ATLANTA -- While raining the rest of the day, the clouds over the Atlanta skyline gave the fans and players a break Saturday afternoon by relenting for the three hours the Georgia Tech-Duke football game lasted. Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, the Duke offense dried up in the 17-2 loss.
Gaining only 284 total yards, Duke (2-9, 0-7 in the ACC) completed only 38 percent of its passes and averaged just 3.8 yards per rushing attempt. Although not playing much better offensively, Georgia Tech (7-4, 4-4) scored all of its points, and all of Duke's for that matter, in the first half.
"It was just a tough day for our offense," Duke quarterback Adam Smith said following the showing. "We weren't able to get into a real rhythm. We had some big plays, we had some real good plays, but there was space in between them--we couldn't really link them together."
The weather did not transfer luck to the defense either, as the Blue Devils' lone senior, linebacker Jamyon Small, injured his knee--suspected to be a torn ACL--and will not play in his final game against North Carolina.
"It hurts," cornerback Kenneth Stanford said. "That's going to be motivation for us to make sure he goes out with a victory."
The rest of the Duke defense did have a good day, and although the Duke secondary held Kerry Watkins, second in the ACC in receptions, in-check most of the game, his break-neck speed led the Yellow Jackets to both of their touchdowns.
On Tech's first drive, quarterback A.J. Suggs threw to Watkins up the middle for an 18-yard gain, which led to a first-and-goal from the six yard line. Running back Gordon Clinkscale ran the ball in the end zone two plays later.
Watkins had only two more receptions for only seven yards in the next 15 minutes before Suggs completed another pass up-the-middle to the star receiver, who avoided a tackle from Duke's Brendan Dewan and ran to the Blue Devil four yard-line, good for a gain of 31 yards. Clinkscale scored a touchdown on the next play.
The rest of the sluggish game's scoring came from a field goal by Georgia Tech's Luke Magnet following an Adam Smith interception, and a safety when the Yellow Jackets' center hiked the ball through the back of the end zone.
Although the scoring ended with 3:25 left in the first half, both teams had several chances to put points on the board.
Duke had its best chance after Clinkscale's second touchdown just before half-time. Running back Chris Douglas sprinted to a 42 yard gain after weaving through the Tech defensive line on third down, bringing the Blue Devils to Georgia Tech's four-yard line. But after three downs, Duke had only gained two yards, setting up a chip-shot field goal for Brent Garber. Because of a high snap, however, the attempt was easily blocked.
Duke's next chance occurred in the third quarter after the Blue Devils stopped a fake Georgia Tech punt on Duke's 39. Four plays later, Smith, after throwing an 18-yard pass to Andy Rolan to get into Tech territory, fumbled to Georgia Tech on a keeper.
The fumble was not without controversy, as Smith walked out of the pile with the ball in his hands. The referees still felt the Yellow Jackets had recovered the ball.
"They called it the way they saw it," Smith said. "The guy fell on top of me, my arm was still under there with possession of the ball. I pulled it out of there as quick as I could."
A third opportunity for the Blue Devils went unfulfilled later in the third quarter when the Duke offensive line stymied a Tech blitz and wide receiver Khary Sharpe split two defenders down the field. Smith, who had a horrendous day, threw his best pass of the game to Sharpe, but the ball went through the receivers hands, and the Blue Devils were left with their first offensive shutout in 33 games.
"We threw some passes that we just missed," Duke coach Carl Franks said. "You always have to give the other defense credit. They were getting some pressure on Adam. We had some pretty good pass protection. I thought their defensive backs played very well."
All fault cannot be placed on the Duke offense, as the Yellow Jacket defense lived up to its highly regarded name. It sacked Smith four times and only allowed 146 passing yards. Tech's defense also frustrated Duke's running game, as besides Douglas' big run, Duke ran for less than 100 yards.
"The defensive players, they made a bunch of big plays in the ball game," Georgia Tech head coach Chan Gailey said. "I think that we were faster than them, first of all. Our speed showed up on the field defensively."
The Blue Devil defense held their own, keeping its ACC-leading rush defense by allowing just 127 yards on the ground and surprisingly slowing Tech's passing attack by giving up just 200 yards. Stanford was especially impressive, intercepting a pass on the Georgia Tech two to save a sure score when the game was still in question in the third quarter. The defense also returned a favor to the Yellow Jackets by blocking a field goal as well.
Although the Blue Devil defense had nothing to be ashamed of, the entire Duke team was disappointed with their 24th straight loss to an ACC opponent, but remained optimistic about the last game of its season against UNC Saturday.
"It was a rough day," Smith said. "Right now we've got to go back and look at our mistakes and turn all of our focus to North Carolina. It's a one game season."
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