David Cutcliffe went to a Duke football practice this week in Birmingham, Ala., and spoke with the team afterward.

Manny Diaz signed 16 incoming freshmen for next year’s team, which will be his first, and talked on Signing Day about the early stages of his tenure as Duke’s coach.

The past and future of the Blue Devils’ football program have been on display this week; now it’s time for the present, ever so fleeting, in the form of Saturday’s Birmingham Bowl against Troy.

Duke goes into the bowl game trying to put a positive final spin on a season that started with a win against a top-10 team, had Duke hosting “College GameDay” for the first time, saw the Blue Devils lose all four ACC road games, and was upended when Mike Elko left a day after the regular-season finale.

“I think we’re not defined by one man,” freshman quarterback Grayson Loftis said. “We’re a locker room, and that’s kind of been our message and we’re going to build on what we’ve continued to build on the last two years.”

Credit for keeping this team together and focused is widespread.

The man at the head of it all, though, is interim coach Trooper Taylor. The only coach on staff with Cutcliffe and Elko will lead the Blue Devils through Saturday’s game, before the program transitions into Diaz’s own.

“It’s his energy,” linebacker Tre Freeman said of why the Blue Devils have rallied around Taylor. “His energy is always up, he’s always making jokes. There’s never a dull moment with Troop.”

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Here’s a primer on what you need to know for Saturday’s Birmingham Bowl:

Time: Noon.

Location: Protective Stadium, Birmingham, Ala.

TV: ABC.

Announcers: Tom Hart (play-by-play), Cole Cubelic (analyst) and Taylor Davis (sidelines).

Radio link: Listen to the crew that knows Duke best.

Forecast: Low-mid-60s, sunny and clear, winds around 5 mph.

Series; last meeting: Duke leads 2-0; Duke won 34-17 in 2014, when Anthony Boone accounted for 315 total yards of offense and three touchdowns, and David Helton (15) and DeVon Edwards (14) combined for 29 tackles.

Records: Troy 11-2; Duke 7-5.

Stat to watch: 98.

That’s how many tackles for loss Troy has this season, which is the sixth most in the country.

Not that it isn’t important in every game, but this one especially matters for Duke’s offense in terms of staying “on schedule” as an offense. Getting behind the chains is going to lead to mistakes against a defense that’s adept at forcing them.

“They’re really good up front,” Loftis said of Troy’s defensive line. “They’re really well-coached, but player wise, they’ve got some dudes up front.”

Quote of the week: “He’ll be like, ‘You can’t blame the kid, Coach, he just was beat at birth.’” – Freeman, on his favorite saying of Taylor’s.

Opposing offensive player to watch: Running back Kimani Vidal (No. 28).

No overthinking this one.

Vidal had one of the best conference championship performances in the country when he rushed for 233 yards and five touchdowns against App State to lead the Trojans to their second straight Sun Belt crown.

That was the junior’s third 200-yard game of the season, having already torched Stephen F. Austin (248) and Arkansas State (245). He’s scored 15 touchdowns this season en route to being named a third-team All-American by the Associated Press.

Vidal (5-8, 218) is a compact, powerful runner with some breakaway speed. He’s forced 88 missed tackles, the second-most in the country, per Pro Football Focus.

Opposing defensive player to watch: Defensive end Javon Solomon (No. 6)

Duke tied for 17th in the country in fewest sacks allowed, giving up 15 this season.

Solomon has more sacks and leads the country with 16.

So, there’s your strength-on-strength matchup to this one.

The 6-2, 245-pounder had something of a revival season. Solomon broke out with 11 sacks in the 2021 season, along with an interception and two fumble recoveries. His production took a step back last season, when he only had 4½ sacks.

Solomon has another season of eligibility, but he’s accepted an invite to the senior bowl and seems destined to pursue the NFL after this game.

Young Blue Devil to watch: Running back Peyton Jones (No. 21).

The future doesn’t have to start now.

But it can.

Duke still figures to have at least two of its top three running backs for this game.

The impending departures of Jaylen Coleman (out of eligibility) and Jordan Waters (transferring to N.C. State) mean Jaquez Moore is going to be Duke’s only running back with significant experience returning next season.

Jones, a freshman, has 20 carries for 71 yards and a touchdown this year. The 5-10, 201-pounder was impressive in fall camp and seemed like a candidate to play a larger role this season; those opportunities just didn’t come to fruition, in part because Duke stayed relatively healthy in the backfield.

It’ll be interesting to see if Jones’ workload increases in an effort to prepare him for a larger role next year.

Don’t forget about: Linebacker Tre Freeman (No. 12).

You shouldn’t ever forget about one of Duke’s best defensive players, with a second-team All-ACC selection to show for it.

So, this is more of a make-sure-you-keep-him-in-mind inclusion.

Freeman has 97 tackles this season. He’s three shy of becoming the first Blue Devil since Koby Quansah in 2019 to record triple-digit tackles in a season. Darius Joiner led Duke with 98 tackles last year.

“It’s on my mind a little bit, not too much,” Freeman said of the milestone. “I’m not stressing about it, but it’s been on my mind a little bit.”

This all comes full circle for the Durham native. Freeman played sparingly last season before being pressed into a bigger role in the Military Bowl because of Shaka Heyward’s absence. Against UCF, Freeman had a then-career-high five tackles and one sack, and parlayed that into becoming one of the best linebackers in the ACC this year.

Prediction: I’ll be honest — I have no idea what to expect in this game.

Troy had a hell of a season and is obviously riding high with a 10-game winning streak. The Trojans also lost by four touchdowns the only time they played a power-conference team this season.

Duke seems to have been held together by Taylor and the staff. We’ll see how that translates when things get kicked off — there’s no substitute for how teams react when faced with game adversity.