By BRYAN STRICKLAND

bstrickland@heraldsun.com; 419-6671

DURHAM -- Duke football coach David Cutcliffe believes that preseason camp finally is heading in the right direction, both in terms of the Blue Devils' health and in terms of the well-being of their on-field performance.

"Today was some of the best work we've had, start to finish," Cutcliffe said after Tuesday morning's practice, adding that he had decided to give the team the evening off from meetings as a reward. "There was competitiveness, and there was some of the most crisp tackling I've seen out here.

"I hope that becomes a trend."

Cutcliffe said that the flu bug that had tackled nearly half the team appears to be on the way out.

"We're on the good side of that," he said. "We're almost out of the woods, near 100 percent.

"I think it will just be a couple of more days if, the good Lord willing, nothing new comes out."

The Blue Devils also have gotten some positive news on the injury front. Donovan Varner, a projected starter at wide receiver, left Saturday's scrimmage after taking a hard hit to the back delivered by safety Matt Daniels, but Cutcliffe said the injury wasn't serious.

"He's OK; he's just having back spasms," Cutcliffe said. "He's going to be fine. He's gotten a little bit of work, but he's not back to full speed.

"I'm planning on him making the scrimmage on Saturday."

Cutcliffe, in fact, has high hopes across the board for this Saturday's scrimmage at Wallace Wade Stadium, which is open to the public and will kick off at 4 p.m. Fans will receive free posters and schedule cards, in addition to live music, inflatable games and prize drawings. The festivities are free.

"We still, at this point, have not had our starting lineup on either side of the ball together for one day," Cutcliffe said. "We're looking forward to hopefully moving toward that; that's one of my goals for Saturday."