As Georgia Tech's opening kick Saturday sailed deep into the endzone for a Blue Devil touchback, a look at the crowd revealed a lot of yellow and very little blue. It was the Homecoming game--a crowd-drawing event at most schools--and no one had come. Overcast skies and scattered showers apparently scared off many, especially in the student area, which was pitifully bare compared to the Yellow Jacket cheering section.
The first Duke drive resembled many thus far this season. Several promising gains and a first down moved the offense towards midfield. But the Blue Devils were quickly stopped in their tracks, highlighted by a third-down sack, and the punting unit took the field for their first of nine kicks.
While penalties, poor blitz pickups and pressure from a swarming Georgia Tech defense kept the Blue Devils from advancing the ball much throughout the first quarter, the play of the Duke defense kept the game from getting out of hand.
Granted, it did surrender seven points in the first quarter, as well as a touchdown and a field goal on Georgia Tech's first two possessions in the second, but putting some points on the board was something that coach Carl Franks said afterwards was to be expected from an offense ranked so high in several ACC categories.
However, the Blue Devil defense continually came up with big plays that just seemed to have the capability of igniting their stagnate offense.
Moments of perfect execution, such as cornerback Ronnie Hamilton knocking the ball to the ground on an intended fourth down pass,
But then linebacker Ryan Fowler and Hamilton came up with interceptions on two consecutive Georgia Tech drives, and quarterback D. Bryant led the Blue Devils towards the endzone. As rain continued to pelt down on Wallace Wade Stadium, Duke closed the score from 17-0 to 17-10 in just over a minute.
As the first half came to a close, the Yellow Jacket offense seemed rattled by its three turnovers, and chose to run out the clock and then sprint off the field, possibly contemplating a blowout that could have been.
Perhaps instilled by the confidence of keeping its team in the game, the Blue Devil defense exited to the locker room pumping fists, trying to extract passion and excitement from the sparse crowd. During the marching band's performance, the rain started to subside and the clouds appeared to break, emitting a few rays of sunlight. It could have been symbolic. The home team was within striking distance of a big-time upset. Perhaps the nagging losing streak would end.
And then they played the second half.
After safety Josh Kreider very nearly intercepted a pass with plenty of running room ahead of him on Georgia Tech's first drive of the new half, hopes for a win started to dwindle. The Yellow Jackets scored on that drive, and put up points on every one of their second-half drives except for
While that near-interception could have been the play that crushed the confidence of a struggling Georgia Tech offense, which was already susceptible coming off their heartbreaking overtime loss the week before, it instead seemed to reinvigorate them.
As the game rolled on, the Blue Devil defense look more and more fatigued, partly due to the revival of the Yellow Jacket attack.
"[Georgia Tech] did a great job of making adjustments," Hamilton said.
Even more than that, the defense was left on the field most of the half because of a sputtering offense, which failed to register a first down in the third quarter, and only had three in the fourth. Two of them came with less than a minute to play in the game.
"On offense we couldn't protect the quarterback and couldn't run the ball a lick," Franks said.
Overall, the Blue Devil team that took the field after halftime did little that resembled their encouraging performance earlier in the game.
"We learned we could play one half of football," Franks said. "We need to learn to play two. We need to play smarter and coach a little smarter."
While the Blue Devils can take many things from this game and possibly build on them for upcoming contests, in the end, the weight of the loss and the losing streak outweighs the positives of the first half.
The players, coaches and the few faithful fans that weathered the rain and the cold Saturday must live another week with an empty win column.
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