When the going gets tough, the tough get going.
But on Saturday, Duke never got going.
The Blue Devils could not continue to advance the ball when it mattered most-when they were on the doorstep of the Wolfpack's end zone. Although Duke gained more total offense, held the ball longer and had a better third-down conversion rate than N.C. State, the Wolfpack beat the Blue Devils in the only statistical category that mattered.
N.C. State was 3-for-3 inside the red zone. Duke was 2-for-5.
"I made some decisions not to kick field goals and kind of had told our team going in that we were going to be very aggressive," head coach David Cutcliffe said. "I thought we might have to be. I felt like we needed touchdowns to win and not field goals.
"Red zone offense, you know, you don't let it get to fourth down. That's the key. Just finish drives. If we finish in the red zone and take care of business, then we are right in that game and maybe win that game."
Part of the reason the Blue Devils came away with zero points on three trips, though, can be chalked up to aggressive play calling. Duke did not register an interception or fumble, but it did turn the ball over on downs each time it failed to score in the red zone-it was the unfortunate result of Cutcliffe's go-for-broke playcalling strategy.
Cutcliffe made four high-risk, high-reward gambles, and the Blue Devils went home empty. Duke ended the day 0-for-4 on fourth-down attempts, but two played a greater part in the loss than the others.
The Blue Devils' first fourth-down venture came on their opening drive of the second quarter. N.C. State kickoff return men T.J. Graham and Andre Brown had just run a reverse and scored on a 93-yard return to take a 10-3 lead, and Duke was looking to counter.
Quarterback Thaddeus Lewis and running back Jay Hollingsworth led the charge down the field from the Blue Devils' 25-yard line all the way to the Wolfpack's 10. Wide receiver Eron Riley came up one yard short on third down, and, true to its Saturday playcalling, Duke went for it on fourth down. The Blue Devils brought in six linemen to beef up the offensive line in an attempt to push N.C. State's defensive line back a yard so Hollingsworth could get the first down. The freshman, however, ran into a brick wall and was stuffed for no gain.
"They pulled in the gaps," Cutcliffe said. "We had a guard pull in on the backside, and I thought Jay had a chance to slip in that guards pocket.... Jay just never saw that. He went up and stopped. And once he stopped, they had momentum coming and he had no chance."
The Wolfpack took full advantage of the change in momentum and drove 89 yards for a touchdown on the ensuing drive, making the score 17-3.
"Our backs were to the cliff [on the goal line], and they were trying to push us off the edge," N.C. State linebacker Nate Young said. "You just try to sit back and hold your ground. We're on all fours. All we know is to go straight ahead."
That play alone did not break Duke.
The Blue Devils came out of the tunnel for the second half down by two touchdowns and marched the ball all the way to the Wolfpack's 1-yard line. Once again, the offensive line could not get the push it needed, and after Clifford Harris ran for no gain on second and third down, Cutcliffe called for another fourth-down try.
The result was gutwrenching for Duke.
One of the Blue Devils' guards turned the wrong way and let a defender through the line. Lewis was hit just as he released the ball, and because the hit drove his throwing motion downward, he underthrew a wide-open Brett Huffman in the end zone. Huffman crumpled to the ground and placed his arms over his head in a sign of clear frustration and devastation over the missed opportunity.
"It was a play-action pass and I saw him wide open," Lewis said. "I thought I had a free ball, and I was getting ready to throw the ball, and I got hit from my blind side. I thought I put enough on it to get it there, but unfortunately, my momentum carried me down and carried the ball down. Whoever that guy was made a great play."
Which is exactly what the Blue Devils couldn't do in the red zone Saturday-and, as a result, lost the game and perhaps their best shot at winning another game this year.
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