Against Florida State Oct. 14, Duke gave up 51 points and almost 500 yards of total offense. But Saturday against the other ACC powerhouse from the state of Florida, the Blue Devils were six yards away from shocking Miami and sending the Hurricanes home with a loss.
"Our kids could have played forever Saturday," head coach Ted Roof said. "We just ran out of time."
Duke trailed 17-0 at the half as the Hurricanes scored twice off Blue Devil turnovers.
But Thaddeus Lewis led the Blue Devils to two fourth-quarter touchdowns and the run defense did not allow Miami backs any room to navigate as Duke outscored its opponent in the second half for the first time since its 40-14 win over VMI Sept. 17, 2005.
"That was the best half of football since I've been a coach here," Roof said. "Our coaches did a good job making adjustments and it was just a matter of executing tackling better."
The Blue Devils saw positive signs from their offense for the third week in a row. After going scoreless for three of the first four weeks of the year, Duke has had two offensive touchdowns in each of the last three games. Saturday, Duke had three more first downs than Miami and outgained the Hurricanes 96 to 30 on the ground.
Despite their solid offensive output and the fact that they outplayed the Hurricanes in the second half, the Blue Devils once again came up short. Trailing Miami 20-15, Lewis' pass on the final play of the game was picked off near the goal line by the Hurricanes' Willie Cooper.
The loss was Duke's 15th in a row and leaves it as one of three remaining winless Division I-A teams.
"We realize that we were close, and there is definitely room for improvement," center Matt Rumsey said. "We didn't get the win, and that still hurts, but its encouraging to see the way we came back in the second half, and the way we fought back from down 17 points. It's definitely something to build upon, but like I said, it still wasn't a win."
This wasn't the first time the Blue Devils have come close to beating their opponent this season. Duke also had a chance to win on its final play against Wake Forest Sept. 9, but Joe Surgan's 27-yard field goal attempt was blocked.
This Saturday, the Blue Devils take on Vanderbilt, which upset then-No. 16 Georgia in Athens, Ga. Oct. 14, but followed that win with a disappointing 31-13 home loss to South Carolina Saturday. The Commodores are 3-5 on the year.
"They're a good football team that we're going to have to play a complete football game against in order to put ourselves in a position to have a chance to win," Roof said.
Although the Miami loss could be seen as a step forward, moral victories do not move teams up higher in the standings-where the Blue Devils sit in last place in the ACC.
"We've made big strides in the last couple of weeks," linebacker Michael Tauiliili said. "But in no way, shape or form am I satisfied, and nobody on the team is satisfied with what we did. Staying close with Miami is not good enough. We won't be satisfied until we start getting wins."
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