NCCU vs. DUKE Preview: Bull City Classic

Duke vs. N.C. Central (ESPN3)
September 15, 2012
Wallace Wade Stadium (Durham, N.C.)
ESPN3
Blue Devil IMG Sports Network

Duke vs. N.C. Central Game Notes
• Duke plays game three of its 100th season of football by hosting N.C. Central in the Bull City Gridiron Classic on Saturday at 7 p.m. ... The game will be broadcast live by ESPN3 with Dave Weekley (play-by-play), Stan Lewter (analyst) & Beth McDade (sideline) calling the action

• The Blue Devils stand at 1-1 on the year following a 50-13 loss at then 25th-ranked Stanford while N.C. Central is 1-1 after dropping a 34-14 road decision to Elon last week

• The Blue Devils and Eagles have met just once on the gridiron with Duke posting a 49-14 victory on September 26, 2009 behind Desmond Scott’s 100-yard rushing night
• The Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce is the official sponsor of the Duke-N.C. Central game ... This week also marks Youth Day and Junior Blue Devil Club Day

• Duke’s defensive captains — S Walt Canty & CB Ross Cockrell — are off to solid starts to the 2012 season ... Canty leads Duke and ranks second in the ACC in tackles per game (11.00) while Cockrell paces the league in total pass defended (5; 4 PBUs & 1 INT)

• Overall under head coach David Cutcliffe, the Blue Devils have won 16 games in four-plus seasons (2008-12) — six more wins than the program’s total in the previous eight campaigns (2000-07)
• Duke utilizes a pair of rookies to handle its kicking and punting chores ... True freshman K Ross Martin leads the Blue Devils in scoring with 15 points (3-4 FG; 6-6 PAT) while redshirt freshman P Will Monday paces the ACC and ranks 10th nationally in punting (46.33)

• Duke boasts three of the top six pass receivers in the ACC with WRs Jamison Crowder, Desmond Scott & Conner Vernon ... Crowder & Vernon rank tied for third with 8.0 catches per game while Scott is sixth at 6.5 receptions per contest

• Crowder has registered one pass reception of 50+ yards in each of the first two games this season

By the Numbers
100+ — WR Jamison Crowder is just the third Blue Devil to have 100+ receiving yards in the first two weeks of a season, joining Clarkston Hines (1988) & Richmond Flowers (1998)

19 — Pass receptions needed by senior WR Conner Vernon to set the ACC’s all-time record ... Vernon has 214 career catches and trails only Wake Forest’s Desmond Clark (216) and Clemson’s Aaron Kelly (232)

10+ — Last week in the loss at Stanford, two Blue Devils registered 10 or more pass receptions in a game for just the second time in school history as WRs Desmond Scott (11) and Jamison Crowder (10) turned the trick ... The only other time Duke has accomplished the feat came on October 19, 1995 against Virginia in Charlottesville when both Corey Thomas (13) and Marc Wilson (10) reached double figures in the reception column during the 44-30 Cavalier victory

46.33 — Punting average for P Will Monday, who leads the ACC and ranks 10th nationally

63 — Pass attempts by the Blue Devils last week at Stanford to match the school single-game record set in 1980 against Wake Forest ... The total also marks the highest single-game total in David.

COURTESY DUKE SPORTS INFORMATION AND NCCU SPORTS INFORMATION