There is no doubt that the turnaround the Duke Football program has made in the five-and-a-half years since David Cutcliffe took over as coach is remarkable.
The Blue Devils went from being a complete laughing stock to a team that has gone to one bowl and has a reasonable chance to challenge for a second consecutive bowl this season. Still there is far more that can be done and you can look about half-way across the country to see an example of who Duke should aim to be and what can actually be done.
In a primetime, big-time match up with the No. 4 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes, the Northwestern Wildcats were on as big stage as you can get this early in the year and nearly came out on top.
This may not be a big deal since Northwestern was ranked 16th, but considering where the Wildcats came from, the fact that this game ever game to be is miraculous. It wasn’t that long ago though that the Wildcats and the Blue Devils shared a level of mediocrity that few could match.
Rewind about 31 years and the Wildcats were as low as you could get in Division I/FBS level football. They were the record holders for most consecutive losses (34) and were mired at the very bottom of the Big 10 Conference. Northwestern was an academic powerhouse but when it came to football they were an after thought. Sound familiar Duke fans?
The years of futility despite the consecutive losing streak coming to and end would continue until 1995 when coach Gary Barnett led the Wildcats to an incredible 10-2 season, a Big 10 Title, the first in 59 years, and a Rose Bowl appearance. The following year they repeated as conference champs.
Barnett couldn’t keep the success going, and in 1998 he left to take the job at Colorado. Randy Walker replaced Barnett, and while he couldnt’ quite get the Wildcats back to conference championship status, Northwestern still managed to make some noise winning a few big games here and there and getting a to a couple of bowl games during his six year run.
Walker sadly passed away from a heart attack and current coach Pat Fitzgerald took over. Since Fitzgerald took over the Wildcats haven’t’ won a conference title but they have consistently been winning games and they are making bowl trips routine something the Blue Devils would like to see happen.
It is hard as a Duke fans to sit and watch and not wonder why the Blue Devils can’t eventually have that kind of success. Looking at the two schools they both have strict academic requirement, they both have small undergraduate enrollments (Northwestern just over 8,000 and Duke just over 6,000), still the Wildcats have found football success.
In the football rich Big 10 the Wildcats have a strong fan base that show up to support the team week in and week out, meanwhile Duke’s fan base seemingly revolves only around basketball, save a few thousand fans who turn out every Saturday. The Blue Devils have slowly started to win games yet fans have been reticent to actually show up.
The difference is that Northwestern has won a few marquee games against big-name schools. Duke on the other hand is just starting to take care of teams on their schedule they are expected to beat and those that are seen a 50/50 match ups. To date they haven’t beaten a ranked opponent under Cutcliffe and really haven’t even come close.
Still it is hard to see Northwestern hosting College Game Day and wonder if Duke will ever reach that level where they will host a game of national prevalence at Wallace Wade.
Wade is in the midst of a multi-million dollar upgrade over the next several years and part of the upgrades include expansion to include more than 40,000 seats (it currently seats just over 33,000). With the struggle to get even that many butts in the seats now, many wonder why expand. But Cutcliffe knows that besides winning, having top-notch facilities is a key to luring recruits.
Northwestern has beautiful facilities and despite their rigorous academic standards, they are getting recruits that are helping them compete in the Big 10 and on a national stage. These recruits are ones that could easily go to Duke and for the Blue Devils to compete facility upgrades are a major part of the appeal to come to Durham.
Getting to the program’s first bowl game in 18 years helped last year as recruits took notice. If Duke makes it back to a bowl game with probably a less talented and experienced group this year, that can only bode well for the future. A future that shouldn’t be too dissimilar from what Northwestern has been able to accomplish.
Duke is slowly luring more talented prospects like 4-star quarterback Nico Pierre out of Florida who verbally committed to Duke a few months ago. The Blue Devils have got to get more big scores in recruiting and if they can steal a few of those from the likes of Northwestern then their road to a more level playing field will shorten.
Most don’t feel that Duke will ever compete nationally or even in the ACC in football, but why not? If a school like Northwestern can do it, if a school like Stanford can do it, why not Duke?
