When quarterback Thaddeus Lewis dropped under center at the Duke 26-yard line, down 10-7 with less than four minutes remaining in the first half, the Blue Devils still had a chance to win.
Four minutes and a Clemson touchdown, safety and kick-return score later, the chance disappeared quicker than fans at Wallace Wade Stadium.
That critical stretch, when Clemson took a commanding 26-7 lead, guaranteed that there would be no reprise of the on-field celebration that occurred the last time the Tigers visited Durham in 2004.
Sixteen points in 39 seconds.
Another loss in 39 seconds.
Almost every facet of the team unraveled: the offense stagnated, the defense splintered and the special teams split wide-open. The Tigers capitalized on all three breakdowns to score and effectively end the game.
The Lewis-led offense, which embarked on a touchdown drive on its second possession, stalled late in the second half, as it has in too many games this year. Lewis threw on three out of six plays on the scoring drive, but only passed on 6-of-20 first-half plays following that drive. And when he took the ball with 3:39 left on his own 26, Duke really was still in the game.
The Blue Devils didn't even need to score to stay in it-if they had simply put together a decent drive and killed the clock to keep the ball away from the Tigers, they would have gone into the locker room with a legitimate glimmer of hope, down only three to the No. 25 team in the country.
Instead, Duke went three-and-out. A hurried Lewis threw an incomplete pass to Re'quan Boyette, Ronnie Drummer ran for three on second down and Lewis threw behind a slanting Jomar Wright on third. Even if the sliding Wright had caught the ball, though, he still would have been behind the first-down marker. To make matters worse, Duke's standout wide receiver Eron Riley found himself in rare single-coverage down the left sideline when Lewis, under pressure, threw to Wright over the middle.
Clemson took the ball back one minute later on its own 41-yard line, and even the most optimistic, die-hard Duke fans must have suspected that the momentum had swung to the side of the orange and purple. At that point, it would have been more surprising if Clemson didn't score to extend the lead. Of course, the Tigers did score.
Still, down 17-7 with one minute left, the Blue Devils were in the game. After a holding penalty pushed Duke back to its 10-yard line, Drummer rushed on first down for a loss of four and Boyle ran for four on second down. Clemson took two of its remaining three timeouts and literally forced Duke to do what it should have been doing the whole time: throw the ball.
The Blue Devils are 1-7 and 0-5 in the conference. They haven't won at Wallace Wade since 2005, and they haven't beaten a Division-I opponent at home since 2004. This team has nothing to lose.
Yet, down 10 points with three timeouts at its disposal, Duke ran into a run blitz. Roof and his players defended that decision after the game, claiming they were waiting for a big play on the ground to make their move.
"The holding penalty changed our plans," head coach Ted Roof said. "We didn't want to get back into a situation where we didn't force them to use those timeouts. On third down, we were going to throw a long pass, and figured if it got picked off, it would at least be a punt."
But the Blue Devils have unequivocally been at their best when Lewis throws to Riley or Wright. Even the team's longest play Saturday was a 40-yard jump-ball from Lewis to Riley, who leaped above the cornerback for the reception. That's what he does best. The 6-foot-3 Riley is a big-play receiver that will eventually suit up on Sundays. He is the only Duke receiver that can jump over defenders or come down with a pass that seems fated for the ground.
So with three timeouts, why not take a shot downfield? Throw the ball 50-yards in the air, and let Riley chase it down. Worst-case scenario, a defender wrestles it from Riley and it serves as a long punt.
Instead, Duke ran twice and then Lewis, trying to throw on a rollout, was sacked in the end-zone for a safety. Yes, Duke has to establish a running game, which has become a painstaking process this year. But late in the first half, when good teams execute a two-minute drill (or, in this case, a one-minute drill) to reverse their fortunes, the Blue Devils exacerbated theirs and showed exactly why they are not yet a good team.
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