CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - With a chance to tie the game and stun the boisterous crowd in attendance early in the third quarter Saturday night, Duke faced fourth-and-inches on the Boston College goal line. The Blue Devils' quarterback sneak failed, however, and the Eagles then marched 97 yards down the field on the ensuing possession to take a two-touchdown lead.
No. 22 Boston College (8-2, 4-2 in the ACC) tacked on another score in the fourth quarter, and Duke (0-10, 0-6) never recovered from the dramatic turn of events, losing 28-7 to extend the nation's longest losing streak to 18 games.
"You like to think you can get six inches, but we didn't, and as a result of that they took it the length of the field, which was a huge momentum swing in the football game," head coach Ted Roof said. "So instead of looking at a tie ball game, we're looking at being down two scores, and I thought that was the biggest exchange of the game."
Senior cornerback John Talley intercepted Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan on the first drive of the second half, giving Duke the chance to grab hold of the game's momentum.
Starting with the ball on the Eagles' 27-yard line trailing, 14-7, Duke handed the ball off to Re'quan Boyette for a short gain and then completed a 13-yard pass to Raphael Chestnut. On first-and-10 from the Boston College 11-yard line, Boyette rushed the ball up the middle for five yards before Clifford Harris lost three yards on second down. Then, quarterback Thaddeus Lewis connected on a pass to fullback Brandon King for seven yards, setting up the fourth-and-short situation.
Roof elected to leave the ball in Lewis' hands, but the quarterback's knee touched the ground before he was able to stretch out, and the Eagles took over on downs.
"They got good push up front," Lewis said. "I tried to go behind my center and their dude jumped over the pile and grabbed me. It was a good play by a BC player."
With the Eagles pinned at their own three, Duke's defense still had a chance to come up with a quick stop and give the offense good field position again. Senior Jeramy Edwards took down Andre Callendar in the backfield, but the junior tailback's forward progress prevented the safety. On the next snap, Boston College completed a 20-yard pass to Ryan Purvis, and 10 plays later, Callendar scored on a 26-yard touchdown scamper to cap the game-changing drive.
"If nothing else, if you didn't punch it in, you'd like to get a stop and gain some field position, but we didn't do that either," Roof said.
The Blue Devils struggled defending the run all night, as two Eagles ran for more than 100 yards. The secondary did not perform much better, surrendering 260 yards through the air. Boston College's 501 total yards of offense was the second-most allowed by Duke this season, and it was the third straight game in which the Blue Devils' opponent tallied at least 450 yards of offense.
"I think B.C. is the 22nd-ranked football team in the country for a reason," Roof said. "We knew that coming in that they're a very good football team, they're physical. They did a good job. We made some plays, but we also missed some tackles and as a result of that we allowed some yardage."
Offensively, the Blue Devils continued to show signs of improvement. Although starting tailback Justin Boyle left the game at the end of the first quarter with a leg injury, the young talent within Duke's running back corps picked up the slack.
In the second quarter, Harris took a handoff and ran to the right, before cutting back to the left sideline for a 62-yard gain. The play, which was Duke's longest from scrimmage this season, set up his one-yard touchdown run two plays later that tied the game at seven. Harris and Boyette combined for 97 of the Blue Devils' 170 rushing yards during the game.
Still, Duke only managed to put points on the board during one of its three trips into the red zone and continued to struggle converting on fourth down.
"We know we can move the ball down the field," Harris said. "It's just finishing the drives and that's a thing we've had a problem with all season. So at practice, that's something we focus on the most is just finishing the drives."
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