In U.Va. match-up, Blue Devils eye end to ACC hex

By Doug Doughty

Lost in all the uproar over Virginia's underdog status today is the possibility that the Cavaliers' opponent today at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, N.C., really has improved.

At 2-1, Duke already has posted more victories under first-year coach David Cutcliffe than in any of the past three seasons. Duke hasn't won as many as three games in a season since 2003, when Carl Franks' last team went 4-8.

Franks was succeeded by defensive coordinator Ted Roof, who left following the 2007 season, but not before predicting that the Blue Devils would come of age in 2008.

It has helped that Duke is playing its first four games at home, the first time that has happened. The Blue Devils sandwiched wins over James Madison and Navy around a 24-20 loss to Northwestern, a game in which a Duke touchdown was nullified by a holding penalty.

Cutcliffe has said "the stakes will rise" today, when the Blue Devils and Cavaliers (1-2) begin conference play. Duke has lost 25 consecutive straight ACC games but is a seven-point favorite, the first time in 41 conference games that Duke has been the oddsmakers' choice.

"This is the real deal - ACC football," said Cutcliffe, who comes from the Southeastern Conference, where he was the head coach at Mississippi between two stints as the offensive coordinator at Tennessee.

Presumably, Cutcliffe knows something about big-time football, but he also might be a master of hyperbole.

He said the Blue Devils will be at a mismatch from a size standpoint and described the Cavaliers as "one of the biggest and best-looking football teams I've seen."

If that's the case, looks can be deceiving. In their only games against Division I-A opposition, the Cavaliers lost to Southern California by 45 and Connecticut by 35.

The Cavaliers went to Connecticut without Peter Lalich, their starting quarterback in the first two games, and now Lalich has been dismissed from the team. His replacement, sophomore Marc Verica, was 22 of 30 for 158 yards against UConn.

"I think, without the youngster that's been there, they're going to be more mobile and athletic at quarterback," Cutcliffe said.

Verica used his feet to avoid the Connecticut rush, but he had only two rushing attempts, one a sack for a 15-yard loss.

"As the old song goes, 'You've got to know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em,' " Cavaliers coach Al Groh said. "That's as important as the ability to run. Sometimes, guys are just looking down the field. They're so intent. They want to get the read."

Duke quarterback Thaddeus Lewis, who has the benefit of 26 career starts, leads the conference in total offense.

"You hear people refer to our game these days as 'basketball on grass,' " Groh said. "And that's kind of what it is... If this was in Cameron Indoor Stadium, you'd probably hear the coach on the sideline yelling, 'Push it.' It's the same thing as the guy pulling the rebound down, throwing it up the floor and the team getting an uncontested basket."

That's a pace U.Va. clearly hopes to avoid today.