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Last year was a down year in Durham and everyone who wanted to get a punch in, did. Unlike the movies where the bully gets his and everyone lives happily ever after, Duke took stock and has come back with a vengeance.

They're back. Sure, they still have a lot to prove that they are championship-caliber but they are passing certain tests just fine.

This past week, Duke faced two demons of a year ago: Virginia Tech and Maryland. Last season, Virginia Tech went into Cameron Indoor Stadium and stunned the Blue Devils ...giving them their first home loss of the season (they would go on to lose three more). This wasn't Carolina or Maryland; these were the Hokies that did this. At the time, we all could pass it over as luck but it turned out to be an omen.

Maryland beat up on Duke, twice, pulling themselves back into one the ACC's most bitter rivalries.

This week, the Blue Devils traveled to Blacksburg and College Park and stared down both teams in close contests. At Tech, Duke fought off the over-aggressiveness of Deron Washington to pummel the Hokies. At Maryland, Duke faced a raucous crowd and their biggest deficit of the season to pull out a nine-point win.

In what looks to be a wild ACC season (just three weeks in and only Duke, UNC and Boston College have less than three conference losses), the Blue Devils are looking just fine, thank you.