Posted by ESPN.com's Heather Dinich
Duke snapped an 11-game losing streak to NC State and earned their first road win in almost six years with a 49-28 win over NC State.
That's worth some attention, and it was the one true surprise today so far in the ACC. This is an important step for the program in coach David Cutcliffe's second season. This wasn't Army, or James Madison, or, say, Georgia Southern. This was a team expected to contend for the Atlantic Division this year led by the ACC's top quarterback a year ago, Russell Wilson. It's the kind of win that can give the players confidence against their other ACC opponents, and in a year or two from now might be considered a turning point for the program.
For NC State, this is a problem.
It's Tom O'Brien's third season and expectations were much higher than a 3-3 start, with two of those wins coming against Gardner-Webb and Murray State. The Pack is now off to an 0-2 start in conference play, once again falling behind early. The only consolation they might take from this is that they didn't lose to the Duke of old, and if the Blue Devils continue to improve and find Lewis some help in the running game, they won't be the only ones in the ACC to lose to Duke this year.
Duke snapped an 11-game losing streak to NC State and earned their first road win in almost six years with a 49-28 win over NC State.
That's worth some attention, and it was the one true surprise today so far in the ACC. This is an important step for the program in coach David Cutcliffe's second season. This wasn't Army, or James Madison, or, say, Georgia Southern. This was a team expected to contend for the Atlantic Division this year led by the ACC's top quarterback a year ago, Russell Wilson. It's the kind of win that can give the players confidence against their other ACC opponents, and in a year or two from now might be considered a turning point for the program.
For NC State, this is a problem.
It's Tom O'Brien's third season and expectations were much higher than a 3-3 start, with two of those wins coming against Gardner-Webb and Murray State. The Pack is now off to an 0-2 start in conference play, once again falling behind early. The only consolation they might take from this is that they didn't lose to the Duke of old, and if the Blue Devils continue to improve and find Lewis some help in the running game, they won't be the only ones in the ACC to lose to Duke this year.
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ABOUT THIS BLOG
Heather Dinich
Dinich covered ACC and Big Ten football for five seasons before joining ESPN.com in November 2007. She's an Indiana grad but somehow her favorite day of the week is Saturday.
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