WINSTON-SALEM - Overcast skies and chilling winds set a fitting atmosphere for Duke's ninth loss of the season.
On a gloomy day at Groves Stadium, the Demon Deacons (1-7, 1-5 in the ACC) achieved what neither they nor Duke had been able to do until Saturday: they won a football game. Following their 28-26 defeat, the Blue Devils (0-9, 0-6) are forced to continue their quest for their first win this season.
D. Bryant's 277 passing yards were not enough, as Wake Forest's Tarence Williams tore through Duke's defense for 154 yards rushing and three touchdowns en route to the Deacons' first victory of the year.
The game was closely contested, and in the fourth quarter, Duke looked poised to achieve the seemingly impossible.
After a Brent Garber field goal cut Wake's lead to two points with 9:47 to go, Duke looked to its defense to hold the Deacons and put their offense in a position to win the game.
They didn't.
A week after allowing Maryland's LaMont Jordan to run for a 77-yard touchdown, the Devils' defense again showed their susceptibility to the big play.
This time, it was Tarence Williams.
On the Deacs second play of the drive, Williams took the ball on a sweep to left, turning the corner and running past the Devils' line. Picking up a block or two, Williams continued downfield, shaking Blue Devil tacklers all the way. Williams was in the endzone 72 yards later.
"It was all my offensive line," the sophomore said of his run, the ninth-longest run in team history. "It was zero percent me and 100 percent the offense. It was a sweep and I saw an opening. The offensive line made a crack in the defense and I just followed it."
Coming into the game, the endzone wasn't
Williams first found paydirt on the game's opening drive. After the Deacon offense moved the ball to Duke's 39-yard-line, Williams took over. The next three plays consisted of Williams running up the middle, gaining 14, 9 and 16 yards, the last of which placed him across the goal line.
"We came out great," Williams said. "We had intensity and played hard. Duke did a great job, but we played powerful offensive football."
It was that powerful effort that eventually exploited Duke's weaknesses. While the Blue Devils' defense held strong for most of the game, it suffered several lapses that allowed Wake's 101-ranked offense to amass 244 yards on the ground.
"As a defense, I think we're pretty solid most of the time," commented outside linebacker Ryan Fowler. "It's the few times that we're not that the plays break. That's where we lose the game-the big plays. Not many teams drive on us, it's just a big break here or there."
Duke's offense did its part in trying to combat the defense's mistakes.
Trailing 14-3 late in the third quarter, D. Bryant found an open Mike Hart along the sideline, a play that netted 63 yards and put the ball at the Deacons' 5-yard-line. One play later, Chris Douglas would run through the right side of the line and find paydirt. A failed two-point conversion left the score at 14-9.
"I had no clue [how open I was]," the Hart said. "I sort of got bumped when I caught the ball and then I was extremely surprised to turn around and see that I had some room to run. That's the first time that's happened to me in college
After Williams scored his second touchdown to put Wake ahead 21-9, quarterback D. Bryant led the Blue Devils on a nine-play, 80-yard drive to again close the margin to five. Completions to Duane Epperson and Ben Erdeljac, along with two Wake Forest penalties, put the Blue Devils on Wake's 14-yard-line. Bryant took the snap and gave the ball to Epperson, who rolled right and found Kyle Moore in the back corner of the endzone with 13:31 to go in the game.
And while Williams' 72-yard romp took the wind out of Duke's sails, the offense still fought back. Trailing by nine with 3:50 to go, Bryant engineered a 13-play, 76-yard drive that included a 4th down completion to Ben Erdeljac and ended with Bryant running up the middle for a 2-yard touchdown.
"Even though the defense gave up that big play, we came back and we scored," Hart said. "It just goes to show that we are fighting our asses off out there, putting forth an effort, and not giving up. We're practicing every single week as hard as we can to be victorious on Saturday."
With less than a minute on the clock, Duke's only hope for victory was to attempt an onside kick. After a Duke player touched the ball before allowing it to go ten yards, however, that hope had disappeared. Duke's best chance for victory had faded, leaving coach Carl Franks tasting defeat for yet another week.
"Wake Forest played better than we did," he said. "They deserved to win the game. We'll just have to continue to bounce back. I told the team that one of the greatest tests of courage in the world is not to lose heart during defeat. Our guys haven't lost heart-we'll be ready to bounce back."
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