Duke Football Darkest Moments of the Decade: No. 10, 9

Duke’s football improved by leaps and bounds over the last 10 seasons, but the 10-year journey wasn’t without roadblocks and potholes.

We look at the 10 darkest moments for Blue Devil football in the 2010s. To get things started, we go back to the beginning for a “before” picture of Duke football, followed by an embarrassing blowout loss to a rival.

10. Alabama blasts Blue Devils:

It was a game David Cutcliffe inherited when he took over as Duke coach, and he knew the program wasn’t ready for such a test. Defending national champion and No. 1 ranked Alabama came to Wallace Wade Stadium in September 2010.

The stadium was packed with its largest crowd since 1991, although that was due in very large part to a massive red-clad army packing the visiting side of the stadium and dwarfing the sound of Duke supporters.

Alabama scored four touchdowns in the first 10 minutes and cruised to a 62-13 hammering of the Blue Devils that pointed out just how far Cutcliffe and Duke had to go.

9. Heels run it up on Duke:

In 2015, Duke was 3-1 in the ACC and had already qualified for its fourth straight bowl when it headed to Kenan to try to pull even with the Tar Heels, who were 4-0 in the Coastal.

Things got ugly early and stayed that way. The Heels scored 21 first-quarter points, added 17 in the second quarter to take a 38-10 halftime lead, then tacked on three more third-quarter touchdowns on the way to hanging 66 points on the Blue Devils.