WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- It seemed like everyone in BB&T Field pointed. There he is, wide open.
Exploiting a miscommunication in the Wake Forest secondary, wideout Eron Riley broke off his route and flew straight up the right hash toward the end zone, beckoning quarterback Thaddeus Lewis to throw him what would have been the game-winning touchdown pass in overtime Saturday.
But Lewis saw Riley too late and threw off his back foot in an effort to get the ball out quicker, affording the Demon Deacons time to recover. The once-vacant circle around Riley quickly closed, and All-ACC cornerback Alphonso Smith leaped up and snagged the pass for his second interception of the game, handing Duke a 33-30 loss, its toughest of the season.
"When he's streaking down the field, I'm thinking touchdown all the way," Lewis said. "Unfortunately, I didn't put enough on it. I can take the blame for that. Sometimes, you need to live to see another down, and I tried to get it all in one play."
The game may have ended on that snap, despite committing a myriad of miscues throughout the contest, had put itself in position to win in regulation.
After yet another stalwart effort by the Duke defense forced a Wake Forest (5-3, 3-1) turnover on downs, the offense marched methodically with the game tied at 30. Facing a Demon Deacon all-out blitz on fourth-and-two from the Wake Forest 33-yard line, Lewis quickly popped a short pass over the middle to Riley, who made a sliding catch in traffic to inch them closer into field-goal range.
Duke called a timeout with two seconds left and trotted out kicker Nick Maggio to convert a 42-yard field goal for the win. But he caught the ground slightly as his leg came through, the ball wobbled in a line-drive fashion and it sailed about two yards right of the uprights.
"I just broke down mechanically," Maggio said. "I took a big stride, jumped into it a little bit, didn't get my hips through and pushed it right."
"It's a game of inches," head coach David Cutcliffe said. "I thought Nick started a little early on the field-goal try at the end of regulation, threw his rhythm off a little bit."
Considering the number of mistakes the Blue Devils made-four turnovers, including two fumbles on special teams, and a safety-it's a wonder Duke managed as many opportunities to win as it did.
But the blunders on special teams only served to emphasize just how well the offense and defense played. Despite facing a 19-7 deficit with 8:45 left in the third quarter, Duke stormed back with the help of a Lewis touchdown pass to Clifford Harris on the sidelines that looked as if it could have been just as easily intercepted and returned for a score. Jay Hollingsworth punched in a running touchdown to give Duke its first lead of the game at 20-19 just six minutes later. Cutcliffe elected to try for a two-point conversion for a field-goal cushion, but a Zack Asack rollout play was unsuccessful.
Wake Forest answered, though, regaining a 30-23 lead with 10:16 left in the fourth quarter. The Blue Devils tied it up on the ensuing drive on the strength of their aerial firepower, which was certainly helped by a rejuvenated running game that accumulated 145 yards, as Lewis went to Harris once again for a 20-yard touchdown pass on a wheel route down the right sideline.
The score was another example of Duke's regained second-half moxie, which led to 23 points after the break and pushed the Demon Deacons to their absolute limits.
"It was probably the best offense we've faced this entire year, numbers-wise and how tough they are," Wake Forest's Smith said. "We are fortunate and happy to come out on the winning side."
After the game, Cutcliffe expressed sympathy for his players, who have now fallen to the Demon Deacons three straight times by a combined nine points. But with four games left and two wins separating the Blue Devils from bowl eligibility, he emphasized the importance of moving on.
"The thing I told them is, 'It hurts, but the biggest shame is going to be letting this loss affect anything left on the schedule,'" Cutcliffe said. "We're going to correct mistakes. We're going to look at this game, but I don't want to see it again after tomorrow afternoon with our players. I'm going to put it away and not let anybody around here look at it. We need to be thinking forward."
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