Early in the game Saturday afternoon, it appeared that Duke was poised to pull off an upset over a quality opponent. The mighty Georgia Tech offense put a damper on those hopes through the middle of the contest, but the Blue Devils showed late resilience and nearly upended the Yellow Jackets (8-3, 5-3 in the ACC) before falling 38-31.
Duke (3-8, 1-6) impressed out of the gate on both sides of the ball. Georgia Tech’s potent rushing attack failed to pick up a first down on each of its first two possessions, and the Blue Devils’ first play from scrimmage was an end-around to Donovan Varner that gained 39 yards. That put Duke in striking distance, and quarterback Sean Renfree found Conner Vernon to give the Blue Devils a 7-0 lead.
But the Yellow Jackets’ triple-option offense then took control, scoring touchdowns on three consecutive possessions, including two by running back David Sims.
Duke responded with a 13-play scoring drive of its own, and an illegal block on the ensuing kick return backed Georgia Tech up in its own end. But quarterback Tevin Washington engineered an 11-play, 94-yard touchdown drive, which ended on a close play that featured safety Matt Daniels and running back Embry Peeples. Daniels wrapped Peeples up at the 1-yard line, but Peeples was able to extend the ball to the pylon, giving his team a 14-point lead at halftime.
“It’s tough—plays like that happen,” cornerback Ross Cockrell said. “Matt was there, but unfortunately [Peeples] had a little more push.”
In the third quarter, both defenses stepped up and limited the offenses to just a field goal apiece, as each team saw one of its drives stall in the red zone.
On his first red zone appearance of the fourth quarter, Cutcliffe called a timeout to ensure the drive would not end prematurely once again. Renfree came out in a goal-line formation with three tight ends. Cooper Helfet, the biggest receiving threat of the group, motioned from the right side of the formation, but cut sharply back to his right when he approached Renfree. Renfree timed the snap perfectly as Helfet beat his man to the edge, and Renfree delivered a strike to a wide-open Helfet in the end zone.
That score cut the Yellow Jacket lead to seven, giving the Blue Devils momentum and awakening the Wallace Wade crowd. Duke’s defense, however, was unable to come up with a stop on the ensuing possession as Washington was able to beat the Blue Devil defense with a fake pitch before cutting up the field and breaking tackles on a 39-yard touchdown run.
Renfree responded with an impressive drive of its own, completing all five of his pass attempts. The fifth completion was a 10-yard touchdown strike to Helfet with 6:37 left in the contest which again reduced the deficit to seven.
On the next possession, Duke’s defense came up with a crucial takeaway, as senior nose guard Charlie Hatcher emerged from a pile with the football after running back Charles Perkins coughed it up with just under four minutes remaining at the Blue Devils’ 34-yard line.
After an incomplete pass intended for Vernon on first down, a holding penalty forced Duke into a second-and-20. Renfree completed consecutive passes to Varner and Cooper Helfet to convert the first down, but another offensive penalty backed the Blue Devils up again, this time into a second-and-26 situation.
“We kind of shot ourselves in the foot,” Varner said. “Penalties like that…are something we have to eliminate.”
Renfree, in desperate need of a first down, took a chance, lofting a deep ball to Helfet, but cornerback Jemea Thomas wrestled it away from him.
“[Helfet] is a big guy down the sideline,” Cutcliffe said. “[Thomas] is not very big…. I teach that, know your matchups. [Renfree] gave [Helfet] a shot at it and just came up short.”
The interception was one of the few blemishes on an otherwise stellar day by Renfree. After completing just one of his first seven throws, Renfree finished 26-for-42 with four touchdowns, tying a career high.
“Sean played really well today,” Vernon said. “We put a lot of new stuff in for him this week and the line held up really well.”
Despite Renfree’s prolific stats, Duke needed its defense to force a three-and-out in order to give the offense a chance to drive downfield to tie the game late. On 3rd-and-6, Washington kept the ball on an option to his left and was able to beat linebacker Austin Gamble to the edge and easily pick up the first down, sealing the game for Georgia Tech. The loss marked the Blue Devils’ fifth defeat by 10 points or less.
“It’s really frustrating,” Vernon said. “We’re always there…. We have to close them out. It’s that simple. We have to find a way.”
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.