After playing perhaps its best and most inspired football of the season for most of the opening half on Saturday, Duke had an opportunity to go into the locker room with the lead for the first time since the second game of the season, when it defeated Western Carolina on Sept. 6th.
Instead, it missed a chance to seize the momentum before halftime and was never able to recover, falling in a hard-fought 28-21 battle to North Carolina State in Ted Roof's first game as interim head coach.
"I'm proud of the way they fought this week and the way they fought the whole day," Roof said. "That's why it hurts so bad, because they gave so much."
The Blue Devils (2-6, 0-5 in the ACC) led the Wolfpack (6-3, 3-2) 10-7 early in the second quarter until Heisman Trophy candidate Philip Rivers throw one of his three touchdown passes on the day to halfback Tramain Hall, giving NC State a 14-10 edge with just under four minutes remaining in the opening stanza.
Duke received the ensuing Wolfpack kickoff at the one yardline, and a 39-yard return by junior Senterrio Landrum put the Blue Devils on their own 40.
The Duke offense, which came into the game third in the ACC in rushing, used a 12-yard pickup from Khary Sharpe and a 42-yard rush from Chris Douglas to set up first and goal at the three yardline with 1:45 on the clock.
Despite picking up 214 yards on the ground for the game, the Blue Devils were unable to muster three yards on four plays. Back-to-back runs by Douglas--who had 125 yards on 25 carries--netted only one yard, and Smith rushed up the middle for a short gain to create a fourth-and-one situation.
Rather than attempting a short field goal, Roof elected to go for the touchdown. But Smith fumbled the snap, and the Blue Devils were left with no points to show for their effort.
"That drive was crucial," Douglas said. "Anytime we get inside the five, we have to get points on the board. We could have got a lot of momentum going into the second half."
Duke was able to hold off the Wolfpack on their first drive of the third quarter, as safety Alex Green intercepted Rivers at the Duke five yardline.
The pick was only the sixth against Rivers all year and was one of the few negatives on the day for the senior, who threw for 369 yards and set the ACC career touchdown passing record when he connected with Hall for six points in the first quarter.
"It means a lot," Rivers said of the record. "I feel fortunate to be around so many good players, to have been healthy and in a system that throws a lot."
Rivers padded his touchdown numbers at the end of the third quarter, when he avoided a strong Duke pass rush and dumped a short pass to Hall, who then eluded several tacklers for a 57-yard touchdown play.
"[The pass] came faster than I thought it would," Hall said. "[Rivers] had to let it go real quick. When I caught it, it was just me and the offensive linemen, and I eventually ran past them."
The Wolfpack tacked on another seven points to start the fourth quarter to put them up 28-10, and the Blue Devils appeared on their way to another throttling by an ACC opponent.
However, Duke's offense started clicking again, taking advantage of an NC State defense that came into the game allowing a conference-worst 498.6 yards per contest.
Effective running by Douglas, as well as a new-look quarterback-by-committee system featuring last year's starter Adam Smith and seldom-used Chris Dapolito, led to an 11-play, 80 yard scoring drive capped off by a two-point conversion from Dapolito to wide receiver Reggie Love.
The Smith-Dapolito combination, which worked well at times last year, had been nonexistent this season, as red-shirt freshman Mike Schneider had seen the majority of the snaps. But a shoulder injury kept Schneider sidelined on Saturday, and his two replacements threw for a combined 160 yards.
"A new start gives you a chance to put a wrinkle or two in," Roof said of his two-quarterback system. "We've got to change and evolve and figure out the best way to give our team a chance to win. Obviously [Dapolito] is a little bit better runner, and right now Adam might be a little bit better thrower, so we wanted to try to play off our strengths."
The Blue Devils continued their fourth-quarter comeback after the touchdown, as cornerback Kenneth Stanford recovered Brent Garber's on-side kick at the Duke 33 yardline. Duke was unable to pick up a first down, but Garber did convert a 43-yard field goal to make it a one-possession game at 28-21.
The Wolfpack received the kickoff with 3:30 left in the game and were able to hold the ball for 2:37 before punting it deep into Blue Devil territory.
Duke, which had no timeouts remaining, picked up one first down on the game's final drive but was unable to score.
"I think today's play means a lot," Douglas said. "It really showed the dedication and hard work we have put in this week. Unfortunately, we didn't come out with a win today."
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