TALLAHASSEE , Fla. - It's starting to sound like a broken record.
In its seventh loss this season, Duke once again found itself perhaps just one or two plays away from stealing a victory. But even though the Blue Devils showed signs of frustration during their 25-6 loss to Florida State Saturday, they were happy about their increased level of competitiveness.
After all, it was the closest game in the 16-game series between the two teams.
"It definitely felt like we were right there," safety Chris Davis said. "We were just waiting for something to spark to get us some points offensively, defensively or with special teams. We needed somehow to get the ball in the end zone to keep the momentum going for our side. But we couldn't get that score."
Despite giving up Seminole season-high totals of 195 yards rushing and 339 yards passing, Duke did its job on defense, managing to keep Florida State offense relatively in check.
By halftime, the Blue Devils' offense, the stronger of the two units for most of the season, had converted just two first downs and accumulated only 49 total yards, in part because of a lifeless running game and some poor throws from quarterback Thaddeus Lewis. But with the help of a strong red-zone defense, which epitomized the "bend-don't-break" philosophy, Duke was still very much in the game, trailing 9-0.
It was not until the second half-when the Blue Devils spread out more and better executed the passing game-that they began to show any signs of life. And for the third time in four weeks, Duke scored more points in the second half when it dedicated itself to the air more, begging the question, why wait?
"It definitely puts more pressure on the passing game to perform when you don't have a sufficient running game," wideout Jomar Wright said. "I was frustrated with the execution of the offensive line and the running backs. I wasn't frustrated with the play call. I feel like the coaches know what they're doing, and I have trust in them. If they call a play, they think it's going to work, and we should go out and execute it."
Threatening for the first time all game in the third quarter, quarterback Thaddeus Lewis lofted a pass into the front-right corner of the end zone for wide receiver Eron Riley. The former ACC Player of the Week was tightly covered, though, and Seminole cornerback Patrick Robinson made a spectacular interception to kill the Blue Devil drive. On the next series, after a miscommunication between Lewis and Wright resulted in an incompletion on third down, the quarterback's emotions boiled over on the sidelines as he shook his helmet and screamed with frustration.
Even after Duke's first scoring drive of the game following a Florida State fumble in the fourth quarter, the disappointment continued. On the ensuing kickoff, everything initially appeared to work seamlessly. The play call was right-to fake a normal kick and lob it over the front line of the Seminoles in the hope of recovering a lose ball. The Joe Surgan boot was perfectly placed, taking a bounce after 10 yards, and the Blue Devils were even in position to recover the onside kick, but Duke's Matt Pridemore just missed the ball and Florida State took over. Instead of regaining possession, driving for a score and drawing within one touchdown, the Blue Devils were forced to watch the Seminoles milk almost seven minutes off the clock and kick a game-sealing field goal with only 1:16 remaining in the game.
Although there are no moral victories for Duke, the close score does lend itself to some optimism for a team that has been routinely routed by Florida State before.
"We hung in there tonight, and we didn't have those lapses that we've had against Florida State in the past where all of a sudden, you look up and you're down four or five touchdowns," head coach Ted Roof said. "It's a sign of our program moving forward and developing and maturing."
The next step in the process is turning close losses like this one into victories. When the Blue Devils will be able to do that is yet to be seen.
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