Losses continue to mount for exasperated Franks

ATLANTA - On a sun-soaked Saturday afternoon in Georgia Tech's Bobby Dodd Stadium, the only thing clearer than the north Georgia sky was the meaning of the tired expression that sat upon Carl Franks' face like a well-worn mask-losing is getting old.

Georgia Tech (5-2, 3-2 in the ACC) scored 17 points on its first three possessions on the way to a 31-3 halftime lead and a 45-10 blowout win, sending Duke (0-7, 0-3) to another loss in one of the most disastrous seasons in program history.

"We had [some positives], which were good to see," said Franks, who is now 3-15 as the head coach of the Blue Devils. "But we know we had enough mistakes... we couldn't even catch a pitch one time. We'll just keep working and see if we can't get better and find a way to win a football game before this season is over."

For a Georgia Tech team already focused on its Saturday showdown at Clemson, the win came as little more than a tuneup, the Yellow Jackets' second straight victory against a winless ACC opponent after a 52-20 romp over Wake Forest.

"It was a good game [for us]," Georgia Tech coach George O'Leary said. " We played everybody that we had out there. We did a good job, didn't get hurt and we're ready to go on with Clemson."

An undermanned Duke defense-both wide receivers Kyle Moore and Jeff Phillips were again pressed into regular duty as cornerbacks-was picked apart by a precise Georgia Tech offense that gained over 200 yards in the air as well as on the ground.

Five different Yellow Jacket players, including flanker Kelly Campbell, rushed for at least 20 yards as Tech racked up 236 yards on the ground against a Duke defense that routinely put eight or nine defenders on the line.

Quarterback George Godsey then took advantage of the thin secondary, torching the Blue Devils for 212 yards on just 11 completions.

"Defensively, we had some good plays, and then we looked like we couldn't get to the ball carrier and were trying to reach out and grab them," Franks said. "We had some problems lining up at times. It's the same thing that has happened in the past. We're not good enough to make mistakes ourselves and compete against a good football team."

And Franks' luck didn't run any further on offense.

Down 31-3 at halftime, the Blue Devils came out of the locker room with one of its best drives of the game. Taking the ball over on its own 21-yard line, Duke marched all the way to the Yellow Jacket three-yard line. But instead of celebrating a touchdown, a costly mistake put the Blue Devils back on defense and sent whatever chance Duke had left sailing into the Saturday afternoon sky.

Scrambling to his left and trying to create a play in the face of a Yellow Jacket blitz, quarterback D. Bryant left the football unprotected when he met the Georgia Tech rush and watched helplessly as the ball bounced off Nick Rogers' helmet and was returned for a touchdown by defensive end Clay Brooks.

The touchdown would be called back for an illegal block, but Duke's chance at a comeback was permanently gone.

"It didn't count, but it made a statement," Brooks said. "Duke came out strong in the second half and that was a momentum breaker for them."

Reggie Love scored the only Duke touchdown of the game, catching just his third career pass and first career touchdown to cap a 99-yard scoring drive for a Blue Devil team that now gets to face another ACC squad next week against Maryland.

"We've just got to keep working this week," Franks said. "We have to regroup and face Maryland next week and play another game."

After all, the worn expression on Franks' face says losing is getting old.