Facing a Florida State team that has run its inferior opponents off the field with big plays early on, Duke had a simple game plan: Don't give up the deep ball.
Often rushing only three or four down linemen, the Blue Devils were able to double-cover many deep routes and forced Florida State to move the ball methodically down the field using its rushing and short-passing options.
The Seminoles, in turn, showed that they are indeed one of the top teams in the nation, committing only one turnover while engineering six sustained drives of more than 60 yards. Florida State's two redshirt freshmen quarterbacks took what the Duke defense gave them, completing nearly 70 percent of their combined passes.
Despite the Seminoles' offensive success, Roof's defensive strategy allowed the Blue Devils, who showed as much spirit as they had all year, to hang close with a much more talented and athletic team. Duke only gave up three plays of more than 25 yards-two of which came late in the fourth quarter after the game had been decided-and trailed by only 10 points as late as the four-minute mark of the third quarter.
"[I'm] proud of our fight, proud of our effort, not happy with the results, not satisfied with that," head coach Ted Roof said. "I thought we had our chances, the final score may not indicate that. I was proud of the way we fought back in there, we just didn't get it done."
For the Blue Devils' "bend but don't break" strategy to be successful, the defense had to be able to make big stops on third downs and in the red zone. But Duke's failure to do so kept the Blue Devils from a legitimate shot at a huge upset.
The Seminoles scored on all six of their trips into the red zone and converted over half of their third downs, keeping Duke's defense on the field for more than 36 minutes. The resulting fatigue was apparent in the fourth quarter, as the Blue Devils missed several tackles and failed to pressure the FSU quarterbacks.
"When you have a chance to get off the field and you don't, a lot of times it comes back to bite you, and it did," Roof said. "Part of that is Florida State is pretty talented, and they did a nice job."
Though Duke's offense was able to score on a number of big plays, the unit struggled with maintaining long drives that would have allowed the defense to rest. The offense was an abysmal 1-for-10 on third-down conversions and led only one drive lasting more than three minutes.
Duke further hurt its own cause with a couple of questionable calls by the coaching staff. In the first quarter, Roof decided to insert Curt Dukes at quarterback in an attempt to run the option against the quick FSU defense. After two failed option runs, Dukes, who has struggled throwing the ball all season, lofted a 24-yard pass that was easily intercepted by safety Pat Watkins.
Duke later sealed its fate while trailing by 17 late in the third quarter. Facing fourth-and-nine, the Blue Devils attempted a fake punt from their own 27-yard line. The play never had a prayer as punter Chris Sprague was quickly brought down behind the line while trying to run for the first down. Roof refused to apologize for taking chances.
"All week long I had been telling the players to play to win, that I was going to coach to win, and we took some gambles out there," Roof said. "Unfortunately, that one didn't work and put our defense in a bad position, but we make the decisions that we think are the best at the time."
Despite their mistakes, the Blue Devils played with an admirable energy and grit, never backing down from the heavily-favored Seminoles. Roof said the team hopes to carry over this mindset into their final three games of the season.
"We took some steps and we are going to build on those and correct the negatives," Roof said. "I have confidence-and that may sound nuts-but on the sidelines I thought our kids believed. That's a good start."
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