Early in the fourth quarter of Saturday's loss Duke appeared destined for victory. Clinging to a 17-10 lead, the Blue Devils stuffed Clemson on a fourth-and-one deep inside Duke territory and then immediately counterattacked. Five plays later Adam Smith threw a perfect strike to Khary Sharpe. Already behind the Tiger secondary when he caught the deep ball, Sharpe sprinted into the end zone to complete the 54-yard touchdown pass.
As Sharpe turned around and celebrated, Duke looked to have taken complete control of the contest. In the first three quarters, Smith and Sharpe couldn't find their timing, missing on several open opportunities, but now they were finally in synch. The Tigers looked demoralized. More than that, they looked bullied.
During the Blue Devil scoring drive, tight end Andy Roland had embarrassed Clemson defender Kelvin Morris. In a highlight moment replayed over the jumbotron to Duke fans' delight, the 6-foot-4, 220-pound Morris had attempted to get a final hit in before the officials whistled an incompleted pass play dead. Morris ran up only to have Roland knock him onto the ground instead, drawing catcalls from the Duke bench.
Contrary to appearances, however, Clemson was not dead in the water. Facing fourth-and-10 on its next possession, the Tigers pulled off a stunning 47-yard touchdown pass. Quarterback Charlie Whitehurst connected on a 15-yard crossing route to Airese Currie, who eluded a would-be tackler and then raced untouched for a dramatic score.
"There's a time in football when one big play can light up a team, and that just happened," Smith said. "It happened incredibly
A huge swing of momentum, indeed.
Suddenly reinvigorated, Clemson promptly exploited its newfound momentum. Although only a true freshman, Whitehurst threw two more touchdown passes in just over four minutes of play, transforming Duke's 14-point lead into a seven-point deficit.
As the Tigers grew more confident, Duke looked flustered. Trey McDonald shanked a punt to set up the game-tying touchdown pass, while a Smith interception led to Whitehurst's third touchdown pass.
Try as they might, the Blue Devils couldn't recover. A Whitehurst fumble inside the Clemson 25-yard line spurred Roland's game tying touchdown grab with just 2:36 remaining, but Duke's secondary couldn't hold. Whitehurst calmly marched the Tigers to the game-winning field goal.
Momentum is a tricky thing, of course. It changes several times a game and with decisive consequences. The difference Saturday was that when the momentum shifted Clemson's way, the Tigers took advantage. Whitehurst threw for 215 yards and three touchdowns in just one quarter, illustrating just how dominant the Clemson offense performed in the game's closing stanza.
Unlike the the Tigers, Duke never demonstrated the same cutthroat instinct. Several times Sharpe and other Duke receivers sprinted open deep in Clemson's secondary. Only once, though, could Smith connect, as the Blue Devils were unable to put the contest out of reach.
"We were off a few times," Smith said. "Some of my throws were a little long, [but] it's better to miss a little long than to miss short. If you miss short it's going to be a turnover. Someone's going to intercept it."
Unlike the Tigers, Duke failed to capitalize during its most dominant stretch Saturday. The Blue Devils controlled the action throughout the second quarter, pushing Clemson around offensively and defensively. They got just 10 points to show for it.
"Going in to halftime I actually heard a bunch of players yell out 'I hate halftime,'" Sharpe said. "We don't want to leave the field. I hate the breaks between quarters."
Duke missed numerous opportunities. First, Brent Garber missed a 41-yard field goal. Two possessions later, the Duke offense received a gift fumble from Clemson's kickoff return team on the Clemson 29, only to have Smith throw an interception while getting hit the very next play.
Finally, the Blue Devils closed the first half by driving to the Tigers' 10-yard line. Poor clock management forced the Blue Devils to settle for Garber's 28-yard field goal as time expired. Two timeout delays cost Duke 20 valuable seconds, as did Franks' decision to call so many running plays.
"I wish we could have had a little more time on the clock because I think we would have scored a touchdown instead of having to settle for a field goal," Smith said. "And, look at the score... that would have helped."
Saturday's contest came down to one crucial difference. When the Tigers seized momentum they capitalized fully: 24 points in 10 minutes. Duke, on the other hand, came away with just 10 points after an entire quarter of dominance.
The Blue Devils' 23-game conference losing streak continues.
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