CORAL GABLES, Fla. - In losing their first two ACC games against then-No. 7 Virginia Tech and then-No. 23 Virginia by an average of 38 points, the Blue Devils never gave up.
In their 52-7 loss to No. 9 Miami Oct. 8, Duke's players still did not surrender-head coach Ted Roof did it for them. The offense and defense were unimaginative and conservative, as the Blue Devils looked less like a team trying to win and more like one aiming not to lose.
On the Hurricanes' first drive of the game, Duke put pressure on its highly touted opposition with innovative alignments and blitzes. On the first two plays of the game, the Blue Devils stacked eight or more players near the line of scrimmage, all appearing ready to come after Miami's redshirt-freshman quarterback Kyle Wright. On third down, Duke blitzed, knocking Wright down as his pass fell incomplete.
But by the time Miami led 24-0 near the end of the second quarter, the Blue Devils' defensive tone had changed. The Hurricanes scored their final touchdown of the half, which gave them a 31-0 lead, on a 26-yard pass from Wright to wide receiver Sinorice Moss.
Wright had plenty of time to throw, and his pass hit Moss in the front left corner of the endzone. Despite double coverage from cornerback John Talley and safety Chris Davis-arguably Duke's two best defensive backs-Moss was able to catch the pass as if he were wide open.
"We were there on a lot of plays, and we just didn't make plays, and they made plays," Davis said. "That's pretty much what it came down to."
At practice Oct. 6, Roof and linebacker Brendan Dewan each said part of the Blue Devils' gameplan was to attack Wright and force him to make the mistakes typical of a young quarterback under pressure. Duke abandoned that idea shortly after the Hurricanes successfully protected against the blitz and found open receivers; Roof explained that the Miami offensive line started to do a better job halting the Blue Devil rushers.
Instead, Duke dropped back into coverage-a strategy that proved ineffective as the Blue Devils' defensive backs were unable to contain the Hurricanes' fast, athletic wide receivers.
Duke's offensive attack was similarly anemic, and for the same reason. Blue Devil quarterbacks attempted eight passes before halftime-completing one of them, for one yard-in 33 plays. They lined up in the shotgun formation for more than two-thirds of those first half plays, and 12 of their 57 offensive plays for the entire game were planned quarterback runs.
No Duke play, with the exception of Ronnie Drummer's fluke 81-yard touchdown run on third-and-eleven, went for more than nine yards all game. The Blue Devils looked like they were running a 1920s-era single-wing attack, snapping the ball to the quarterback who ran directly into a tangle of bodies at the line of scrimmage. The Blue Devils' longest pass completion was a five-yard throw from quarterback Zack Asack to tight end Ben Patrick, and Duke only threw downfield once, a 25-yard pass from Asack to wide receiver Eron Riley that fell incomplete.
Duke was severely undermanned on offense, with its top three running backs and top two wide receivers missing the game because of injury, and Roof said those injuries hampered his ability to be more creative on offense. And Miami's ability to break through Duke's offensive line at will also limited the team's set of available plays. But the Blue Devils did not have to be so predictable.
Duke is not going to win against the ACC's best teams with such a conservative gameplan. This season's Blue Devils are never going to overpower or out-execute Miami, Florida State or even North Carolina. But with trick plays and creative blitz packages, Duke might give itself a chance. Of course, the Blue Devils may also lose even worse than they have.
But Duke is 1-4, and Wright said the game reminded him of a high school contest. It is time to start taking chances. If those trick plays and blitzes lead to touchdowns for opposing teams, then so be it. But losing by 100 is better than conceding defeat in an effort to keep the game close, especially because Duke can't even seem to do that right now.
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