For one Duke player, facing Alabama is ‘like the Super Bowl’
While David Cutcliffe’s Duke teams have won nine of 11 openers since he took over the Blue Devils program, the opponent to open season No. 12 is unlike any of the previous foes.
Alabama was the winner of two of the last four College Football Playoff national championships while going 55-4. Two of those losses came in national title games where the Crimson Tide entered undefeated.
A year ago, Duke opened the season with a 34-14 win over Army, which went on to a stellar 11-2 season.
Still, Saturday’s matchup with No. 2 Alabama in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium marks a serious step up in competition for the Blue Devils.
“I think they are probably the most talented team, top to bottom, in the country,” Duke coach David Cutcliffe said during a press conference on Tuesday. “That’s what I honestly think. Along with that they are extremely well coached. They don’t have a lot of penalties They don’t bust assignments. They don’t make errors. They make you play their strengths.”
Duke’s football program is in far better shape now than it was when Cutcliffe arrived after the 2007 season. When he took the Duke coaching job, the Blue Devils had won just 10 games over the previous eight seasons.
Following his massive overhaul, Duke has played in bowl games in six of the last seven seasons -- posting winning seasons in five times this decade.
That includes going 8-5 last season and winning a bowl game for the second season in a row.
But ever since Duke’s 56-27 runaway win over Temple in the Independence Bowl ended in Shreveport, Louisiana, last Dec. 27, the focus turned to the gargantuan task Alabama presents to the Blue Devils.
“It’s something that we’ve thought about for a while now,” Duke quarterback Quentin Harris said in an interview with the News & Observer last Friday. “We’ve put in the hard work. We’re ready for the opportunity.”
Duke right guard from Alabama
For Duke starting right guard Rakavius Chambers, the game against Alabama culminates not just months of preparation but a lifetime of waiting.
Chambers came to Duke from Opelika, Alabama, just outside Auburn. His father, Roderick, played football for the Auburn Tigers, Alabama’s fierce rival, for four seasons from 1997-2000.
An all-state player in high school, Chambers always favored Auburn over Alabama. Now he gets to join his father in playing against the Crimson Tide.
“This is kind of like the Super Bowl for me,” Chambers said during a press conference after Tuesday’s practice. “This is one of the reasons why I came to Duke, for this game right here. These guys have always been the big dogs in Alabama. I think it’s an opportunity to show what I have and show who I am as a person and as a player.”
Duke senior defensive end Tre Hornbuckle faces the likelihood of having to get by Alabama offensive tackle Alex Leatherwood, already considered one of the top tackles in next year’s NFL draft.
Again, that’s a different level of talent than Football Championship Subdivision schools -- like N.C. Central, Elon and James Madison -- Duke has faced in previous season-opening games under Cutcliffe.
“It’s more excitement than nerves,” Hornbuckle said after Tuesday’s practice. “I’m just ready to go out there against top-notch competition. It’s a top-two team in the country. I think all of us on the team are ready to show we can hang with anybody. We are very excited for this game.”
Alabama has made a habit of dominating its opponents, whether they be fellow Southeastern Conference teams or other teams from Power Five conferences.
The Crimson Tide beat Louisville 51-14 to open last season. Their first conference game? A 51-7 wipeout of Mississippi. Alabama also beat Tennessee 58-21 and Auburn 52-21 last season.
“You don’t go playing this game and not get exposed if you are not a fierce competitor,” Cutcliffe said. “Your first effort is never enough in a big game. That’s one thing I can tell players and even young coaches. When you play in this caliber of ballgame your first effort is never enough. It’s your second and your third.”
Here are other notes from Cutcliffe’s Tuesday press conference:
Quansah could start
Linebacker Koby Quansah broke his right thumb in practice last Thursday and had surgery on Friday to stabilize the injury and promote healing.
That didn’t stop him from taking part in practice on Tuesday. Duke’s depth chart lists the senior as a starter for the Alabama game although a final decision hasn’t been made.
“I could call Koby day-to-day,” Cutcliffe said. “Here’s what the whole focus is with any player and certainly one that comes off surgery: Can we put him in a situation where he’s protected completely and will have no chance whatsoever of further injury and can he be effective? We don’t know the answer of the effectiveness yet. I think the doctors and the trainers feel good about him being able to play.”
Quansah and redshirt freshmen Shaka Heyward are the starting linebackers as Duke must replace Ben Humphreys and Joe Giles-Harris, its starting linebackers each of the last three seasons.
Freshman tackles get their shots
The Blue Devils will start redshirt freshman Casey Holman and freshman Jacob Monk at the left and right tackle positions against Alabama, Cutcliffe said.
Both won their starting jobs by playing better than their competition in August practices.
“Jacob Monk, since he’s been here, he’s played with consistency,” Cutcliffe said. “I think he’s one of our more consistent pass protectors, run blockers. He’s very physical.”
Unlike Monk, Holman played some college football last season for Duke. Under a new NCAA rule implemented last season, he could play four games and still take a redshirt season.
“He comes out of a great high school program in Georgia,” Cutcliffe said. “He’s played against a lot of great high school players. He hasn’t missed a beat. He’s a very fierce competitor.”
Duke vs. Alabama
Kickoff Classic
When: 3:30 p.m., Saturday
Where: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta
Watch: ABC
This story was originally published August 27, 2019 at 2:24 PM.