One more play.
Duke players and head coach Ted Roof echoed that one line over and over again following yet another disappointing loss Saturday. But the repetition is starting to get old.
"We're a lot better team than we were last season, but at the same time, we have just one win to show for it," Roof said. "They made one more play than we did, and I'm getting tired of saying it."
Missed opportunities and the inability to stop Wake Forest (3-2, 2-1 in the ACC) at critical moments-especially in the fourth quarter-proved fatal for Duke, as the Blue Devils (1-5, 0-3) fell 41-36 despite a furious 20-point rally late in the game.
Sophomore Thaddeus Lewis, who threw two interceptions in the third quarter, suddenly got back on track at the end of the period, striking with 16 ticks left after a 10-play, 36-yard drive. With that touchdown, Lewis began a run of three straight scoring drives to put his team within five.
With 2:51 left in the fourth, however, Lewis-who went 21-for-47 for 291 yards and four touchdowns on the afternoon-and the Duke offense froze, going four-and-out on an 18-second possession that started and ended on the Wake Forest 47.
To make matters worse, the Demon Deacon's offense was fueled by their defense's crucial stop. On the proceeding play, wideout Kenny Moore went in motion from left to right, took the handoff from quarterback Riley Skinner and scampered down the right sideline untouched for a 53-yard touchdown to go up 41-29. The Blue Devil safeties failed to adjust on the shift.
"It was kind of like the wind was let out of the sails," senior safety Chris Davis said of the play. "We were let down a little bit because we were so close."
Duke had one last breath of life, though, when Lewis connected with freshman Austin Kelly with 1:04 left in the game to pull within five again.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Blue Devils had to go for an onside kick in order to regain possession and give Lewis and the offense one more shot at the end zone.
With Joe Surgan lined up to the right and Greg Meyers on the left, Duke had two options for the direction to which it could kick. The right side looked open, so Meyers kicked the ball-42 yards to the Wake Forest 28.
"We read that the deep guy was up so we just tried to kick it over his head and he made a good play on the ball," said Davis, who was on the field for that play. "If he fumbles that ball as he's falling, we get that ball back."
As the football soared deep into Wake Forest territory, the Blue Devils seemed as in over-their-heads as the ball was over those of the Demon Decons special teams unit. Another game was kicked away.
Coming up a play short seems to be an underlying theme in the story of Duke football this season, from throwing a crucial interception late against Navy to coming up short on a fourth down conversion at Miami to the missed chances against the defending ACC champions this weekend. For the Blue Devils, as they dropped yet another heartbreaker to Wake Forest, the repeated storyline is getting tired and taking its toll.
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