2008 Duke Blue Devils football team

The 2008 Duke Blue Devils football team represented the Duke University in the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was led by head coach David Cutcliffe. They played their homes games at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, North Carolina.

2008 Duke Blue Devils football
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Division	Coastal
2008 record	4–8 (1–7 ACC)
Head coach	David Cutcliffe
Offensive coordinator	Kurt Roper Matt Luke
Offensive scheme	Multiple
Defensive coordinator	Mike MacIntyre Marion Hobby
Base defense	Multiple
Home stadium	Wallace Wade Stadium (Capacity: 33,941)

2008 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Atlantic Division
Boston College xy		5	–	3					9	–	5
No. 21 Florida State x		5	–	3					9	–	4
Maryland		4	–	4					8	–	5
Wake Forest		4	–	4					8	–	5
Clemson		4	–	4					7	–	6
NC State		4	–	4					6	–	7
Coastal Division
No. 15 Virginia Tech xy$		5	–	3					10	–	4
No. 22 Georgia Tech x		5	–	3					9	–	4
North Carolina		0	–	4					0	–	5
Miami		4	–	4					7	–	6
Virginia		3	–	5					5	–	7
Duke		1	–	7					4	–	8
Championship: Virginia Tech 30, Boston College 12
$ – BCS representative as conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant North Carolina vacated 8 wins, including 4 ACC wins Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 30	7:00 PM	No. 3 (FCS) James Madison*	Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC	ACCS	W 31–7	32,571
September 6	7:00 PM	Northwestern*	Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC	ACCS	L 20–24	23,614
September 13	12:00 PM	Navy*	Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC	ESPNU	W 41–31	25,082
September 27	12:00 PM	Virginia	Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC	ESPNU	W 31–3	25,527
October 4	12:00 PM	at Georgia Tech	Bobby Dodd Stadium Atlanta, GA	ESPNU	L 0–27	46,104
October 18	3:30 PM	Miami (FL)	Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC	ESPNU	L 31–49	32,011
October 25	3:00 PM	at Vanderbilt*	Vanderbilt Stadium Nashville, TN		W 10–7	38,270
November 1	3:30 PM	at Wake Forest	BB&T Field Winston-Salem, NC (Tobacco Road Rivalry)	ESPN360	L 33–30 ^OT	32,336
November 8	3:30 PM	NC State	Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC (Research Triangle rivalry)	ESPN360	L 27–17	31,964
November 15	12:00 PM	at Clemson	Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC	Raycom	L 31–7	76,217
November 22	5:30 PM	at Virginia Tech	Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA	ESPNU	L 14–3	66,233
November 29	3:30 PM	North Carolina	Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC (Battle for the Victory Bell)	ESPNU	L 28–20	30,322
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Personnel

Coaching staff

Name	Position	Seasons at Duke	Alma Mater
David Cutcliffe	Head Coach	1st	Alabama (1976)
Kurt Roper	Co-Offensive coordinator/Associate Head Coach/Quarterbacks	1st	Rice (1995)
Matt Luke	Co-Offensive coordinator/Offensive line	1st	Ole Miss (1999)
Mike MacIntyre	Co-Defensive coordinator	1st	Georgia Tech (1989)
Marion Hobby	Co-Defensive coordinator/Defensive line	1st	Tennessee (1995)
Reference:

Roster

Game summaries

James Madison

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 3 (FCS) Dukes	7	0	0	0	7
Blue Devils	7	7	17	0	31

See also: 2008 James Madison Dukes football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

Northwestern

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	7	10	0	7	24
Blue Devils	7	3	3	7	20

See also: 2008 Northwestern Wildcats football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
8-7	2007	DUKE, 20-14

Navy

	1	2	3	4	Total
Midshipmen	14	10	7	0	31
Blue Devils	10	10	14	7	41

See also: 2008 Navy Midshipmen football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
12-20-5	2007	NAVY, 46-43

Virginia

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cavaliers	3	0	0	0	3
Blue Devils	0	3	14	14	31

See also: 2008 Virginia Cavaliers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
27-32	2007	UVA, 24-13

at Georgia Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
Blue Devils	0	0	0	0	0
Yellow Jackets	0	3	7	17	27

See also: 2008 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
30–44–1	2007	GT, 41-24

Miami (FL)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hurricanes	7	7	21	14	49
Blue Devils	0	17	7	7	31

See also: 2008 Miami Hurricanes football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1-4	2007	MIA, 24-14

at Vanderbilt

	1	2	3	4	Total
Blue Devils	0	7	3	0	10
Commodores	0	0	0	7	7

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3-7	2006	VAN, 45-28

at Wake Forest

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Blue Devils	7	0	13	10	0	30
Demon Deacons	9	3	10	8	3	33

See also: 2008 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team and Tobacco Road rivalry

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
53-33-2	2007	WF, 41-36

North Carolina State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wolfpack	10	14	3	0	27
Blue Devils	3	7	0	7	17

See also: 2008 NC State Wolfpack football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
39-35-5	2003	NCST, 28-21

at Clemson

	1	2	3	4	Total
Blue Devils	0	0	0	7	7
Tigers	7	10	14	0	31

See also: 2008 Clemson Tigers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
16-34-1	2007	CLEM, 47-10

at Virginia Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
Blue Devils	0	3	0	0	3
Hokies	0	7	0	7	14

See also: 2008 Virginia Tech Hokies football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
7-8	2007	VT, 43-14

North Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tar Heels	14	7	7	0	28
Blue Devils	14	3	3	0	20

See also: 2008 North Carolina Tar Heels football team and Victory Bell (North Carolina–Duke)

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
36-53-4	2007	UNC, 20-14

Season facts

• Duke's four wins equaled the team's win total from the previous four seasons combined[1]
• According to the Sagarin rankings, Duke faced the second toughest schedule in the country[1]
• Of the 11 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision teams the Blue Devils played against, 10 became bowl-eligible (Virginia fell just short at 5-7). The 12th team, James Madison, went 12-1 in the Championship Subdivision.
• Duke place-kickers went 13-for-18 in field goal attempts, a 72.2 percent clip that was a team's best since 1998
• Punter Kevin Jones ranked third in the ACC with a 40.8-yard average per kick
• For the first time in history, attendance was over 30,000 for four home games
• Duke has finished last or tied for last in the ACC for five consecutive seasons and six out of the last seven

Statistics

Team

Team Opp Scoring 241  281    Points per Game 20.1  23.4  First Downs 213  212    Rushing 81  85    Passing 118  113    Penalty 14  14  Total Offense 3646  4283    Avg per Play 4.4  5.4    Avg per Game 303.8  356.9  Fumbles-Lost 23-9  20-11  Penalties-Yards 56-526  56-490    Avg per Game 43.8  40.8

Team Opp Punts-Yards 74-2904  62-2352    Avg per Punt 39.2  37.9  Time of Possession/Game 30:21  29:39  3rd Down Conversions 67/183 (37%)  66/168 (39%)  4th Down Conversions 7/19 (37%)  5/19 (26%)  Touchdowns Scored 29  35  Field Goals-Attempts-Long 13-88-55  11-55  PAT-Attempts 28-28  34-34  Attendance 201091  257833    Games/Avg per Game 7/28727  5/51567

[2]

Scores by quarter

1 2 3 4 Total Duke 48 60 74 59 241 Opponents 78 71 69 60 278

Offense

Rushing

Name	GP-GS	Att	Gain	Loss	Net	Avg	TD	Long	Avg/G
Clifford Harris
TEAM
Total
Opponents

Passing

Name	GP-GS	Effic	Att-Cmp-Int	Pct	Yds	TD	Lng	Avg/G
Thaddeus Lewis
TEAM
Total
Opponents

Receiving

Name	GP-GS	No.	Yds	Avg	TD	Long	Avg/G
Eron Riley
Austin Kelly
Total
Opponents

Defense

Name	GP	Tackles				Sacks	Pass Defense		Interceptions				Fumbles		Blkd Kick
		Solo	Ast	Total	TFL-Yds	No-Yds	BrUp	QBH	No.-Yds	Avg	TD	Long	Rcv-Yds	FF
Total

Special teams

Name	Punting								Kickoffs
	No.	Yds	Avg	Long	TB	FC	I20	Blkd	No.	Yds	Avg	TB	OB
Total

Name	Punt Returns					Kick Returns
	No.	Yds	Avg	TD	Long	No.	Yds	Avg	TD	Long
Total

References

1. Tysiac, Ken (December 21, 2008). "Cutcliffe Gets Extension". The News & Observer. Archived from the original on December 26, 2008. Retrieved December 21, 2008.
2. 2008 Duke Football Game Results