Ted Roof had barely slept since Oct. 26, the day Duke named him named interim head football coach upon the firing of Carl Franks. Throughout his first week, Roof continually told the media that his days would begin at 6 a.m. and conclude after 2 a.m. But midway through the second quarter in the Blue Devils' game against N.C. State, Roof must have felt he was dreaming.
With a 10-7 lead, Duke ran one of several successful reverses, with this particular hand off going to Khary Sharpe. The wide receiver wasted no time burning the youthful Wolfpack defense, blasting down the sidelines before landing inside the five-yard line. The Blue Devils seemed to be only moments from putting another seven points on the board, creating a 10-point deficit for the Wolfpack and an even bigger psychological burden on the team that was favored to win by more than three touchdowns. N.C. State had already not lived up to its pre-season hype, but had its play fallen so far from its potential that it would lose to a team that had not won an ACC game this century?
But before Duke could jump on this momentum to change the course of its recent history, and before N.C. State could wallow in coming up short in another expected win, a man in a white shirt with black stripes took out a flag and immediately stopped what could be interpreted as an earthquake-like shift in the ACC football hierarchy.
"Holding, on the offense; 10-yard penalty, repeat second down."
While just seconds before the Blue Devils seemed capable of overcoming eight years of miserable football, Duke could not sublimate the penalty--just three plays later the Blue Devils punted to a relieved, yet vengeful, Wolfpack offense.
State's quarterback Philip Rivers, who ranks fifth on espn.com's list of Heisman candidates, went 6-for-7 for 92 yards and a touchdown on the ensuing drive. Before Duke's only lead in an ACC game could be savored, the Wolfpack had already digested it into a 14-10 N.C. State advantage.
But Roof's dream was still not over. At Duke football's weekly press conference last Monday, Roof said that he wished there were "magic dust" he could find to mend Blue Devil mistakes. While it seemed unlikely that Roof had engineered the dust, Roof looked as if he had found a way for the Blue Devils to overcome its faults.
After regaining possession with 3:28 to go in the second quarter, the Blue Devils were determined to get the lead back. First, another reverse to Sharpe on third and nine added 12 yards to the Blue Devils' total. Then after an incomplete pass, senior running back Chris Douglas swooped through a giant whole created by the pancaking offensive line for a 42-yard gain. After these two athletic plays, Duke found themselves on N.C. State's three yard line with four downs to get into the endzone.
Roof and offensive coordinator Jim Pry called a great offensive game, as imagination and enthusiasm were used in ways not seen on the Duke side of the field in Wallace Wade in quite some time. But in hindsight, the ensuing four plays proved to add number 30 to Duke's ACC losing streak, the Blue Devils suffered from the same prosaic decisions that crippled the team's past.
On first down, Douglas attempted to simply jump the nine feet required for the score. However young and untalented one can call the N.C. State front five, short can only be used as an antonym for the Wolfpack run defense. The group's starters are listed at heights of 6-foot-7, 6-foot-4, 6-foot-2, 6-foot-1 and 6-foot-2. Although Douglas was a high school champion in the 110-meter and 300-meter hurdles, high-jumping and long-jumping at the same time proved impossible. Douglas' forward progress gained one yard before he was smacked back past the line of scrimmage.
On second down, with the ball on the two yard line, the offense decided upon the more conventional idea of running the ball straight up the middle, as Douglas did for no gain. Throughout the contest, Duke continually ran the ball with much success to the outside, while, with fullback Alex Wade out with injuries, it had a much spottier record rushing in the middle of the field. Things understandably change on the two yard line, but to run away from your strengths and into the gut of the N.C. State defense is an unnecessary adjustment.
On third down, quarterback Adam Smith attempted to dive in the endzone from the two yard line, but only made it half the distance. While a quarterback sneak on the two is a curious decision on its own, the fact that Smith was in the game in this situation broke another successful pattern.
With Mike Schneider out with a shoulder injury, Smith and Chris Dapolito, who competed with each other for the starting quarterback spot for much of the 2002 campaign, successfully pulled off the revolving-quarterback-door strategy. When a play called for a more mobile quarterback, Dapolito led the huddle; when Duke needed a big-passing play, Smith entered the fray.
But when Duke drove to the three yard line, Smith remained in the game. Roof said that his strategy was to just pound the ball into the endzone. He felt either quarterback could do this. But couldn't Dapolito pound the ball the same way as Smith, except quicker? Having Smith in the game took an extra explosive runner out of the backfield, a runner with which the Wolfpack had little experience.
"We weren't ready for them to switch like that," N.C. State linebacker Pat Thomas said. "No. 9 [Dapolito], it seemed like he hurt us today. We didn't see him that much on tape."
Smith's presence could have put the Wolfpack off balance for fear of a pass attempt, but Smith never passed the ball and Duke did not score a touchdown.
Disaster did not occur until fourth down, however, when Smith fumbled the snap before recovering it on Duke's three yard line. The fumble can be blamed on the lack of experience between center Dan Mooney, who replaced the injured mainstay Rusty Wilson, but the decision to go for the touchdown on fourth down cannot. While a touchdown would have given the Blue Devils the lead and tremendous momentum going into the second half, zero points could have--and did--cost Duke the game.
Logic for attempting a fourth down conversion inside the five says that no conversion still gives the opposing team horrendous field position. But this play occurred with less than 10 seconds in the half, making field position a non-issue. Duke needed to get points on that possession, and it failed to do so.
But despite all the different ways one could criticize the Blue Devils' performance Saturday, the fact remains that this is a rejuvenated, competitive football team. Before Saturday, Duke's substantial experience with 22 returning starters had not helped, as players had clogged through the same plays with less passion than a year ago. Roof has ended that terrible trend.
Players competed fiercely through the good times and the bad Saturday. When Duke trailed 21-10 against Northwestern in its fourth game of the season, the Blue Devils trotted through the fourth quarter for a 28-10 loss. Duke began the fourth quarter against N.C. State with a 21-10 deficit as well. After a touchdown, an on-side kick and a field goal, Duke almost pulled off a miracle before falling 28-21.
"There's a different feeling," Fowler said. "I've seen guys give up before, but not today."
It took eight games, but the Blue Devils finally played how they should have been performing all season. It would be easy to call Duke's performance Saturday an over-achievement after last week's 42-13 loss to Wake Forest, but the Blue Devils simply played how they ought to.
In six days, Roof finally guided Duke to where it should be. He has four more games to see if he can push them to where no one thought they would be.
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