Cutcliffe hears voice from past blaming him for missed opportunities

PHOTO: Duke coach David Cutcliffe points the finger at himself. Visit my website homepage, TomShanahan.Report By TOM SHANAHAN DURHAM -- College Football Hall of Fame coach Johnny Majors died in 2020, but David Cutcliffe swears he heard his old boss' voice yelling at him from the grave. Majors blamed Duke’s coach for Gunnar Holmberg’s fumble at the goal line. Cutcliffe, who was a Tennessee assistant from 1982 through Majors’ final season in 1992, heard the scolding throughout the…

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College football’s New Power 5 definition

PHOTO (Duke Athletics): Mateo Durant ran for a school record 255 yards with three touchdowns at Charlotte. Visit my website's homepage, Tom Shanahan.Report By TOM SHANAHAN College football’s Power 5 is a full-on misnomer. It formerly meant the Continental Divide between the Power 5 conferences – Big Ten, ACC, SEC, Big-12 and Pac-12 – and the Group of Five, the remainder of the Football Bowl Subdivision schools, AAC, Conference-USA, Mid-American, Mountain West and Sun Belt That’s no longer…

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The Blue Devils feel like a family again in one locker room

PHOTO (Duke Athletics): Gunnar Holmberg in 2021 preseason camp. Visit my website homepage, TomShanahan.Report By TOM SHANAHAN DURHAM – Any season opener is exciting, but 2021 seems brighter and refreshingly new. Gone are the lock-down COVID-19 protocols and empty stadiums necessary to combat the pandemic that nearly canceled the entire season. Back is a sense of normalcy preparing for games – or at least as close to normal as possible with the recent uptick of COVID-19 infections --…

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