Forgive Ted Roof if he counts the days until Sept. 2. Duke’s season-opener against Richmond means the coach can officially bury the 2005 season.

For Duke, it was a forgettable 1–10 season. While Roof makes tangible progress in recruiting better talent to Durham, winning games has been a taller task. The Blue Devils stumbled through a winless conference season for the seventh time in 14 years. The only team the Devils beat was VMI, a Division I-AA team. In Roof’s first five games as the interim coach in 2003, he won twice.

The optimism from that promising start has been tested. Duke’s administration has been steadfast in its support of the 41-year-old coach despite his 5–22 record. Roof continues to hang his hat on the future.

Roof used an ACC-high 14 true freshmen in 2005 for the second straight season, and that total does not include perhaps Duke’s best freshman, defensive tackle Vince Oghobaase, who missed the entire season with a knee injury.

The 2005 freshman class produced a new quarterback, Zack Asack, and the team’s leading tackler, linebacker Michael Tauiliili. Roof expects to rely on rookies again in 2006. “Hopefully, this will be the last class that we have to count on so many of them,” Roof says.

And Roof hopes his young players will learn from last year’s disaster. He doesn’t know how many more one-win seasons he can take. “It’s a process,” Roof says. “Believe me, nobody wants to speed it up more than I do, but it’s what we have to do to build the program.”

LOWDOWN

Coach: Ted Roof (3rd season, 5-22)
2005 record: 1-10
ACC finish: 0-8 (6th Coastal)
2005 I-A offensive rankings:
Rushing: 81st (127.1 ypg)
Passing: 113th (121.0 ypg)
2005 I-A defensive rankings:
Rushing: 108th (207.3 ypg)
Passing: 36th (204.0 ypg)

DEPTH CHART

Offense (2)

WR  81  Jomar Wright  Jr.  40  Ronnie Drummer  Jr.
WR  15  Eron Riley  So.  9  Deon Adams  Sr.
LT  74  Cameron Goldberg  So.  78  Ben Loebner  Fr.
LG  76  Zach Maurides  Jr.  71  Danny Bowling  Sr.
C  68  *Matt Rumsey  Jr.  72  Garrett Mason  Jr.
RG  61  Rob Schirmann  So.  73  Joe Suder  Fr.
RT  70  Fred Roland  So.  99  Chris Moore  Jr.
TE  -  Brandon King  Fr.  80  Nick Stefanow  Jr.
QB  13  *Zack Asack  So.  6  Marcus Jones  So.
FB  2  Tielor Robinson  Jr.  14  B.J. Smith  Sr.
RB  21  Re’quan Boyette  So.  20  Justin Boyle  Jr.

Defense (6)

DE  52  *Eli Nichols  Jr.  91  Ayanga Okpokowuruk  Fr.
DT  51  *Casey Camero  Sr.  42  Kinney Rucker  Fr.
NG  3  Vince Oghobaase  Fr.  97  Clifford Respress  So.
DE  84  *Patrick Bailey  Jr.  54  Greg Akinbiyi  So.
SLB  58  Codey Lowe  Sr.  45  Charles Robinson  So.
MLB  34  Michael Tauiliili  So.  47  Zach Smith  Jr.
WLB  25  Jeramy Edwards  Sr.  36  Brandon Tapps  Jr.
CB  11  *John Talley  Sr.  1  Jabari Marshall  So.
CB  10  *Deonto McCormick  Sr.  38  Evalio Harrell  So.
SS  16  Andreas Platt  So.  24  Glenn Williams  So.
FS  27  *Chris Davis  Jr.  39  Adrian Aye-Darko  So.

Special Teams

K  26  Joe Surgan  So.
P  14  Alex Feinberg  Jr.
KR  27  Chris Davis  Jr.
PR  27  Chris Davis  Jr.

(#) Indicates number of returning starters
* Indicates returning starters

2006 SCHEDULE

Sept. 2  Richmond
Sept. 9  at Wake Forest
Sept. 16  at Virginia Tech
Sept. 30  Virginia
Oct. 7  at Alabama
Oct. 14  Florida State
Oct. 21  Miami
Oct. 28  Vanderbilt
Nov. 4  Navy
Nov. 11  at Boston College
Nov. 18  at Georgia Tech
Nov. 25  North Carolina

OFFENSE

In a trying 1–10 season, Duke found its starting quarterback, leading rusher and leading receiver. That was the good news from 2005, which coach Ted Roof hopes was another step in the process of building a program at Duke, despite finishing with a winless ACC record for the seventh time in 14 years. The bad news for Duke: it ranked last in the ACC in every offensive category except rushing (ninth).

A perpetual problem for the Blue Devils is their offensive line. For the third straight season, Roof will have to rebuild his line, and this time it will probably include true freshmen.

The skill positions need less retooling. Zack Asack started five of the final six games, becoming the first Duke freshman to start at quarterback in 21 years. He showed a poise and moxie that allowed him to displace three-year starter Mike Schneider midway through the season.

Duke returns two home-run threats in running back Ronnie Drummer, who had three runs of 50 yards or more in 2005, and receiver Eron Riley, who averaged 22.5 yards per catch. Duke calls Drummer a “Devil back,” which means he’ll play both running back and receiver — anything to get him the ball.

Riley and the passing game will be helped by the return of Jomar Wright, who missed the final six games with a knee injury.

Running backs Justin Boyle (nine touchdowns) and Re’quan Boyette can alleviate some of the pressure on Asack, if the line allows them to produce.

DEFENSE

Duke’s defense took a big hit last March when freshman tackle Vince Oghobaase tore ligaments in his right knee. Oghobaase enrolled at Duke in January and was expected to be the type of game-changing player the Devils have been missing. After all, in the recruiting process Oghobaase (6'6", 325) chose Duke over Miami and Oklahoma.

Without Oghobaase, Duke discovered other contributors. Sophomore linebacker Michael Tauiliili, one of Oghobaase’s closest friends, led the team — and freshmen nationally — with 92 tackles. With those two talented players, plus end Eli Nichols and All-ACC corner John Talley, Duke’s defense could make a marked improvement in 2006.

SPECIALISTS

Joe Surgan came in as a freshman last year and took over at kicker. He made 6-of-8 field goals and 15-of-16 extra points.

Drummer, who had a 100-yard touchdown return against East Carolina, and Chris Davis give Duke two returners capable of scoring as efficiently as the offense.

FINAL ANALYSIS

After Asack walked off the field for the final time in 2005, after a 24–21 gut-busting loss to UNC, he couldn’t help but think that this group of freshmen could be starting something at Duke.

“We’re not the same old Duke,” Asack said.

That might be true, but for the 2006 season to be different Duke needs more from Asack than just moxie. He needs to develop as a passer and expand with the massive playbook that accompanies Bill O’Brien’s offense.

If Duke wants win a conference game, it has to get the ball to Drummer more often. The junior finished 2005 with a whopping 10.2 yards per carry but only 33 carries.

The schedule affords Duke’s young talent no breaks, inside or outside the league. The Blue Devils are the only ACC team that has to play Miami, Florida State, Virginia Tech and Boston College, and out of the league, they travel to Alabama.

This Duke team preview was pulled from our 2006 National College Football preview magazine.  To order this or the 2006 ACC Regional preview magazine - with expanded team page coverage and conference features - click here