Frustration.
That was the word being thrown around after Duke's heartbreaking 24-20 loss to Northwestern Saturday, a game which head coach David Cutcliffe believed his team should have won.
"It's not time to hang your head, but it is time to be frustrated. That was a frustrating loss," Cutcliffe said, reciting his post-game message to his Blue Devil team. "[Northwestern is] a solid, good football team. I think we are a better football team.
"We did so many things right but finish. This is really a nightmare to see this-to not just quite get over the hump."
It was the Blue Devils' failure to execute and capitalize on big plays on both sides of the ball-and a few glaring gaffes-which caused the most aggravation and cost them the victory over the Wildcats, in a contest which Duke statistically dominated.
For the second straight week, the Blue Devils moved the ball effectively throughout the contest. They ate up a monstrous proportion of the clock, managing to run 91 plays-31 more than Northwestern-on their way to holding the ball for nearly 20 more minutes than the Wildcats. In total, Duke's 28 first downs doubled Northwestern's mark in that category. And led by Clifford Harris' 87 rushing yards, the Blue Devils could hardly be stopped on the ground, gaining 101 more rushing yards than its opponent and highly touted running back Tyrell Sutton, who managed only 72 yards.
But the gaudy offensive numbers should have amounted to more than 20 points.
The Blue Devils had trouble capping off drives and a few offensive mishaps were representative of that. After all, Thaddeus Lewis finished 24-for-42 with 256 yards passing and no interceptions-but the junior quarterback didn't find a receiver in the end zone, either.
Backup quarterback Zack Asack put together a beautiful 16-play, 87-yard drive that spanned nearly eight minutes of the second quarter. But on third-and-1 from the 3-yard line, Harris was stuffed on a dive up the middle, forcing the Blue Devils to settle for a field goal.
Later in the game, Duke had trouble capitalizing on magnificent field position when it mattered most. After a punt return by Leon Wright gave Duke the ball at the Wildcats' 29-yard line, the Blue Devils were given one last chance to win the game.
But a holding penalty against senior offensive lineman Cameron Goldberg on Duke's final drive nullified a fourth-down touchdown strike from Lewis to Harris-a play which would have given the team a lead with less than two minutes to go.
While the offense flowed well but left points on the field, the defense stood strong but proved porous on critical plays.
The Blue Devils had trouble pressuring an already-shaky C.J. Bacher, who was 14-for-31 on the night, as the Wildcats avoiding yielding a single sack.
This inability to reach the quarterback proved most consequential about four minutes into the fourth quarter while Duke was on its way to stymieing another Northwestern attack-this time, it came after Duke had taken a 20-17 lead minutes earlier. The Blue Devils had put their opponent in a third-and-10 situation-the Wildcats only converted 4-of-13 third-down plays-and the Duke faithful rose to its feet, urging a defensive stand.
Duke used man-to-man coverage and sent everyone else on a "zero blitz." But no one touched Bacher, who zinged a 45-yard pass to wideout Eric Peterman, who was brought down at the 14 yard line.
The long strike quieted the crowd and shifted the momentum. And worse for Duke, the drive would result in the game-winning score.
And after the game, when the frustration seemed to boil over on the field, it was still fleeting in the locker room.
"We believed all the way through the end," senior linebacker Michael Tauiliili said. "The enthusiasm was there, being conditioned was there-that was not a problem at all. But what it came down to was just making a few crucial plays at the end of the game to win it.
You can only imagine how frustrating it is to do all that hard work and to come up short at the end. But the one thing I can guarantee you is that there are a lot of lessons to be learned... once we get over those negative things, we'll be quite all right."
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