Following arguably Duke's most winnable game this season, the stat sheet seemed to suggest that the Blue Devil defense was largely to blame for Saturday's blowout loss to Connecticut. Instead, the game's deciding factor was found in a less obvious statistical category-field position.
In a game where Connecticut's average starting field position was its own 45, the Blue Devils' ineffective offense and poor punting allowed the Huskies to play with a short field and pile on the touchdowns.
"Between not being able to make first downs, turning the ball over and punting it poorly, that was the game," head coach Ted Roof said. "That's what happens when you play a game on half of a football field-the wrong half."
After all the talk of optimism and confidence coming into the first game of the season, the so-called "experienced" offense-with all 11 starters returning from a year ago-seemed to back it up on the opening drive of the game. Quarterback Thaddeus Lewis completed four of his first five passes for 73 yards, including a 53-yarder to wideout Eron Riley on the game's first play. Suddenly, before everyone in Wallace Wade Stadium had even taken their seats, Duke was winning.
But Duke played as if holding on for dear life from that point on. Lewis completed just 10 of his next 23 attempts for 75 yards, the senior-laden rushing attack managed a dismal 45 yards and the offense converted two of its 11 third downs.
"Not being able to get first downs will kill you," Lewis said. "When you have third and one, you have to go out there and execute. That could have been the difference."
The Blue Devils had fourteen separate drives and eight of them consisted of three plays or less. When an offense is unable to move the ball, it just puts more pressure on the defense.
Although Connecticut racked up 487 total yards on Duke's defense, the Huskies were also able to run 77 plays over the course of the game-20 more than the Blue Devils.
"We should have won because the defense was more prepared than we've ever been," senior cornerback Leon Wright said. "I think we were expecting more out of the offense. But we can't blame the game on anyone."
After the game, the players' faces were ashen and Roof was all but speechless. He has given more-or-less the same post-game speech to his players 21 consecutive times. He said it is his job as the team's leader to address the possible losing mentality and remind his team to remain positive.
But if Duke plans to break out of its hellish rut, it will need more than just one leader. Despite being the only regularly starting underclassman on offense, Lewis knows that the quarterback is expected, even demanded, to lead.
"If my head is hanging low, then the team's head is hanging low," Lewis said. "It's just to let those guys know that I'm with them no matter what happens. If I get sacked, so what? It's all a part of football. No one's perfect. We're all going to make mistakes."
With a schedule that only gets harder, including an upcoming four-game road trip, Roof expects to see more out his quarterback and the rest of the offense immediately.
From the offensive line that allowed too much penetration, to the backs that did not hit their holes, to the receivers that dropped passes, there's room for vast improvement at each position and not much time to achieve it.
"We've got to learn from this," Roof said. "We've got a lot of work to do and we've got to get better quick."
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