WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Lining up for a 42-yard field goal with two seconds to play, kicker Nick Maggio had a chance to not only seal a marquee victory over ACC foe Wake Forest, but also a chance to redeem the seemingly countless foibles of Duke's special teams throughout the game.
The play brought to memory the last time the Blue Devils were in BB&T Field. Two years ago, Duke had an eerily similar chance to overtake the Demon Deacons on their home turf, but a last-second field goal was blocked and the Blue Devils lost the game.
Maggio's 42-yarder wasn't blocked, but it sure wasn't pretty. The low-liner wobbled wide right of the post after Maggio's pivot foot slipped and a dejected Duke squad, which had given up the victory in its grasp, had to settle for overtime.
When Maggio was asked how many attempts he would make if he had a chance to kick that field goal 10 more times, he responded confidently, as if his kick had sailed through the uprights.
"Ten out of 10," he said. "I just broke down mechanically. From 42 or 43, it's usually an easy kick. Next time, I've just got to stay mechanically sound and I'll get a better result."
Of course, it really isn't fair to put the loss on Maggio's foot. With error after error, the Blue Devil special teams fed Wake Forest the ball with great starting field position.
"It's tough, but it's part of football," quarterback Thaddeus Lewis said. "Sometimes, you know you don't want to put [Maggio] in that situation and we feel like we could have been in a better situation. But it's part of football. We had confidence in Maggio. Unfortunately, it went wide and we had to go to overtime."
Special teams mistakes bookended regulation, as Maggio's missed field goal ended the fourth quarter while Jabari Marshall's fumble on the opening kickoff occurred on the very first play of the game. Wake Forest began its first drive at Duke's 22-yard line and was able to get a head of steam from the get-go, scoring a touchdown on its opening series.
It didn't stop there. Forced to defend the short field, the Blue Devil defense was stuck between a rock and a hard place again and again as the Demon Deacons' started drives in Duke's territory five times. Those drives accounted for all of Wake Forest's 28 points on offense in the first four quarters.
"It's definitely with your back up against the wall," linebacker Michael Tauiliili said. "But with defense, we have the philosophy that it doesn't matter what else goes on in the game-whether it's offense or special teams. Wherever we're at on the field as a defense, we just have to step up and make the plays."
The other two points came on another special teams blunder. Toward the end of the first quarter, punter Kevin Jones took his kick near the Blue Devil goal line and was blocked by Demon Deacon cornerback Alphonso Smith. Jones recovered the loose ball in his own endzone for a safety.
The ensuing kickoff was returned 57 yards by Wake Forest safety Alex Frye, who rushed all the way to the Blue Devil 30-yard line. The Duke defense was able to clamp down and held the Demon Deacons to only a chip shot field goal, which extended their lead to five.
Even when things seemed to go the Blue Devils' way on special teams, Wake Forest came away with an advantage.
After Duke took a 20-19 lead in the third quarter, head coach David Cutcliffe ordered his kickoff unit to execute a surprise onside kick. It was something he claimed to have been planning and called when he saw a hole in the Wake Forest coverage-and it worked.
Joe Surgan popped the ball high in the air-like a flop wedge, Cutcliffe said Sunday-and it traveled 11 yards before Johnny Williams picked it from the air. But a yellow flag doused any Duke celebration before it got started, and kick-catch interference was called for a block on a seemingly unaware Wake Forest returner.
"My philosophy on all those things-that could've gone either way," Cutcliffe said. "We could've done 10 or 15 other things in that game to have won the ball game. I don't fret over those things on Sunday. You get in the habit of doing that, that means you lose most of them."
The questionable penalty gave the Demon Deacons the ball at another great spot-the Duke 26. Again they were held to just a field goal, but managed to steal some momentum away from the Blue Devils in the process.
Duke learned in an unfortunate way that turnovers add up and that special teams can make or break a game. A fumbled kickoff return, a muffed punt by Donovan Varner at a critical point in the second half, a safety and a missed field goal were too much for the Blue Devils to overcome.
"What had been a plus for us-the kicking game-turned into somewhat of a nightmare," Cutcliffe said. "We did play hard, but we just didn't play smart enough.... We just can't get all three phases playing together."
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