One of the biggest areas of concern for Duke this season has been offensively stagnant second-half play. In fact, going into Saturday’s game against Virginia, the Blue Devils had outscored only Elon following the halftime break.
Yet despite momentum clearly swinging against it Saturday, Duke showed for the first time all season that it has the resiliency, strength and nerve to pull out a win late in the game.
“We knew they weren’t going to go away easily,” freshman cornerback Ross Cockrell said, “And it was tough…. But we had faith in our offense and their ability to put up points.”
Following a week where the Blue Devils nearly collapsed against Navy late in the game, head coach David Cutcliffe made it clear from the opening seconds of the second half that Duke would be aggressive. Despite the heightened risk of an onside kick, Cutcliffe said he made the gutsy call to show his team the importance of aggressiveness in the game.
“One of the reasons I decided to attempt the onside kick, I told them, we are playing to win this game,” Cutcliffe said. “We are not playing to keep from losing.”
Even though the ensuing drive resulted in a three-and-out for the Blue Devils, Duke seemed to have a new spark lit under it on the offensive end. Freshman quarterback Brandon Connette
“Though we pinned them back and they went 98 yards, we answered, which was huge,” Cutcliffe said.
While the defense struggled to keep Virginia off the board, offensively the Blue Devils continued to move the ball. Sophomore running back Desmond Scott made runs time and again to get Duke solid first and second-down gains. And like in Annapolis, sophomore quarterback Sean Renfree stayed away from ill-advised passes, throwing the ball away multiple times when faced with good Virginia coverage.
“Throwing the ball away is not real popular,” Cutcliffe said. “But it’s important to know when to quit competing on a play…. [Sean] has a lot of talent.”
Another notable aspect of the second half was the enthusiasm displayed by the Blue Devils. The sideline demeanor was consistently high, despite moments when Virginia came back to take the lead. Even when Scott fumbled the ball with under three minutes left, there was still a strong feeling of support from Duke’s side. While the momentum may have been against them, Cutcliffe said the Blue Devils failed to get down on themselves.
“When you get into conference play, it is certainly time to be confident and be focused, and they took it to heart,” the coach said. “I hope they continue to do that.”
On the defensive end, the Blue Devils played a similar game to that of Navy, relenting points in the second half. While the offense bailed them out in many instances, the play of Cockrell helped keep Virginia from sustaining a lead. Containing the speedy Virginia receivers and recording two interceptions, Cockrell showed an improvement this week from his inconsistent play earlier in the year.
When asked about the Blue Devils’ strongest third-quarter play of the season—the first time this season in which Duke outscored its opponent—Renfree was quick to point out the importance of training for the long-haul in games.
“[Our third-quarter play] had a lot to do with how we practice recently,” Renfree said. “Especially early in the season, we were slow to come out in the second half. Coaches made sure we maintained our energy and focused on finishing strong.”
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