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RALEIGH — Duke went down an old familiar road Saturday after a long time wandering. For the first time in 25 years, the Blue Devils went to N.C. State and won a football game.

As the clouds gathered in the closing minutes over a Wolfpack program suddenly reeling into the bottom of the ACC, an even more stunning realization became clear. Duke is better than N.C. State.

That was a premise not considered leading up to a game that seemed to mean very little to State and its sparse audience. But when it was over, and Duke had won 49-28 in an offensive performance for the ages, there was little else to say. David Cutcliffe, the second-year Duke coach, had plenty to talk about.

A year ago, after State had beaten Carolina and claimed a mythical state championship, Cutcliffe got word of it and fired back across the 20-mile chasm between the schools.

"They better do their chirping now," he said.

After running up more than 500 yards in offense against the Pack, after winning an ACC road game for the first time in six years and ending a string of 11 straight losses to Big Four schools, Cutcliffe was asked about it again.

"Was I wrong?" he asked.

Duke was impressive Saturday, and State was awful. The 3-3 Wolfpack, which fell to 0-2 in the conference, never led. State's defense allowed Thad Lewis to throw for 459 yards, completing a mind-boggling 40 of 50 passes, five of which went for touchdowns. He ran for another.

Cutcliffe, known for his work with quarterbacks at Tennessee and Ole Miss, said it was the best he'd ever seen one of his quarterbacks play. That would include Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Erik Ainge, Heath Shuler and Colorado Rockies first baseman Todd Helton.

Lewis would've likely broken all the school and conference passing records had Duke not shut down its offense in the fourth quarter. That's in part because he was so remarkably accurate and in part because State's defense was so remarkably unprepared. Lewis said he was surprised the Pack did exactly what Cutcliffe told him it would do and stunned that State made no alterations as the game went on.

"That was fun just to go out there and toss it around," Lewis said.

He threw to 10 receivers, all of whom roamed free in the State secondary, and might have completed every one of his passes had a few not been dropped. Late in the game, State was sending in little-used players because the regulars were exhausted. Duke's offense had the ball for more than 40 minutes. It only seemed like the entire game.

The expansion of the ACC several years ago realigned the schools and left rivalries on the side of the road, and this was one of them. In the days leading up to the first Duke-State game in Raleigh since 2002, there was talk that State no longer considered Duke one of its rivals.

Lewis said he hoped this game would change that. Cutcliffe said he hoped it would change a lot more.

"I think people understand we're serious about football at Duke," he said. "That's huge. Whether they're in the state of North Carolina or wherever people can run, play and compete, we'll recruit them. We're going to win at Duke. We're going to win, and we're serious about playing football at Duke."

When it was almost over Saturday, and virtually the entire stadium emptied, leaving the tiny Devils traveling party tucked away in a corner, Cutcliffe walked over to his quarterback and shook his hand.

"He was really special," Cutcliffe said. "I'll probably upset a couple of my former quarterbacks, but I believe that's the best game I've ever had a quarterback play in my college career."

He complimented the receivers and the offensive line, he complimented the defense and his coaching staff, and he complemented the small group of Duke fans huddled in the corner of an empty stadium at the end of a special win.

"It was kind of surreal," Cutcliffe said. "We haven't felt this in a long time at Duke. Everybody kept asking me about streaks. I try not to talk about streaks."

State hadn't lost to Duke in 16 years. Cutcliffe said he would put a game ball in his office to remind him of the win and a lot of other things that were taken care of on a surreal Saturday in Raleigh.

Contact Ed Hardin at 373-7069 or ed.hardin@news-record.com