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Game commentary

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Mental mistakes destroy football's game, season**

Saturday's game against Georgia Tech must have reminded fans of Duke football the way it used to be--full of mental mistakes and errors.

One play in the game against the Yellow Jackets solidified a win for Georgia Tech and doomed the Blue Devils to another sloppy loss, and edged Duke closer to a losing season.

With 11:11 left to go in the fourth quarter, the Blue Devils had advanced to the Georgia Tech 18-yard line. The Yellow Jackets led 31-21, so the coaching staff sent the field goal unit on to the field on fourth-and-2, hoping to bring the lead down to seven.

It should have been a routine field goal. The length was well within senior placekicker Tom Cochran's range, but apparently Cochran had something else on his mind.

"I've been hitting them all year long. So it was stupid of me to even think that. It was just a total miscommunication."

When Cochran went on the field, he wanted to check with Hodrick to be sure he knew the correct play.

I just wanted to make sure so I just asked, Hey are we faking it?' and my holder thought I'd saidAre we kicking it?"' Cochran said. "When you're out there, things are moving so fast."

This botched play serves as a sad commentary on the season the Duke team has had. The homecoming loss on Saturday drops the Blue Devils to 2-4, 0-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

"It was a clear-cut decision [not to fake the field goal]," Goldsmith said Saturday following the game. "That's the kind of year we've been having. Somewhere down the line it will be funny. Today it's not funny."

The fun seems to be over for the Blue Devils. After making a dramatic turnaround in the 1994 season, this season has given Duke a strong dose of reality. At this point in the season last year, the Blue Devils were 6-0 and looking forward to the game against Wake Forest before heading down to Tallahassee to play the Seminoles. Confidence was plentiful, and it seemed as though Duke could not go wrong.

But the team has reverted back to its old losing ways this season.

Unfortunately, the messed-up field goal attempt was not the only negative for the Blue Devils. The defense could not help the team out, as it let the Yellow Jackets score at will. Georgia Tech's quarterback Donnie Davis gained 103 yards rushing while also destroying Duke with the long bomb, accumulating 206 yards on 12-of-18 passing.

"It's very frustrating," junior inside linebacker Billy Granville said. "It's the worst feeling I've ever had. They were able to run the ball and pass the ball. When you can't stop one or the other, they can dominate you. They forced us to make errors and they pounded us. They basically did whatever they wanted to do."

Tech's C.J. Williams rushed for 185 yards, despite slipping several times on the rain-soaked grass.

"The turf was a little soft with the rain [the field] has gotten lately," Williams said. "I probably would have gotten more yards if it wasn't for my feet getting stuck."

Williams got enough to put the Blue Devils away, however. Duke's 61 rushing yards pales in comparison to the Yellow Jackets' 312.

All season long, this team has been plagued by mental errors and mistakes that have cost it long drives, critical scores or even wins. Granted, the Blue Devils have had many more injuries than they faced at this time last year, and that has certainly hurt the team both psychologically and depth-wise. There comes a point in time, however, when the team has to own up to its play, instead of blaming the losses on the injuries.

This Duke team needs to accept the responsibility for its sloppy play and dumb mental mistakes. No one will ever know if that field goal would have mattered in the larger scheme of the game. Cochran might have missed it. Yet the simple fact that he didn't try the field goal--because of a miscommunication--leaves one to wonder whether this team can pull it together for any more wins this season.