CHAPEL HILL— In trying to unpack what Saturday’s 47-45 loss to No. 24 North Carolina means for the rest of Duke’s season, I found myself going back to a phrase at the bottom of an article published last year, when the Blue Devils similarly fell just inches short of the finish line against the Tar Heels after leading down the stretch.
“It’s a tough Catch-22,” our Sasha Richie wrote then. “The moment you become good enough for moral victories is the moment you are too good to take them.”
I agreed at the time. After all, the Blue Devils held a lead until the game’s dying breath — 16 seconds to go, to be exact — and should have led by more had it not missed a crucial field goal. I also agreed when Duke dropped its home bout with Notre Dame earlier this year with 31 seconds left and when the Blue Devils were a quarter away from shocking likely Playoff contender Florida State on the road a few weeks later.
Despite the undeniable fact that Duke is playing markedly better than in years past, it still feels like the Blue Devils have yet to seize on their opportunities to snatch the hard proof they need to shake their historical shortcomings. That proof could have been an on-target field goal against the Tar Heels last year, or a fourth-and-16 stop on Fighting Irish quarterback Sam Hartman, or a third-quarter drive against the Seminoles that resulted in points instead of a re-aggravated ankle injury for Riley Leonard.
Of all those examples, though, most people, myself included, would probably say that it could have and probably should have been a victory Saturday that shook the proverbial monkey off Duke's back.
This is somewhat surprising given the circumstances of the matchup ahead of kickoff: chief among them being third-string freshman quarterback Grayson Loftis playing against North Carolina’s Drake Maye, a likely top-two NFL Draft pick who had scouts from 12 teams (yes, I counted) watching his every step intently from the press box.
But when Loftis found Jordan Moore for a wide-open 30-yard bomb to take a three-point lead with 41 seconds to go, it certainly seemed like the Blue Devils were on a collision course to finally snag that elusive “proof.” But Maye conjured a few magical plays of his own to knot the contest again, and after two hard-fought overtimes North Carolina’s students stormed the field as Duke’s players slithered despondently back into the locker room, having let another titanic win slip into another crushing defeat.
But the more I thought about the game, the more I replayed questionable calls and miracle fourth-down plays, the more I watched head coach Mike Elko, DeWayne Carter and Jordan Waters pick anxiously at the fabric of the chair in the press room and silently decode the stat sheet laying on the table in front of them before fielding questions, the more I began to disagree with the idea that this team is too good for moral victories.
Duke knows it has the tools to get over the hump. That is exactly why losses like Saturday’s cut so deep, but also why the Blue Devils should believe their time to put a game like this away is coming. For everything that made the loss to North Carolina a brutal validation of the old adage “it’s the hope that kills you,” there was just as much if not more that made me optimistic about this team’s future.
After all, the dense catalog of agony the Blue Devils carry with them from heartbreaking defeats like Saturday’s is not something that can simply be returned after leaving the locker room. They remember, and feel, each and every one.
That philosophy will take Duke far, and the get-back-up attitude it showed to stay competitive against Notre Dame and Florida State and nearly topple the Tar Heels two years in a row is what’s ultimately going to push the program forward. For a season that will likely end on a downer note than many would expect given the Blue Devils’ early trajectory, it’s worth remembering that people were talking about them as a serious contender for the ACC title game and a New Year's Six bowl not that long ago.
Despite being outmatched in recruiting and historical success, despite challenging a rival’s Heisman-caliber quarterback on his home turf in a cauldron of 50,000 Duke despisers, the Blue Devils have largely made good on their word to shoot for the moon this season. And while they haven’t hit it just yet, they only set that goal because they truly believe they can.
At some point, the Blue Devils will reach the top of the staircase. At the very least, if there’s one thing we’ve learned about this team throughout two years of sweeping success punctuated by a handful of brutal close losses, it’s that Duke is going to continue to push no matter how hard gravity and fatigue try to stop it.
I know this because when I asked Elko how long the loss to North Carolina would continue to sting, he choked up.
“I mean, for some of these guys, probably the rest of their life,” he said. “But that doesn't mean you don't come back tomorrow and get yourself ready to finish the season.”
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Andrew Long is a Trinity junior and sports editor of The Chronicle's 119th volume.