It’s an age-old question. One that fans have probably been asking each other since the beginning of modern professional sports.
How would you rather lose? Do you want your team to get blown out? To be able to turn off the TV at halftime and go to bed? To be able to say: “Well, there’s always next year,” two weeks into the season?
Or do you want to be so close, but not quite there? To lose by inches or seconds or even less? To be less than a minute from victory before the opponent snatches it away in a cruel twist of fate?
The latter happened Saturday night in Durham.
Fans want it to feel on-brand — to be able to sleep at night knowing the home team was playing with “house money,” whatever that means. Honestly, I don’t think that makes it any better in the moment. It stings to lose in any manner, and it stings even more to lose the way Duke did Saturday night. The little voice in the corner of so many fans’ brains was screaming “Blue Devil football is back!” as Duke clung to a one-point lead with just a few minutes remaining, even if logic said that this would likely end with a Notre Dame victory. That was certainly true of the student section, which positioned itself to storm the field before instead being forced to quietly march back up the way it came.
I imagine it stings just as much, or more, for the players.
Quarterback Riley Leonard was injured on Duke’s final offensive play of the game with just 18 seconds remaining. His status is to be determined, but signs point to him missing at least a few weeks. It stung for the defense, which held the Fighting Irish back for nearly the entire game despite a Blue Devil offense that frequently could not stay on the field for more than four downs.
There’s a reactionary, emotional response that tends to rise up in fans after a game like that. It feels like the Blue Devils are destined for a regression to the mean. Maybe the Clemson game was a fluke. It was fun while it lasted, but perhaps Duke is still destined for a slightly-above-average season. No New Year’s Six bowl. No fanfare, no fireworks. Attendance from Blue Devil students and fans will likely dip for the N.C. State game in just under two weeks, as students leave for fall break and the hype that came with hosting ESPN College GameDay dies down.
That all said, I think it’s important to have some perspective.
This was still a much better result than Duke has historically been able to pull off against the Fighting Irish. The program is 2-6 against Notre Dame all-time, and the last result was a 38-7 whooping in Durham during the 2019 campaign. On Saturday night, the Blue Devils were resilient after a scoreless first half, and came out swinging in the second. Two or three years ago, a 10-0 deficit would have been nearly insurmountable. This time, fans stayed in their seats. There was hope, and even trust, in head coach Mike Elko to bring Duke back into the game.
Ultimately, Elko did what was asked of him. The fact that the Blue Devils led at all in the fourth quarter of a game against an opponent ranked in the upper half of the AP top 25 would have been unbelievable in 2019. This was a big step forward for Duke, regardless of the final result.
Obviously, this was not the result that anyone involved with Blue Devil football wanted. Students and fans watched their fourth-quarter dreams get crushed. Players who knew they were capable of beating a second football juggernaut on prime time in the span of a month were sorely disappointed. Leonard’s injury will likely throw a wrench in the game plan.
But at the end of the day, this was a giant leap forward. The Blue Devils still managed to roll with one of the best teams in the country, and were just 16 yards on fourth down away from coming out on top in the final minutes. There will be more opportunities like this, including a game against No. 5 Florida State in less than three weeks that will be significant in determining who ends up on top of the ACC at the end of the season. Duke is on a bye this weekend, offering players plenty of time to marinate in the feelings that come with such a crushing loss. Then, the grind continues. N.C. State is a tough team with a good defense, and the Seminoles after that will offer an even greater challenge (and opportunity).
The season is not over yet. It isn’t even close. What ultimately matters most is how Duke bounces back from the game against Notre Dame. It is only one loss, and a nonconference one at that.
Fans should try to have some perspective. For those who have been following for more than a year or two, think of it this way: Have you ever before been disappointed to see Duke football lose to a highly ranked team by just one score? Would you ever even have been able to imagine this program being close to the position it is in right now?
Fans should appreciate what they have seen so far as a massive improvement, and prepare themselves for a rough but doable schedule in the coming weeks.
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