not come at a better time for both teams. Each suffered disappointing losses on the road last week, so getting a win this week would at least help with some confidence.”

CBS Sports’ Sean Bielawski: “Duke and Miami should temper expectations. After promising wins on opening weekend, Duke had visions of playing in a bowl game and Miami was thinking about challenging for the Coastal Division title. Both faced major tests this weekend, hitting the road to face ranked teams, and both failed miserably….. Duke has a very manageable schedule in the next four weeks, and Miami plays several crucial conference games at home. However, the optimism surrounding the programs after Week 1 is no longer there.

What they’re saying nationally about NC Central:

Well, they don’t really talk nationally about FCS teams unless one has just pulled a huge upset. And this pretty much sums up that attitude:

Earlier this week, I caught up with ESPN senior recruiting analyst Dave Telep about Duke's latest recruit, Semi (pronounced Shem-ee) Ojeleye. The 6-foot-6, 215-pound small forward committed to Mike Krzyzewski Sunday night.

Q: What are your general impressions of Semi?

A: Semi is a guy that has a college-ready body. A real balanced approach to the game. He is a threat behind the line. He can put it on the floor and beat you with the mid-range jump shot, and I think the thing about Semi is that he has gotten better since last year. It sounds very simple, but that doesn’t happen for a lot of guys.

Q: How has he gotten better?

The sight of Duke taking the field against NC Central, which will play out Saturday at 7 p.m., will also occur for years to come.

The Blue Devils and the Eagles annouced today that they will play each other in the 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017 seasons. The moves gives Duke a I-AA opponent for those years and it allows the Bull City Gridiron Classic to continue. Duke and NCCU first played in 2009, with Duke winning that contest 49-14. That's the largest win in the David Cutcliffe era.

Duke S August Campbell (32) is the latest starter to go down with an injury. Credit: CHRIS SEWARD

The list just keeps growing.

S August Campbell, who left midway through the Stanford game with an injury, and DE Justin Foxx, who had surgery on his right ring finger the week, are the latest starters to move to the “out” list. Duke is now without seven projected starters: WR Blair Holliday, TE Braxton Deaver, NG Jamal Bruce, LB Kelby Brown, S Jordon Byas, Foxx and Campbell.

Key reserves LB Kelby Brown and S Corbin McCarthy are also out. Counting S Jeremy Cash, the Ohio State transfer whose waiver to play immediately was denied, Duke is now down 15 scholarship players.

“I’ve never been a part of any football team challenged like this one is,” head coach David Cutcliffe said in reference to the number of injuries.

CHAPEL HILL—When Notre Dame basketball coach Mike Brey and atheltic director Jack Swarbrick first talked about conference realignment, Brey had one request.

"I told our AD when conference movement was being talked about and the Big 12 was coming after us for this same kind of setup, I said, ‘Jack, we just can’t lose the East,'" Brey said. "'The East is important to our school, especially our basketball program. Please don’t take me to the Big 12.’"

Brey, a former Duke assistant under Mike Krzyzewski, got his wish when Notre Dame announced Wednesday it was joining the ACC as a full member in every sports expect football.