Duke freshman quarterback Thaddeus Lewis enjoyed the finest day of his young college career on Saturday, completing 20 of 35 passes for 285 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Blue Devils to a season high 44 points against North Carolina.  Duke was attempting to avoid a winless season, its third in the last seven years, and its twentieth consecutive loss overall (Yahoo! Sports).  The Tar Heels overcame the offensive outburst, however, by fighting fire with fire, matching its own season best with 45 points through the solid play of junior quarterback Joe Dailey and the outstanding special teams contributions of sophomore Brandon Tate, who returned both a punt and a kickoff for touchdowns.

Of Duke's twelve losses this season, this one stings the most.  Down 45-38 with less than three minutes to play and the North Carolina offense holding the ball, defensive lineman Patrick Bailey picked off a Dailey offering and took it in for the touchdown that would presumably send the game into overtime.  In typical Blue Devils fashion, however, kicker Randy DeSmyter's extra point attempt was blocked, essentially ending the game and the season.  It was the second time this year that faulty kicking cost Duke a close game: against Wake Forest on September 9th, Joe Surgan had a kick batted away as time expired in a 14-13 loss (Yahoo! Sports).

With the loss, Duke became the second Division 1 team to finish this season without a victory; the first was Division 1-AA's North Carolina A&T, which rounded out an 0-11 mark with a loss last Saturday.  As previously noted in this space, the Aggies were historically uncompetitive, holding a lead for just over two minutes in the entire season.

At least Duke was more competitive than the Aggies and fellow winless team Florida International, which was shut out by in-state rival Florida Atlantic 31-0 on Saturday, its fourth loss by thirty-plus points in the last five games.  The Golden Panthers have performed as two different teams this season: the team lost five of its first six games by five points or less before being blown out by Miami, 35-0, on October 14.  That game was marred by a brawl that resulted in the suspensions of more than thirty players from the two programs combined, ruining The U-2's season and virtually guaranteeing a winless campaign.  (In an interesting note, the brawl appeared to have ill effects on Miami's season as well; the following week, the Hurricanes topped Duke, 20-15, then lost four consecutive games before finally topping Boston College in the regular season finale.)

Unlike Duke, FIU has one more chance to avoid a winless season when they welcome Troy next weekend.  The Trojans handed Middle Tennessee its first conference loss on Saturday to become bowl eligible, improving its conference record to 5-1 in the process.  The victory means they will have lot to play for against The U-2 and lame-duck coach Don Strock (who resigned ten days ago but is finishing the season), as another win guarantees them the Sun Belt conference title and the New Orleans Bowl bid that goes with it, while a loss leaves the school's post-season hopes up in the air (Yahoo! Sports).

One last thought on the subject of bowl games:  with two teams likely to go winless this season (even if FIU wins, North Carolina A&T could be thrown into the mix), why not schedule a special bowl game between the two?  (The folks at Tom Bowl have hit upon this idea already, calling the annual game between the two winless teams the Toilet Bowl and actually inviting the programs to take part.  So far, no one has accepted, but hope springs eternal.)  It has been noted before that completing an entire season without recording a win is almost as difficult as completing an entire season without suffering a loss; it makes perfect sense to give the players on these teams some sort of compensation for their struggles.  What could be better than allowing them the opportunity to play each other and determine which is the better team - the best of the worst, if you will?  If you're going to have the worst program in college football, you might as well have some fun with it.