Duke’s Performance Against Alabama Shows How Far The Program Has Come

I was on campus in 2010, the last time Duke and Alabama met on the gridiron. The atmosphere was unlike any football Saturday in Durham I experienced. The game was sold out, even with the athletic department bringing in extra overflow seating for the (mostly pro-Alabama) crowd. For once, students were more excited for the game itself than the pre-game festivities: this was back in the “tailgate” era, after all, so seeing more Duke Football shirts than extravagant tailgate costumes was a huge anomaly. And though there were the usual pregame shenanigans, for once a majority of those participating actually made it to the game; in fact, for the only time during my tenure at Duke, there was actually a lineup to make it into the stadium in time for kickoff.