Duke Looks to Move on After Upset Effort Against Kansas Crashes

After the train wreck that was Duke's performance at No. 22 Kansas, it is back to the drawing board for the Blue Devils.

The game went about as well or poorly depending on your perspective, as expected.

Kansas' potent offense was too much for the Blue Devils, who are still learning on the go after decades of mediocre football.

While the final score 44 to 16 tells the story of the Jayhawks dominance, it doesn't show the effort with which Duke played.

Up until late in the second quarter the game was tied before Kansas pulled away, yet Duke's effort never appeared to waver. And that is a good sign.

Obviously no one in the Duke camp wanted to admit that winning this game was a long shot, but the coaches have to be happy with the effort from their players for most of the game even if the final score looked ugly.

Duke played physical and didn't make too many egregious mistakes, although it was far from an uplifting performance. The Blue Devils offense still is not clicking at this point and the defense will not be able to hold up if it has to stay on the field for most of the game.

The best thing the Blue Devils can do now is get healthy and continue to try and get better. Clearly they're still at least a year away from competing with nationally ranked teams, but at the very least they looked for a time like they belonged on the same field.

Next week it is on to another first-time meeting with cross-town foe North Carolina Central. The Eagles are transitioning into the FCS level and have a strong history of football success.

Duke should be able to over match Central, but if they have learned anything from their first three games it should be not to underestimate any opponent.

Beyond that, Duke needs to continue to move forward because the schedule doesn't get any easier. They are likely to be underdogs in all but perhaps two of their remaining games including Central.

It will be up to Coach David Cutcliffe to keep his troops focused and learning for Duke to get better, which is the best they can hope for at this point.

If Duke can keep improving and competing they should pick up a few more wins this season. As long as they can get strong performances from veterans while getting their younger players some experience, Cutcliffe and crew can continue to build the foundation for successful Duke Football.