CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — With a 31-21 loss Saturday at Virginia, the Blue Devils fell to 3-7 and out of contention for a bowl game, failing to accomplish what Cutcliffe claimed was one of the team’s major goals coming into the season.
“Well obviously, you always at the start of a season want to be a bowl team,” Cutcliffe said. “You want to compete for championships, you want to have a winning record at home, you have a lot of things that can come and go as goals. But the most significant goal is to get better every week, and we’ll never let that go. Never ever.”
While Duke failed to convert a few opportunities—Will Snyderwine had a 25 yard field goal attempt blocked in the first quarter and missed wide left on a 34-yarder in the fourth quarter—this game, and the season, have come down to a defense that cannot stop opposing offenses from making plays in crucial spots.
On multiple occasions, the Duke secondary missed assignments. The score could have been much worse had Virginia quarterback Michael Rocco been more accurate. During Virginia’s second to last drive of the first half, while trailing 14-7, wide-receiver Darius Jennings twice beat his defender over the top for what could have been game-tying touchdown passes.
On both plays, though, Rocco overthrew his intended target by 10 yards. A key first down on the drive was secured after Rocco hit a wide-open Perry Jones for 14 on a third and eight around midfield.
The Cavaliers scored a touchdown on the drive and tied the game going into the half, but even that was only because Johnny Williams failed to wrap up Kris Burd and allowed what could have been a five or six yard catch to become a 38-yard touchdown reception.
“We just had some missed assignments,” Cutcliffe said. “I thought there was a period where we got a little tired.... It wasn’t any big breakdown. It was just a matter of being where you’ve got to be.”
The Duke front seven—missing linebacker Kelby Brown and without Jordan DeWalt-Ondijo for the end of the third and all of the fourth quarter—did not play much better. Aside from failing to get any pressure on Rocco, recording zero sacks, the Blue Devils allowed the Cavalier backfield duo of Jones and Kevin Parks to rack up 152 yards on the ground, consistently moving the chains and wearing down the defense.
The offense was not without struggles of its own. Renfree had 303 yards through the air with a touchdown and Donovan Varner—who took sole possession atop Blue Devil receivers with 194 career receptions—caught seven passes for 132 yards and a score.
But even they came up short at times. Varner had a few key drops, including a potential touchdown pass with just over nine minutes left and Duke down by 10. And Renfree, on the first drive of the second half with both teams knotted at 14, telegraphed a pass intended for Desmond Scott that Chase Minnifield stepped in front of and returned 54 yards for a pick six.
While the aerial was effective against the Cavalier secondary, Duke failed to establish any semblance of a rushing attack, gaining only 34 yards on 29 carries. Duke consistently faced third-and-longs—needing over five yards, on average, on third down—because of short runs on first and second down. The result was 6-for-18 on third down conversion attempts.
Regardless, 21 points could have been enough with a stronger defensive effort. But the defense, which ranks 11th in the ACC in both scoring and total yards allowed, could not stop the Cavaliers when they needed to.
With two games left, though—at home against No. 21 Georgia Tech this Saturday and at North Carolina Nov. 26—Duke still has a chance to end its season on a positive note.
“We want to play our best two football games the last two games of the year, and we’re capable of doing that,” Cutcliffe said. “Character is a willingness to prepare, it’s a willingness to be where you are supposed to be, doing what you are supposed to be doing, as well as you can do it. Period. And that’s why our team has character, and I will always believe in them.”
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