After squandering opportunities to score and chances to stall Seminole drives in the first half, Duke (2-3, 0-2 in the ACC) was dominated by Florida State (5-0, 4-0) 56-7 Saturday night in Wallace Wade Stadium.
"We had the chance to put some points on the board, but we just couldn't take advantage," said Duke head coach Carl Franks, whose team only converted one of its five red zone chances.
The Seminoles came out the way everyone expected, putting together an 80-yard touchdown drive in just 1:37. After the Seminoles collected two first downs, Greg Jones took a Chris Rix handoff and maneuvered around Duke tacklers for a 53-yard run. From the Duke six-yard line, B.J. Dean ran the ball up the middle for the first score of the game. Then, Duke, with good field position at the Florida State 44-yard line, could not manage any offense. On the Blue Devils' first offensive play of the game, the Seminoles sacked quarterback Mike Schneider for an eight-yard loss. The Blue Devils were hampered throughout the game by an inability to produce on first down.
"We just have to make sure we stay out of negative yardage plays, especially on first down," Franks said. "All defenses want to win the first down. When you start getting a team in second and 15, which seemed to happen us way too many times, you've got a big advantage." Forced to punt, Trey McDonald's 48-yard kick pinned the Seminoles inside their own 10-yard line. On second down, the Blue Devils came within inches of a safety when Phillip Alexander took down tailback Willie Reid just outside the goal line.
And as soon as it looked like the Blue Devils might be gaining some momentum, they committed the first of several critical personal fouls; this time it was roughing the kicker as the Seminoles punted from inside the shadow of their own goal post.
"That was a huge play," Franks said. "We were going to get the ball around midfield. We've just got to be smarter than that."
Florida State took advantage of the Blue Devil mistake. On the very next play Rix completed a 50-yard pass to tight end Donnie Carter, who was caught from behind by Terrell Smith to prevent a touchdown. Six plays later, tailback Greg Jones ran the ball into the endzone untouched on a right sweep.
"We have a lot of skilled receivers," Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden said. "On [the] offensive line, we protected well. And we've got good passers and with the receivers we've got, they can find a way to get open."
After another efficient Seminole drive, this time it was the offense which lifted the Blue Devils back in the game. The most important part about the Blue Devils' only scoring drive of the day was their ability to convert three third-and-long situations.
The biggest play of the drive came when Schneider completed a third-and-nine pass to tight end Calen Powell on the left sideline. The 25-yard completion moved the Blue Devils inside the Florida State 10-yard line. On the next snap, the Blue Devils scored when Chris Douglas ran through the line and into the endzone almost untouched on a vacant left side of the field.
However, the Blue Devils were not able to hold the momentum for long, as Anthony Cromartie took the ensuing Brent Garber kickoff down the right sideline to the Duke 31-yard line. From there it took the Seminoles just four plays and 1:08 to push the score up to 21-7.
On the next possession, Douglas caught a swing pass on the Duke 20-yard line in the flat and motored down the right sideline for a 36-yard gain. With the Blue Devils in Seminole territory for the second time, they continued to move the ball as Schneider kept the ball on fourth and four, running for a first down.
Then, the Blue Devils failed to covert on second-and-four and third-and-six opportunities, forcing them to attempt a 46-yard field goal just inside the right hash. The Garber kick was blocked by Gordy Reid to deny Duke its second score of the contest.
Florida State took over on offense, and after a first down, the Blue Devils clamped down on defense. On third and 10, linebacker Giuseppe Aguanno sacked Rix to force the Seminoles to punt.
Again, the Blue Devils were able to put together a successful offensive drive. But when Duke got into the red zone, the Florida State defense once again rose to the occasion. On first down from the Seminole 20-yard line, Darnell Dockett sacked Schneider for a loss of nine. Then, on third down, as he tried to scramble for a first, Kevin Emanuel stripped the ball from Schneider and recovered it.
The Seminoles--lucky to escape two consecutive Duke drives deep into their territory without surrendering points--returned to offense. Duke sacked Rix for a seven-yard loss to bring up a critical third and 17. However, the porous Blue Devil defense failed to make a critical tackle that would have forced the Seminoles to punt. Instead, Florida State eked out a first down.
Then, Rix threw a 43-yard pass to Craphonso Thorpe which he caught over the head of cornerback Brian Greene just inside the left pylon to push the Seminole advantage to 28-7 at halftime.
After halftime, the Blue Devil offense struggled as the Seminoles, playing primarily with reserve players, continued to power through the Duke defense. Schneider competed nine-of-12 passes in the first half, but connected on just three-of-15 attempts after halftime.
"I thought our offensive line played well early," Franks said. "[Schneider] was getting some time. Then it became tough when we knew we had to throw a bunch."
Duke received the ball to begin the second half, but on the first series, as he tried to make something happen on third and long, Schneider surrendered his second fumble of the game. Florida State's A.J. Nicholson scooped up the loose ball, fumbled it on his way to the endzone, but recovered the ball and stumbled in for a touchdown.
With the score 35-7, Senterrio Landrum took the kickoff at the 23 yard line and returned it 44 yards--once again giving the Blue Devils excellent field position. Landrum and the return team had an excellent evening as the junior accumulated 192 return yards on five chances.
"Coach came out this week and gave us a challenge to do well like all the rest of the special teams," Landrum said. "We need to step up and the guys stepped up their game up front."
Despite the field position, the Blue Devils were once again unable to capitalize. Failing to marshal a single first down, Duke sent on Brent Garber to attempt a 42-yard field goal which, for the second time in the game, was blocked by the Seminoles.
From there, Florida State tacked on three additional touchdowns with a mixture of starters and reserves on the field. "We fought real hard," Alexander said. "We just didn't get a couple of bounces. They are a great team. We played real hard."
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