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Game commentary

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Defense gets rude awakening from Florida State**

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Coming in to Saturday's game against Florida State, the Blue Devil defensive squad was looking to improve upon the 32 points it gave up in the second quarter of last year's game with the Seminoles. The team actually succeeded on that mission--but not by much.

The Blue Devils allowed just 27 points in this year's second quarter.

And when compared to Duke's offensive output of 26 points, it looks like Duke might have actually kept this game close. But it took the Blue Devils an entire game to score 26 points, whereas the Seminoles outscored Duke's game total in just one quarter of play.

When you add on FSU's 27 points in the first quarter, nine points in the third quarter and seven points in the fourth quarter, the results are not pretty. After three hours and 45 minutes of constant pounding, Duke left the field battered and beaten.

The offense should be able to score 20 or 30 points a game against other ACC teams--it is up to the defense to keep the score down enough so that the offense can win it.

Shellshocked would be just one word that could describe what the defense went through on Saturday afternoon. Just rattling off the numbers of the things Florida State did probably still sends chills down the spine of a Duke player.

The Seminoles scored seven touchdowns in their first eight possessions. The times on the touchdown drives were 2:08, 1:25, 28 seconds, 21 seconds, 1:21, 1:32 and 3:10. A Mike Tyson fight would have outlasted most of these drives. People who went out to grab a hot dog and coke didn't miss a scoring drive, they missed two or three of them. In one two-minute period late in the first quarter, the game went from a 13-7 contest to a 27-7 blowout.

The main problem the Blue Devils encountered was tackling the ball-carrier. Florida State had runs of 26, 33 and 85 yards in the first quarter. While the Seminoles have plenty of talented backs, it didn't make up for the blatant misses by the Duke defensive line and linebacking corps.

"You've got to tackle," Duke head coach Fred Goldsmith said. "I mean you've got to tackle. It was just a bad job by our defense against the best football team in the country and that doesn't turn out to be a good combination. That's what happens when you play real bad against someone that's real good."

Dunn and backfield mate Rock Preston took full advantage of Duke's poor fundamentals to bolster their statistics. Both players had rushed for over 100 yards before the end of the first half and had both scored a touchdown. The constant scoring led to a long first half that got longer for the defense with every botched play.

"I think this was the longest football game in history," senior linebacker James Kirkland said. "After the first half, I thought the game was over. I don't know how long the first half lasted, but it had to be three hours."

While the official time was probably closer to two hours, the fatigue and devastation was obvious within the Blue Devil camp. After blocking an extra point, stopping a drive before halftime and then holding the Seminoles again after halftime, Duke looked as if it was getting back on track and would fight for a moral victory.

That idea was erased quickly when the defense saw Florida State's first-team unit come back out on the field. It took just three plays with Dunn and Kanell back on the field before Florida State had upped its score to 60.

"We experienced a tough time tackling," Farmer said. "I really don't attribute it to a lack of effort. I think we had guys in the right spot and we had guys quick enough to get there, but I think they did a very good job of doing what they do well, and that's using their speed to their advantage."

Ironically enough, about a year ago, a column about the Duke football team was praising the defensive line for holding opposing running backs in check. Was there anything in this game that was reminiscent of last year? Truthfully, there is quite a bit of rationalizing that should come along with this game.

Florida State is the No. 1 team in the nation for a reason, and it proved it on Saturday. No other team Duke will play will come close to matching Florida State's ability to inflict damage in all aspects of the game.

"I just hope we don't have anybody left on the schedule who can run and throw quite as well as Florida State," Goldsmith said. "That's why they're the No. 1 team in the country. I mean how many people do you think can run and throw it that well. [Florida State] has an All-American caliber tailback and a Heisman candidate to throw it and all those folks to catch it."

A small bright spot for the Blue Devils was the play of the secondary, which may have been Duke's weakest link last year. Farmer showed that his athletic ability could make him a special teams All-American while strong safety Tawambi Settles also showed that he could keep up with Florida State by making 10 tackles, one interception and one two-point conversion after Farmer blocked an extra point.

These facts, however, illustrate half of the problem. If Settles and cornerback Brandon Pollock--who had eight tackles--lead the Blue Devils in stops that means the running back has already gained eight or 10 yards before the secondary brings him down. This will be the greatest point of interest when Rutgers brings in two talented running backs to Wallace Wade Stadium next week.

In the end, Duke went up against the best offense in the land and came up short. The key now is to huddle up, take the "half a year of experience," that Goldsmith believes his team got, and get ready for a slate of games that are winnable.

"Rutgers is good," Farmer said. "But there is no way any other team we're going to play is going to match up with how Florida State came at us today. I think if we go out there and play the kind of ball we are capable of playing, I think we will have a good season."