CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.-For all of Duke's miscues in the kicking game and its failures to convert key offensive opportunities, its inability to simply tackle cost the Blue Devils against Virginia Saturday.
At the very moment when the game seemed to be within Duke's grasp, missed tackles let the contest slip away.
With Virginia leading 17-13 early in the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers faced third-and-four at their own 44-yard line. True freshman quarterback Peter Lalich threw a screen pass to running back Keith Payne, who, despite having four Blue Devil defenders around him, pushed his way forward for a crucial first down. Later in the drive, the Cavaliers threw another screen to Stanton Jobe on second-and-one, and cornerback Glenn Williams had perfect position to stop him for no gain. Instead, Williams could not finish the tackle, allowing Jobe to break free for 16 yards and set up the deciding touchdown that put the game out of Duke's reach.
The Blue Devils' tackling troubles were not isolated to that drive, however.
In the first half, the team's poor tackling manifested itself in the run defense's struggles, as the Cavaliers ran for 133 yards on offense-a number that would have been much higher if it were not for two botched punt snaps that resulted in a combined loss of 57 yards. Virginia running back Cedric Peerman had 126 yards and a touchdown off just nine carries before the break.
"We were getting one arm and one leg, and that wasn't enough," safety Chris Davis said. "Normally in practice, we're just trying to sprint tackle-we just run and take out their legs but that wasn't happening with these backs. We were wrapping up one leg and if help wasn't coming they were wiggling out of it."
The poor tackling meant the Cavaliers racked up far more yards than they should have, which contributed to a 109-yard advantage and a 17-2 lead at halftime, despite the Blue Devils winning the battle for time of possession by nearly five minutes.
"I think there were four instances where we came free and their guy made our guy miss," Duke head coach Ted Roof said of the first half.
Tackling was such a concern that the Duke coaching staff made it a priority at halftime to address the issue, gathering the defense and telling them they needed to tackle better, have better pursuit angles and swarm quicker, Roof said.
Davis said that more than anything, the Blue Devils needed to tackle higher-and he let his teammates know it.
"I went around the secondary and I told them-especially me and Adrian Aye-Darko and the safeties-that we've got to tackle up high," Davis said. "I told them to stay high and stop their forward momentum and everybody will be there."
Although, the defensive changes were clear throughout the second half-Peerman only ran for 23 more yards on 11 carries-Duke missed crucial tackles when it counted most.
For a team that has lost 22 straight games, the Blue Devils needed to make those stops, to tackle high and give their offense a chance.
"Sometimes our linebackers and defensive linemen come and are just flying in there and sometimes they end up knocking the guy that got there initially out and [the offensive player's] able to wiggle for another yard," Davis said. "It just happens like that sometimes."
If Duke wants to win, the defense will need to execute on the basics. For winning teams, big plays just do not happen like that.
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