COLLEGE PARK, Md. - It's not likely the football team will see an opportunity like it had on Saturday for quite a while. Probably not until next year.
With a two-game winning streak in its pocket, Duke entered Byrd Stadium full of confidence and intent on winning its first Atlantic Coast Conference game in nearly two years and pushing its record above .500.
Save for two plays, the defense delivered. And whenever he got the ball, running back Duane Epperson tore through the Maryland defense and led the Blue Devils on two scoring drives.
The problem was, those two drives were all that Duke could muster. And the defense was sharp, but it was two plays it didn't make that led to the Blue Devils' demise.
Maryland's 16-10 victory over Duke certainly didn't prove that the Terrapins are better than, or even equal to, a clearly-improved Blue Devil team. But there were four big plays in Saturday's game, and Maryland made every one of them.
Defensively, Duke probably hasn't ever wrapped up on tackles as well as it did against the Terps. Entering the fourth quarter, Maryland only had 12 rushing yards and didn't put together one substantive drive until it drove 55 yards midway through the fourth quarter, with the resulting Brian Kopka 37-yard field goal lifting the Terps to the final 16-10 margin.
"I was very, very proud of our defense," coach Fred Goldsmith said. "I thought our defense fought their guts out. In the end, they gave us a chance to win."
But on a balmy fall evening, Maryland didn't need any long drives against Duke. Instead, all the Terps had to do was connect on two deep balls between quarterback Brian Cummings and wide receiver Jason Hatala.
The first was a 76-yarder that opened the game and gave Maryland a quick 7-0 lead. Twenty seconds in, and the Blue Devils' successes of the past two weeks were quickly brought into check with the longest touchdown reception by the Terps in four years.
Hatala's second deep ball was even more decisive. After Duke had tied the score at 10 early in the second half, and appeared in control of a third-straight win, Cummings found Hatala streaking down the left sideline and the pair connected for a 48-yard gain that put Maryland at the Duke 30.
That's all the Terps needed. Four plays later, after a Kevin Lewis sack, Kopka connected on a 47-yard field goal, giving Maryland a 13-10 lead that it never relinquished. The Maryland offense didn't drive downfield against Duke because in reality, it couldn't. Darius Clark, Ryan Stallmeyer and Chike Egbuniwe anchored a defensive unit that kept the Terps off the scoreboard, even when its back was against the wall.
And it was placed in difficult situations all evening. For that, it could Duke's offense.
After their opening possession, the Blue Devils failed to pick up a first down on their next five drives. They constantly surrendered the ball deep in their own territory and forced the defense to hold tight, which it did.
But on Duke's fifth drive, even the defense couldn't make up for a huge turnover. Campbell, from his own nine, threw a five-yard hook in the left flat to Corey Thomas. But before the ball reached Thomas, Maryland strong safety Paul Jackson stepped in front at Duke's 13 and placed the Terps within a short touchdown.
As it would all evening, Duke's defense held, pushing Maryland back six yards before the Terps settled for another Kopka field goal, this one giving them a 10-0 lead.
Duke's lost day was closed out on its final drive of the game. Starting at their own 29 and in need of a touchdown, the Blue Devils moved the ball down to Maryland's 46. With 4:37 left in the game, a win was in sight.
On second-and-seven from the 43, Campbell, as he had throughout the game, dashed down to the 35 and picked up a first down.
But as Campbell's knee went down, Terp defensive end Eric Ogbogu stripped the ball and teammate Erwyn Lyght recovered. Maryland then ran out the clock and Duke's hopes of a 3-2 record.
"Ogbogu made a great play in punching it out," Campbell said. "But I should have been concentrating more on wrapping the ball up. I was trying to get the extra yards."
Two deep passes, an interception and a lost fumble. But most of all, a lost opportunity.
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