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Halftime: Duke 9, Maryland 7

Maryland, for lack of a better term, snoozed through much of the first half.

Four plays effectively made up for all the Terrapins' miscues.

Kenny Tate nearly sacked Duke quarterback Sean Renfree. Antwine Perez picked off Renfree on the next play. Quarterback Danny O'Brien found Torrey Smith for a 44-yard gain. And Davin Meggett had a punishing 3-yard touchdown run.

In that order, with a few other plays spliced in as well.

In any case, Maryland is within 9-7 at the break, though the yardage deficit  (227-132) would suggest the Blue Devils should be up a little more.

Not a whole lot of good for Maryland, but let's look at the weekly midgame feature anyway ...

THREE STARS

1. Kenny Tate. The safety has six tackles, a sack and two tackles for loss, effectively popping up everywhere as needed. The junior had a near-sack of Sean Renfree the play before Renfree threw an interception, and he's been a general nuisance to this point.

2. Antwine Perez. The senior safety intercepted Renfree, the first pick of his career. It denied Duke a chance to go up 12-0 on the next play, and instead sent Maryland on its way to a touchdown drive to narrow the deficit.

3. Torrey Smith. The junior is clearly not 100 percent, and Maryland even took him off kickoffs in the middle of the half. He was mostly a decoy early, but Danny O'Brien did find him for the big gain to set up the lone touchdown of the half.

Also noteworthy: Jamarr Robinson hasn't stepped foot on the field. Will be interesting to see if that changes after the break.

Five game-day predictions: Maryland-Duke

Again, a few hours early, but a few predictions to consider entering Maryland's conference opener against Duke.

1. Danny O'Brien will start, but both he and Jamarr Robinson will play. O'Brien made his first start last week, and would seem the logical choice to work at least the first series against Duke. Robinson is probable with a shoulder injury, but here's guessing he gets a look at some point.

2. Da'Rel Scott will become the 10th player in Maryland history to crack the 2,000-yard rushing plateau. The senior needs 98 yards to get there. Duke ranks 114th nationally against the rush. The conditions are right for a big day for Scott.

3. Tony Logan will move into the top five in school history in punt return yardage. The junior needs just 52 yards to pull even with Keeta Covington and crack the top five in Terrapin history. There's a good chance he gets the opportunity to do just that.

4. For a change, Maryland won't have two double-digit tacklers. In all three September games against major-college opponents, the Terps had at least two players with at least 10 tackles. That has a little bit to do with the 82, 85 and 98 plays the Maryland defense was on the field. That number will be a little more manageable, though it's worth pointing out Duke is averaging 72.3 plays a game. Nonetheless, it shouldn't be a day for particularly gaudy tackle totals.

5. Duke's defense will have a better-than-average day --- but it won't be enough. That's better than the Blue Devils' average --- 44.5 points allowed per game --- not a normal average. Maryland might not go quite as crazy as Alabama and Wake Forest did, but it will still win its conference opener and make it to the bye week at 4-1.

Out of town Q&A: Duke

It's Wednesday, and that means a look at the out-of-town Q&A.

Today's guest is Bill Cole, a long-time writer for the Winston-Salem Journal. Bill was gracious enough to lend his insight on Duke (1-3), which will visit Maryland (3-1) on Saturday.

(He's his latest on the Blue Devils).

Let's get to the look inside the Blue Devils. ...

1. Duke is giving up 44.5 points and 466.3 yards a game after the first month of the season. Do the Blue Devils have a chance to look competent on that side of the ball, or is a series of high-scoring affairs their best chance to succeed this year?

BC: The defense is going to have to improve drastically to keep every game from becoming a shootout. Duke has more speed on defense this season because of Coach David Cutcliffe’s recruiting, but it hasn’t been able to mask weaknesses and shortcomings as Cutcliffe thought it would. A lack of playmakers the likes of Michael Tauiliili and Vincent Rey, who were tackling machines at linebacker, has hurt also.

2. Was Saturday a serious setback in quarterback Sean Renfree's development, or is it being viewed as merely the sort of hiccup a first-year starter might encounter?

BC: It appears to be an exception. Cutcliffe said that Army confused Renfree by changing its defensive coverage, leading to two interceptions in his first five passes. The start was only Renfree’s fourth at Duke, so he is still learning. Renfree was disturbed when looking at the game video and said he hardly recognized the player wearing his jersey because of body language. He was more concerned with his attitude on the field in the game and how he responded to the interceptions. He’s going to be a good quarterback, so I tend to write off last Saturday as a bad day.

3. Duke's running game was feeble at best a season ago. Is the improvement this year a product of Desmond Scott or an improved offensive line (or both) and does it seem like the rushing attack can remain capable deep into ACC play?

BC: Duke has two good young backs: Desmond Scott, the starter at tailback, and Josh Snead, the top reserve. Both run hard, especially Snead. It appears that Duke can keep running the ball all season because the offensive line has improved also. Both elements are much better than in past seasons.

4. Conner Vernon emerged as the top receiver in the ACC during September. Has he displaced Donovan Varner as Duke's No. 1 wideout, or is his production more reflective of extra attention Varner has attracted this year?

BC: Yes and no. Teams are paying attention to Varner, but Renfree seems more comfortable throwing to Vernon. (This is like the scene out of Airplane: Victor, what’s your vector?). Renfree promises to keep distributing the ball to all receivers, but it does seem that he considers Vernon his go-to guy. He constantly looked for Vernon in the Army game. Varner was not a big factor in the passing game then.

5. Duke made progress during David Cutcliffe's first two seasons, but matching last year's 5-7 mark seems highly unlikely after a 1-3 start. Has attention already started to dwindle in Durham, and do the Blue Devils have much of a chance to salvage their season if they can't win at Maryland on Saturday?

BC: Attendance dropped about 12,000 from the Alabama game to the Army game, but that’s somewhat understandable, given the Alabama football devotion. By the third quarter of the Army game, fans were leaving with the score 28-7. Interest is still higher than in the past, but it will disappear with each loss. I don’t see much of a chance for Duke to have a winning season now, unless an upset of Maryland sparks a run. Duke still has games against Miami, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech and UNC left. Right now, there are no games there that you can look at and say that Duke would be favored to win.

Thanks again to Bill Cole for taking time to share his knowledge of Duke football.

Terps' O'Brien no surprise to Duke's Cutcliffe

In theory, an upcoming Maryland football opponent might be scrambling to figure out just who the Terrapins had under center Saturday against Florida International.

Coming into the eventual 42-28 victory, Danny O'Brien owned all of 21 career snaps --- including 19 against Morgan State.

The two plays against major-college competition? A fumble against Navy and a sack against West Virginia. Not a whole lot of a track record.

Not much of a track record ... and seemingly an advantage for Maryland, which broke O'Brien in extensively Saturday while Jamarr Robinson sat with an injury to his throwing shoulder.

That's an advantage for Maryland, right?

Well ... not entirely.

Funny thing is, O'Brien will go against a coaching staff quite familiar with him. Duke was one of a handful of schools to target the native of the Winston-Salem area, and now the Blue Devils will face O'Brien in some capacity when they visit Byrd Stadium on Saturday night.

"Danny's a North Carolinian, and we thought he was a heck of a prospect," Duke coach David Cutcliffe said. "Ralph did a great job recruiting him. He's strong-armed, big and tough. I hadn't seen a lot of the tape [by Sunday afternoon], but I know Danny."

Cutcliffe owns a well-earned reputation as a quarterback guru, with Peyton and Eli Manning his most notable pupils. He also coached Heath Shuler (when he was good at Tennessee, not when he struggled in the NFL), and his first starter at Duke (Thaddeus Lewis) made St. Louis' roster as an undrafted free agent.

If O'Brien attended Duke, he might have competed with Sean Renfree for the starting quarterback job this year. Instead, Renfree is expected to be under center Saturday --- with the chance O'Brien could oppose him.

"I was wondering when that might occur," Cutcliffe said. "They'll have a very good quarterback for a long period of time now, in my opinion."

Eve of the season ACC primer: Duke

(The 11th of 12 ACC team previews)

The best thing that's happened to Duke football in the post-Steve Spurrier era occurred on a winter day more than a month after the Blue Devils wrapped up a 5-7 season and weeks before they would start spring practice.

David Cutcliffe stayed at Duke rather than depart for the open gig at Tennessee.

Sure, Fred Goldsmith had a fantastic debut in 1994. But there is perilously little in the last 20 years to suggest the Blue Devils can amount to anything.

In that light, Cutcliffe sticking around is a remarkable vote of confidence and a reflection he really believes he can complete an overhaul of a woebegone program in the near future.

Maybe it won't happen this year. But after the progress of the last two seasons, it certainly looks likely.

The fact Cutcliffe blends savvy, wit, honesty, humor and charm into one package helps immensely. Duke's coach needs a lot of things to be relevant. Personality is one of the big ones, and Cutcliffe has it in spades.

That might not directly win games. But it will help sell --- both with recruits and the public.

Winning, of course, is the best elixir. The 9-15 record doesn't seem like much, but Cutcliffe has already managed more victories than each of his two predecessors did in more than twice as much time. At the very least, it's a start.

When we last saw them ... : The Blue Devils were busy going 0-for-November, falling from 5-3 to 5-7 to extend their postseason drought to 15 years.

Worse yet, Duke had to say goodbye to Thaddeus Lewis, a four-year starter and the school record-holder in total offense, passing yards and completions. Lewis, already an underrated commodity prior to Cutcliffe's arrival, blossomed into a sold (if overlooked) quarterback in two years in the former Ole Miss coach's system.

Although the final month didn't go well, the season still constituted progress for Duke. While Cutcliffe and his players wanted more, the Blue Devils did win three conference games. In the previous nine years, they had managed four league wins.

Biggest question: The easy answer is quarterback, where Sean Renfree will step in for the departed Lewis. But more realistically, Duke needs to figure out how to run the ball after managing a meager 63.5 rushing yards a game last season and also plug some holes on a defensive line that could turn out to be a bit balky.

It was during the spring that Cutcliffe wryly noted that quarterback, offensive line and defensive line were all questions facing his team. That's never a good formula for winning. But should the Blue Devils actually manage to develop a second dimension to their offense with sophomore tailback Desmond Scott and also hold up as a defensive front, their biggest issues will be handled.

Biggest asset: Receivers. Between Donovan Varner, Conner Vernon and Austin Kelly, there is not a dearth of capable targets in the passing game. All three guys hauled in at least 55 receptions --- or more than 4.5 a game.

That's going to make Renfree's adjustment to starting infinitely easier. Of course, he still needs to make the right decisions, but with Cutcliffe nurturing the preparation and plenty of options to choose from on the field, Renfree couldn't be stepping into a much better situation --- at least for that part of the offense, anyway.

Best case: Duke goes 3-1 in nonconference play, then poaches Wake Forest and Maryland on the road and somehow snags another victory (North Carolina?) to get to 6-6. Likely? Probably not this year. But a Duke fan can say with a straight face there's hope of going to a bowl game and not face accusations of being delusional. That's progress.

Worst case: Neither line is particularly good and Renfree struggles, in the process demonstrating just how good Lewis really was. The Blue Devils knock off Elon and Army like they should and maybe snag a conference victory, but overall it's a step backward as Cutcliffe continues to bring reinforcements into a growing program.

A 3-9 season wouldn't be dreadful by Duke standards, nor would it derail Cutcliffe's long-term plans. It also would siphon away some of the increased attention the Blue Devils have earned.

Where they'll be in three months: It's tough to see Duke in a bowl game. The Coastal Division includes three superior teams (Georgia Tech, Miami, Virginia Tech) and it's downright impossible to imagine the Blue Devils seriously testing Alabama.

So, can Duke win six of its other eight games? Probably not.

But the days of assuming the Blue Devils won't be a nuisance to anyone are through. North Carolina and Virginia, both of which visit Durham, could be vulnerable. Same goes for Maryland and Wake Forest, which will meet Duke on their respective home fields.

The tenor of the season hinges so much upon how Renfree fares. If he can play at close to Lewis' level, Duke will again have one of the ACC's top passing offenses. If he struggles, it will be nearly impossible to imagine Duke winning more than a few games.

The most likely scenario is a modest step back to 4-8. It's an understandable projection, given the exact holes Duke must fill. But Cutcliffe's already raised eyebrows this year for remaining in a coaching graveyard rather than leave for a school that's won a national title in the last 15 years. No one should put it past him from helping to uncork another surprise.

College football countdown: Nos. 66-70

After a couple days on the road, the countdown continues and nears the midpoint. ...

No. 70 NORTHERN ILLINOIS

The Huskies bring back the bulk of a really good defense, and that alone should put them in contention for the MAC West title.

But there's something else interesting here.

Northern Illinois has what might just be a dream schedule --- three highly winnable road games against power conference teams.

The Huskies visit Iowa State, Illinois and Minnesota, all before the end of September. Northern Illinois might not win all three, but it surely could poach a couple. And at that point, talk of the program's first 10-win season since Michael Turner was scampering all over DeKalb will begin.

Don't be surprised if that happens.

No. 69 ARIZONA STATE

Football mercenary Dennis Erickson had never endured consecutive losing seasons in the college game until last year.

Thanks to dates with Northern Arizona and Portland State, it'll be tough to get it to three.

But there is a ceiling for the Sun Devils, who are only going to get so far with the combination of lousy offense and imposing defense. This is especially true with trips to Wisconsin, Oregon State, Washington, Southern California and Arizona on tap.

Arizona State was a bit unfortunate the last two years, rolling up a 1-6 mark in games decided by a touchdown or less. At the same time, programs like Arizona, Stanford and (now) Washington have all improved substantially. A bowl berth is possible, but it seems highly unlikely the Sun Devils will crack the upper echelon of the Pac-10 this fall.

No. 68 MARYLAND

The Terrapins bottomed out last season, stumbling to a 2-10 record that featured a season-ending seven-game losing streak.

They also began the fourth quarter stuck in a one-possession game in nine of 12 games. Maryland was 2-7 in those affairs.

As tiresome as Ralph Friedgen's lamentations about luck were, Maryland wasn't quite as bad as its record. Granted, it was minus-6 in turnovers and outgained by nearly 80 yards a game. No one who consistently watched the Terps would dare deem them "good."

Nevertheless, there should be a regression (or is it progression?) to the mean of sorts, and that means the most likely outcome is a 4-8 or 5-7 season. If the offensive line --- last year's pronounced bugaboo --- develops, perhaps the upside is an anonymous trip to the EagleBank Bowl.

That in itself would raise another question: Is 6-6 enough for Friedgen to finish out his contract? With a new athletic director on the way thanks to Debbie Yow's departure to N.C. State, there's a previously unforeseen variable in figuring out just what route Maryland attempts to take from its worst football season in decades on its way back to respectability.

No. 67 MIDDLE TENNESSEE

The Blue Raiders won 10 games a season ago, and might be even better this season. It's only fair, then, to slot them ahead of a power conference school they've beaten two years running.

Sadly for the folks in Murfreesboro, the series with Maryland is complete. But Dwight Dasher remains under center after throwing for nearly 2,800 yards and rushing for more than 1,100 yards a season ago.

In both of Middle Tennessee's two bowl seasons under Rick Stockstill, it has lost just one Sun Belt game. Both setbacks came against Troy.

With the Trojans paying a midweek visit to the 'Boro, here's guessing the Blue Raiders finally get that elusive victory against the conference's top program and wind up atop the league. If that happens, bank on Stockstill being a coveted commodity when some mid-level openings surface at the end of next season.

No. 66 DUKE

On the surface, the Blue Devils' biggest concern would seem to be replacing Thaddeus Lewis, though Sean Renfree did get some experience as the backup to Duke's career passing leader.

In reality, Duke has another problem to deal with. I like to call it "November."

The Blue Devils have dropped 20 straight games after Halloween, including a ghoulish 0-9 mark under third-year coach David Cutcliffe. Blaming Cutcliffe for Duke's propensity for losing is unfair, especially since the Blue Devils have gotten off to 4-3 and 5-3 starts the last two years before collapsing. Still, there is a need to play well in the season's closing stages.

The opportunity to start fast exists again. Duke will probably get pulverized by Alabama, but Elon, Wake Forest, Army and Maryland all represent reasonably decent opportunities for victories before the bye week.

Duke still has to figure out its offensive and defensive lines, and Cutcliffe pointed those out (in addition to QB) as his team's biggest question marks in the spring. If some of those problems get solved, maybe the Blue Devils will beat Virginia or Boston College or even North Carolina in Durham during the season's final month.

Otherwise, Duke will simply extend its misery in November. The good news, though, is one of the three longest late-season skids will come to an end when Virginia visits Wallace Wade Stadium on Nov. 6.

LONGEST ACTIVE LOSING STREAKS, NOVEMBER/DECEMBER/JANUARY

20: Duke

13: New Mexico State

10: Virginia

9: Miami (Ohio)
9: Western Kentucky

8: Indiana

7: North Texas

5: Arizona State
5: Memphis
5: Michigan
5: Washington State

4: Eastern Michigan
4: Kansas
4: Maryland
4: Notre Dame
4: San Diego State