North Carolina Central @ Duke preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 26, 2009 ) North Carolina Central 14, Duke 49

North Carolina Central and Duke, both located in Durham, N.C., meet for the second time Saturday in what is dubbed the "Bull City Gridiron Classic." The game will be played at Duke's Wallace Wade Stadium. It's only the second time the two schools have played in football with the Blue Devils scoring a 49-14 victory in 2009. Both teams limp into this one off one-sided road losses: The Blue Devils were blasted by Stanford 50-13 while the Eagles, an FCS school that plays in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, lost to Elon 34-14.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, ESPN3. LINE: None

ABOUT NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL (1-1): The Eagles started the season on a good note with an impressive 54-31 victory over Fayetteville State, but struggled badly against Elon, falling behind 24-0 and managing only 36 total yards and two first downs on their first 21 offensive plays. North Carolina Central's first six possessions resulted in four punts and two interceptions. Junior quarterback Matt Goggans, a transfer from Fullerton (Calif.) College who completed 15 of 26 passes for 223 yards against Fayetteville State, was 1-of-12 for 10 yards and two interceptions against Elon.

ABOUT DUKE (1-1): Coach David Cutcliffe said his team isn't going to push the panic button despite the surprisingly lopsided loss at Stanford. With back-to-back home games with N.C. Central and Memphis on deck, why should he? The Blue Devils, who didn't arrive back from California until 10 a.m. Sunday morning, stand an excellent chance of being 3-1 heading into their ACC opener at Wake Forest on Sept. 29. Duke is 7-1 when scoring 40 or more points under Cutcliffe.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Duke WR Jamison Crowder hauled in a career-high 10 catches for 112 yards at Stanford and has hit the century mark in both of the first two games.

2. Duke senior QB Sean Renfree ranks first among active ACC players with 6,842 career passing yards, which is 27th in league history. He needs only 31 yards to pass former Florida State and current Minnesota Vikings QB Christian Ponder and move into 26th place.

3. North Carolina Central's offense took a big hit when leading rusher Idreis Augustus and senior WR Andrew Johnson went down with season-ending knee injuries.

PREDICTION: Duke 56, North Carolina Central 10