Nov. 16, 2000

WHEN DUKE HAS THE BALL: If you are a Carolina fan and are serious about your football, you probably already know that the Blue Devil offense deserves your attention.

Author's note: If you just leaned back in your chair and enjoyed a hearty guffaw at the suggestion that Duke has a dangerous offense, I respectfully invite you to pull your head out of the sand and carefully read the rest of this column.

Except for a few bright moments against Clemson, the Devils couldn't move it against air the first 8 games of the season. They couldn't protect their quarterback and wide open receivers caught the ball like their hands had been dipped in cup grease. But to the credit of Carl Franks and his offensive staff, Duke has responded with a total of 57 points the last two games. (The UNC offense has 33 points in their last two games.)

There are three reasons why Duke is a different offense now. 1) Quarterback D. Bryant. After completing 31 of 72 passes (43%) his first two starts, Bryant has connected on 86 of 143 (60%) over the past four weeks. He completed a school record 16 straight against NC State and finished the game 23-36 (64%) for 310 yards. He has gotten better each start and is elusive.

2) Tight End Mike Hart. He is 6 feet 6 inches tall, 247 pounds, Duke's leading receiver and he leads all ACC Tight Ends in receiving yards. Duke uses him intelligently, lining him up in different places to force the defense to make some hard decisions about with whom to cover him. Do you put a defensive back on him and give up a tremendous height disadvantage, or cover him with a linebacker that may not be able to run with him?

3) Freshman Tailback Chris Douglas. He leads all freshman nationally in all-purpose yards, averaging over 131 per game. He runs hard, low and with his shoulder pads out in front of him, and he is an above average pass receiver for a running back.

WHEN UNC HAS THE BALL: Statistically, the Duke defense is among the nation's poorest, but Carolina's offense hasn't exactly been chewing up the yards the last two games, and the story in Chapel Hill is also at quarterback.

By sending fewer receivers out and by giving Ronald Curry only half of the field to scan against Pittsburgh and Maryland, offensive coordinator Mike O'Cain succeeded in minimizing Curry's weaknesses, but has Coach O'Cain also inadvertantly minimized Curry's strengths? I mean, if you have a virtuoso guitar player in your band who is an unbelievable soloist but who also hits a sour note every once in a while, do you tell him to just stand in the back and play the campfire chords? Or do you let him front the band, be what he is, play to his strengths and live with the consequences?

What Ronald does best is throw the ball down the field and run it if the play breaks down.

It will be interesting to see how much of the offense the Tar Heels give to Curry on Saturday.

INTANGIBLES: You know them as well as I do. Chiefly, the pressure is all on UNC. Duke has one of the top punters in America. The field at Wallace Wade is in such sorry condition it makes Kenan's field look like Augusta National.

HOW I SEE IT: Duke will win the game if Carolina can't bring consistent pass rush to D. Bryant, if the Tar Heels can't stay with Duke's big receivers, if Blake Ferguson gets a punt blocked, if Duke gets ahead and remains multi-dimensional offensively, if UNC turns it over 4 or more times to 1 or fewer by the Blue Devils, and if a monkey flies through the air.

Naw, seriously, I believe that Duke's offense will score some points but that the Blue Devils, defensively, are not good enough yet to dent Carolina's offense.

Tar Heels 36 Blue Dukes 24