The long and short of it was that Duke looked like a competent football team. Sure, the Blue Devils were at home, faced an opponent from a lower competitive level, and essentially played to a draw for half the game. But for a program that eked out a single victory in the past two seasons combined, a 31-7 win over James Madison was cause for smiles and celebration.

“Man, I remember the game we won against VMI, I got a concussion so I really didn’t even get to celebrate,” recalled senior defensive end Greg Akinbiyi of Duke’s last home win in 2005. “So this is just something that’s almost unreal, really. Never had this kind of crowd, never had this atmosphere, this feeling in the air, like Christmas.”

New coach David Cutcliffe entered the 2008 season vowing to create excitement around the long-dormant Duke program. He said his team would aim to score at least 30 points per game and  “to create some mass chaos on that field,” as he said at one so-called fan “fun-raiser.” Unfortunately there was a bit more electricity in the air to herald the season opener than the Blue Devils bargained for, as a storm replete with lightning, thunder, and rain delayed the kickoff by an hour and 28 minutes.

The waves of fans who navigated unaccustomed traffic to reach Wallace Wade Stadium ultimately comprised the largest Duke crowd since archrival North Carolina came to Durham in November 2002. When the Blue Devils took the field to warm up 15 minutes prior to an 8:28 PM kickoff, their appearance was greeted by hopeful cheers and a brief, ground-level fireworks display at the south end zone that didn’t quite rival the celestial variety.

The gathering of 32,571, nearly 9,000 more than in any game last season, saw a generally solid effort by the Blue Devils against a JMU unit counted among the best in Division I-AA – also known as the Football Championship Subdivision, if you prefer that sort of gibberish.

Considering that the Devils had lost all but two of their last 34 contests dating to 2004, winning with a degree of ease and command was rather an achievement. Their play even upstaged Duke and U.S. Olympic basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski and his two assistants, Chris Collins and Steve Wojciechowski, who were introduced at halftime.

Cutcliffe’s Devils actually appeared to know what they were doing, making plays and acting in ways generally foreign to recent Duke squads -- creating turnovers, getting on and off the field with alacrity, delivering emphatic tackles, converting fourth-down plays (3-of-3), avoiding procedural penalties. Playing hard from whistle to whistle. “We finished,” said quarterback Thaddeus Lewis, one of 17 upperclassmen who started. “Coach stressed that all offseason.”

The Blue Devils balanced a creditable rushing game (218 yards, most in two years, led by 95 from senior Clifford Harris) with a varied passing attack (Lewis hit 10 receivers for 141 yards and two touchdowns). They even saw sophomore Nick Maggio make a 27-yard field goal and all of his PATs.

The defense shut down JMU, holding the the Dukes to 58 yards and no points in the second half. For the game, Duke ran 79 offensive plays compared to 48 for the Colonial Athletic Conference team, a stat mentioned by both coaches. “We played very hard, but just couldn’t get off the field on defense,” said James Madison’s Mickey Matthews, sounding like many a Duke coach before him.

The Devils held a 14-7 edge at halftime. They led at that juncture three times last season, and only held on to win at Northwestern in their third game. (The Wildcats come to Durham next week.) Those chronic unravelings were quickly pounced upon by Cutcliffe, who preached better conditioning and determination virtually from the moment he arrived from Tennessee nine months ago.

The lessons stuck. The Blue Devils broke the game open early in the third quarter against James Madison, demonstrating a trait also common to good teams: They forced turnovers, then capitalized on their opponent’s mistakes for quick scores. “Playing so well in the third quarter was a great indicator,” Cutcliffe said of his players. “They were into the game, they were focused, and so many good things happened in all three phases (offense, defense, special teams).”

JMU’s Scotty McGee returned the second half kickoff 60 yards to the Blue Devil 34, and those familiar with Duke football expected the worst. But instead of allowing the visitors to tie the score, two plays later cornerback Jabari Marshall laid back like a spider in his web and picked off a poor pass by Dukes quarterback Rodney Landers. The senior returned the interception 67 yards to the James Madison 22. Six plays later, Harris vaulted the final yard to complete the scoring drive.

Following the ensuing kickoff and return, defensive end Wesley Oglesby forced a fumble by Landers. Akinbiyi recovered at the JMU 34, and again it took Duke only six plays to score. This time Lewis rolled right and passed 20 yards to wide receiver Eron Riley, who caught the ball in full stride in the end zone. The Devils led 28-7. Barely six minutes had elapsed in the second half. They were not threatened thereafter.

Duke players gravitated to the student section to share a moment of happy celebration when the game had finally run its course. Once the team left the field fireworks arched into the sky and exploded at the stadium’s north end, accompanied by Richard Strauss’ “Also Sprach Zarathustra,” a piece familiar as the musical motif in the 1968 film, “2001: A Space Odyssey.”

Pretentious? Perhaps. But the Dukies could be excused their moment of self-congratulation. Maybe they’re learning how this winning thing works. The transformation is far from complete, but after a long weekend when ACC teams played three games against front-rank opponents and lost all three decisively, and several other conference clubs struggled to subdue lesser lights, the league needs all the good news it can get.