CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - In the football team's 13-10 loss to Virginia on Saturday, the defense made play after play in keeping Duke close to the heavily-favored Cavaliers.
Time after time, it held under pressure and stopped the Cavaliers' offense cold. The Blue Devils (2-5, 0-4 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) forced five Virginia turnovers and made countless other big plays.
Often, the problem was that the offense simply could not capitalize on the good field position handed to it by the defense. Near the end of the battle, however, the problem was not the actual game action but the call of a referee.
With under five minutes to play and the score tied 10-10, Virginia (4-2, 3-1) was inside Duke's 30-yard line and had one final chance to close in before attempting a long field goal. Virginia quarterback Aaron Brooks dropped back to pass and never had the chance to find a receiver. He was instead hit squarely by Duke defensive tackle Chris Combs, on a move that put Virginia on the outer edge of field goal range.
After such an outstanding and crucial play, Virginia native Combs did what came naturally. He jumped up and he saluted his teammates.
Unfortunately for Duke, that's not what one referee thought. He called a dead ball foul on Combs, which moved the chains half the distance to the goal line and gave Virginia a first down, allowing the Cavaliers to make the easy field goal four plays later.
"It was unsportsmanlike conduct," coach Fred Goldsmith said. "They said taunting. They said he raised his hand to the side, to the crowd, and saluted the crowd."
Combs' teammates swear that the salute was to the Duke sideline, not to the Virginia sideline, or its fans.
"It was a pretty weak call," quarterback Bobby Campbell said. "It wasn't like he was trying to embarrass anybody on the other team. He made a great play, a huge play at the time of the game, and it wasn't really a celebration either, he was just excited. I'm sure it was to our [sideline]."
Combs simply sat in disbelief at the first excessive celebration call made against Duke since the rule was introduced in 1995.
"I was definitely shocked," Combs said. "I've never been the type of player to taunt anybody like they said. Anybody who's ever coached me or played with me knows that. After our team makes a good play or I make a good play, I do get excited. I might point to our sidelines, pump my fist or whatever, but...I've probably done what I did in...every game of my entire career at one time or another, and it's never been called before."
The arguing, anger and sadness of the unsportsmanlike conduct call were only heightened by the fact that defensive play had kept Duke in the game, and the Blue Devils were looking at a chance to win.
The situation arose off of a stellar defensive play by the Cavaliers' Dwayne Stukes. Campbell completed a slant pass to tight end Terrence Dupree who rumbled 31 yards, down the Virginia 43 yard line, where he was caught from behind by Stukes and stripped of the football.
Duke struggled in the first half, as Virginia scored a touchdown and a field goal against the Blue Devils. Duke had the edge in time of possession with nearly 18 minutes, but that was irrelevant-Virginia's touchdown came on a drive of just eight seconds. A Campbell interception gave Virginia the ball on Duke's 31-yard line, and a Brooks pass to Germane Crowell gave them the touchdown in just one play.
At the beginning of the second quarter, Virginia made a 46-yard field goal to shoot ahead 10-0. For the next four possessions, the teams traded punts.
With four and a half minutes left in the half, backup quarterback David Green was faced with Duke's best scoring chance of the game. The offense had received the ball on Virginia's 20-yard line after nose guard Eric Scanlan intercepted a Brooks pass. Green drove inside the five, and an interference call against Virginia put the Blue Devils into a first and goal from the two situation. A sack, an incomplete pass, and a solid no-gain play later, though, Duke was forced to settle for a Sims Lenhardt 23-yard field goal.
"I thought Virginia had a very good defensive football team," Goldsmith said. "As far as I'm concerned, the game was played by two great defenses and it was a tie."
By Duke's next possession, Campbell was back at quarterback, where he remained for the rest of the game.
An unsuccessful long field goal attempt by Lenhardt ended the half, and Duke headed into the locker room for halftime adjustments. Those adjustments occurred mostly on offense, where, in the passing category, Campbell had netted -4 yards, Green had netted six, and punter John Morton had netted 31 on a fake punt play during Duke's first possession.
The difference those adjustments made became obvious when Duke came up with two long drives on its first two possessions of the second half.
The second possession was especially notable. A Scanlan sack and strip combined with a Chike Egbuniwe interception had given Duke's offense the ball just inside Virginia territory. Campbell drove the offense better than he had at any point in the game, handing off repeatedly to halfback Duane Epperson and fullback Lay Marshall. Marshall plunged into the endzone from two yards out to cap it off, and Duke drew even on Lenhardt's extra point.
Duke will now return home and try to regroup for next week's matchup with Wake Forest and avoid the frustration that comes with close losses.
"It kills us," Campbell said. "We're getting tired of almost winning ball games.... This should just push us a little farther for next week."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.