ATLANTA - The final score suggests that Georgia Tech dominated Duke the whole game, and it did.
The Yellow Jackets had 12 more first downs, 189 more rushing yards and 133 more passing yards while holding the ball for more than 17 minutes longer. Their defense came through when it had to, holding the Blue Devils to just 2-of-12 third down conversions.
For all those lopsided numbers, however, one simple Duke three-and-out early in the second half ultimately led to Duke's downfall.
When Duke took the ball for the first time after the intermission, it trailed 3-0-but really, it should have been at least 13-0 and maybe even 17-0. Georgia Tech drove the ball at will, but a botched handoff on second-and-goal from Duke's 8-yard line and a failed fourth-down conversion at the Blue Devils' 30 prevented it from scoring after marching a combined 137 yards on the two drives.
"There weren't a lot of possessions in the first half, and we were our own worst enemy," Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson said. "We were moving the ball some, but we couldn't finish drives. It was disappointing to only be up three at halftime."
On the opening kickoff, the Yellow Jackets had fourth-and-inches and, given that they had racked up 139 yards on the ground to that point, they likely would have converted it. But left tackle David Brown jumped early, and Duke, a team which had demonstrated great second-half prowess, took the field with a chance to establish the lead and maintain its reputation.
On the first two plays, the Blue Devils sent freshman running back Jay Hollingsworth straight up the middle, first for three yards and then again on a draw for two yards.
The Blue Devils then faced a manageable third-and-five from their own 31, and they had already converted a third-and-four and third-and-eight earlier in the game. But within moments of taking the shotgun snap, quarterback Thaddeus Lewis hit the field as defensive end Derrick Morgan flattened Lewis after linebacker Sedric Griffin forced him to the ground.
"When things aren't going well, you try this, and you try that and I just wanted to line up and run our offense," Duke head coach David Cutcliffe said. "We go out there and run two plays for five yards and then blow a hot read and end up with a sack."
On the ensuing possession, Georgia Tech scored the game's first touchdown off a Roddy Jones four-yard run, capping an 11-play, 57-yard drive that spanned just more than five minutes. Most important for the Yellow Jackets, however, was establishing a two-possession lead. With their nearly unstoppable triple-option attack, they could simply run out the clock while continuing to rack up points.
Georgia Tech did just that to perfection, as it never stopped the clock on offense for the rest of the game except for taking one timeout and scoring three times.
What if the Blue Devils had driven down the field and scored? Even if they had just managed a field goal, they would have tied the game and limited the Yellow Jackets' ability to kill the clock.
Best case scenario, Duke scores a touchdown, goes ahead and forces Georgia Tech to abandon its running attack and take to the air.
Although true freshman Jaybo Shaw had an efficient day in the air, most of his production came from play-action passes to receiver Demaryius Thomas, who often found himself in one-on-one coverage with late safety help. Had the Blue Devils forced Shaw into a position where they knew he had to throw, there's no telling if they could have created a turnover or two.
"If we could have just put two or three plays together and gotten started, I think it could have been different," Cutcliffe said.
But by the time they did, they were down 24-0-and by then, the game had long been lost.
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