What will Duke football’s gameday look like vs. Boston College? Different, for sure.
Duke opened the football season at Notre Dame last week with so many fans in the stands, the band blaring and cheerleaders cheering that Blue Devils coach David Cutcliffe said it felt like a normal game.
This week? The Duke players will come out of the tunnel for their home opener at Wallace Wade Stadium against Boston College to find hardly a soul in the place.
Last week, the Blue Devils had to deal with Irish quarterback Ian Book during a 27-13 loss. This week the BC quarterback could be Phil Jurkovec, who was Book’s backup at Notre Dame last season and helped beat BC 40-7.
Jeff Hafley, BC’s new head coach, was co-defensive coordinator last season at Ohio State, losing to Clemson in the college football playoffs. At Clemson was Chase Brice, now Duke’s starting quarterback.
You can’t make this stuff up. It’s crazy. But so it goes in 2020, the year of the virus, when the abnormal becomes normal and nothing is routine.
In short, no one can know what to expect Saturday. It’s BC’s opener. Hafley is playing it coy, putting “or” on his game-week depth chart 17 times in listing the starters and backups. That includes the quarterback position, where either Jurkovec or Dennis Grosel will start.
If Hafley wants to keep the Blue Devils guessing, he is. He just wants to get on the field and play a game, saying if it had to be put to a vote, the players would take 10 buses and drive the 700 miles to Durham if that was the only way they could play. (Side note: they won’t. The Eagles do have a charter flight.)
Wallace Wade Stadium has rarely been full for Duke football games, even though home attendance has risen given Cutcliffe’s success with the program and the upgrades made to the stadium.
But empty? Cutcliffe said it might feel more like a scrimmage Saturday. And a bit eerie. Notre Dame allotted 200 tickets for the Duke players’ families to attend the game but North Carolina’s COVID-19 restrictions don’t allow large gatherings.
There is one advantage, Cutcliffe said, slightly tongue in cheek. His voice can be heard, loud and clear, by the referees, even on the far side of the field.
The coaches, in keeping with COVID-19 protocols, do wear masks on the sideline. Hafley, for example, joked this week that the closer he gets to game day the more sticks of gum he crams into his mouth — “I’ve got eight in there now,” he said during his weekly press conference — but that the mask will cover that up on Saturday.
UNC’s Kenan Stadium was a quiet place last week, with just 25 fans allowed in. It will be much the same Saturday night at N.C. State’s Carter-Finley Stadium for the Pack’s season opener against Wake Forest. And at Wallace Wade Stadium.
“I don’t know what it’s going to be like,” Cutcliffe said at his weekly press conference. “You know I would love for our fans to be a part of it. I mean, that’s college football at its best. Obviously not my decision but, oh yes, we love having fans in the stadium.”
Some will be there, but in photo only. Duke is selling fan cutouts for the stadium. Students can buy one for $50 and fans have various options, with a low price of $60 with five or more cutouts.
‘”That’ll be different,” Brice said.
And a game without fans?
“I’m not really sure,” Brice said. “It’s never happened before. I’ve never played a game where there’s no fans. I’m sure there will be a little bit of an adjustment. Pregame you’re going to have to bring your own juice and level of intensity. You’re not going to have the fans behind you.
“But that’s what it is. You just deal with it and play the game.”
In this season, in the year 2020, that’s all they can do. And keep hoping there are more games to play.
This story was originally published September 17, 2020 at 1:50 PM.
