Duke Football: How to Get Students to Stay Past Halftime

Duke football succeeded in sparking student interest, but there may be only one way to get Wade Wackos to approach the enthusiasm of their Cameron Crazies alter ego and make it last.

Duke football head coach Mike Elko (Jaylynn Nash-USA TODAY Sports)

Generally, the Cameron Crazies never leave Duke basketball home games at halftime, no matter the score. When the Blue Devils enter the locker room leading by 20-plus points, Cameron Indoor Stadium's famed student section may take its lone break from standing, but all the while drooling at the prospect of more thrills in the second half.

It's long been a far different story in Wallace Wade Stadium.

As was evident from the press box during the Duke football team's 30-0 shellacking of visiting Temple on Friday night to kick off the Mike Elko era on a high note, the rule of sticking around to the end doesn't yet apply when the Cameron Crazies transform into the lesser-known Wade Wackos.

In fairness to the students, it's worth reminding folks that football games typically last at least an hour longer than basketball games. And to their credit, they showed up on time, packed their seats, were on their feet, and even channeled their inner Cameron Crazies by going crazy when "Everytime We Touch" blared from the loudspeakers.

Elko expressed genuine appreciation when speaking to the media afterward:

"From a starting point, we asked a lot of people to believe in where this program could go. It was just awesome to see the students come out like they did tonight. That's something that's really special. And if we want this program to go where we all want it to go, that's just got to continue."

Sure, Elko did what was needed before the season to earn some love from Duke's 2026 class, giving a pep talk to them inside Cameron and gifting all the freshmen personalized No. 26 jerseys.

Yes, it was a smart long-term move to get in good with the new kids on campus. And it appeared to work in that loads of freshmen donned those gifted jerseys at the game.

Plus, it didn't hurt that the school showed the Wade Wackos some love by moving them from the endzone to chairback seats behind the visitors' bench this season. And seemingly to further ensure at least a semi-loud atmosphere from what was a sparse crowd outside of the student section, Duke invited them to a pregame tailgate party.

Even so, once the Blue Devils went into halftime with a commanding 24-0 lead over the outmatched, outcoached Owls, the number of students in attendance nosedived from the thousands to a generous estimate of a few hundred.

By the fourth quarter, about 75 Wade Wackos were remaining in the stands, not counting the band. If that was the case at a men's basketball game, those 75 might have been the only ones not required to hand over their "Cameron Crazies" card.

So how can Elko and his team build on the encouraging interest among students and sell them on the idea of staying put for the second half in future home games, even the lopsided affairs?

It won't happen overnight, assuming the program isn't willing to promise $100 bills or the arrival of all the basketball players in the student section after halftime. The only realistic solution is to keep winning and, like in basketball, become relevant on the national scene.

A pipe dream? Maybe.

Still, following his first Gatorade bath, Elko did anything but doubt his squad's potential:

"We've invested a lot in the last 8.5 months. They have worked extremely hard. We've put a lot of demands on them to be Duke football players. When I got here, everybody told me they wanted to win. Honestly, I clearly said to them, 'We'll see. Eight months from now, we'll see how bad you want to win.'"

Elko continued, perhaps purposefully tossing in that "brotherhood" word to further capture the Cameron Crazies' attention:

"[The players] feel very confident in themselves right now because of the investment they made. And I feel like we have a brotherhood that's really forming in that locker room, and we're going to need it because we have tests coming up."

If the Blue Devils beat Northwestern on the road at noon Saturday, that'll offer one more incentive for the Cameron Crazies to become Wade Wackos again when the team hosts North Carolina A&T the following week.

Again, Duke students aren't instantly going to become football fanatics. In other words, they're not likely to soon demand the creation of an "Elkoville" where they can camp out weeks in advance for home games.

But Elko and his gang got off to the right start. And they seem to have the right attitude for the daunting task of consistently drawing loads of ardent student support.

Stay tuned to Blue Devil Country for more Duke football coverage.