immediate results. The Yellow Jackets began the season 1-5-1 and did not score more than 14 points against a Division I-A opponent over its first seven games. Spurrier, who had not been tasked with constructing a game plan and had seldom been allowed to call plays up to that point, asked Coach Rodgers for a larger role on the staff and was allowed to take control of the offense for the eighth game of the season, against Duke. Georgia Tech surprised Duke with a more aggressive offense than they'd run all year, and the Yellow Jackets won, 24–14. With Spurrier continuing to call plays, Georgia Tech won the next two games as well, scoring over 20 points in both contests and setting a Georgia Tech record for passing yardage in a season. But the campaign ended with a 16–3 loss to archrival Georgia, dropping Georgia Tech to 4-6-1 overall and leading to Rodgers' dismissal. Spurrier asked incoming head coach Bill Curry if he would be retained as Georgia Tech's quarterback coach and was told that he was one of "two or three" candidates for the job, prompting him to seek employment elsewhere. Spurrier would not forget being dismissed by Curry in 1980. In later years, Spurrier repeatedly mentioned his perfect record (6-0) against Curry's teams when they met as head coaches, often by very lopsided margins. Duke (1980–1982) In 1980, Spurrier was hired to be the offensive coordinator at Duke University by head coach Red Wilson, who had been impressed by Spurrier's coaching abilities the previous season when Georgia Tech had upset Wilson's Duke squad. Wilson gave the young coach free rein to design the offense, coach the quarterbacks, and call the plays, and Spurrier met the challenge by developing a record-breaking offense that Duke fans nicknamed "Air Ball". Under Spurrier, Blue Devils quarterback Ben Bennett set an NCAA record for career passing yardage, receiver Chris Castor was named ACC player of the year, and Duke's 1982 team became the first in Atlantic Coast Conference history to average more than 300 passing yards per game. Duke earned two straight winning seasons in 1981 and 1982, a feat that the program had not achieved since 1970 and 1971 and would not achieve again until Spurrier returned as the school's head football coach later in the decade. They also upset Tennessee in Knoxville 25–24 in 1982 on an 88-yard touchdown pass during