This year the Blue Zone will be running a series looking back on important moments in the Duke football team’s history. Today, we take you back to October 22, 2011.
The Blue Devils had a chance to rest this past weekend during their bye week following a 38-31 victory over Troy on September 28. Duke returns to the field this Saturday when it plays its final non-conference game of the season against Navy at 12:30 p.m. This week we will rewind back to Duke’s Week seven loss to Wake Forest in 2011.
Coming off a 41-16 rout by Florida State, David Cutcliffe’s squad was looking to pick up its second home win of the season over the Demon Deacons which would have put the Blue Devils only two wins away from bowl eligibility. Duke had not beaten Wake Forest since 1999.
The slightly favored Demon Deacons were led by sophomore quarterback Tanner Price, who in 2011 would go on to throw for more than 3,000 yards and 20 touchdowns. In this matchup, Price completed 15-of-25 passes for 215 yards and tossed two touchdown passes to current St. Louis Rams wide receiver Chris Givens as the Demon Deacons defeated the Blue Devils 24-23.
Wake Forest scored the game’s first points on its second drive of the game when Price found Givens for a 26-yard touchdown pass. It became clear at this point that the Blue Devils would have trouble stopping the explosive Givens, who on this drive alone had four catches for 60 yards.
While the Blue Devils continued to have trouble on offense, Wake Forest converted a crucial fourth down play just before halftime, which led to a Demon Deacon rushing touchdown, making the score 17-0. Duke would tack on a late field goal to cut the Wake Forest lead to 14.
It seemed as if a new Duke team emerged from the locker room for the second half at Wallace Wade Stadium. Propelled by backup quarterback Anthony Boone’s two rushing touchdowns, the Blue Devils would score 20 points on their next four drives and held the Wake Forest offense to just one yard of total offense in the third quarter.
But one play would give Wake Forest a decisive victory. With just seven minutes to play in the game, Price dropped back and found Givens for a 66-yard touchdown pass that gave the Demon Deacons a one point edge. Duke could not find a way to score for the remainder of the game.
Although the Blue Devils outgained the Demon Deacons 372-305, Duke’s inability to score touchdowns in the red zone hampered its chances of winning their second ACC game of the year.
This was one of four games over the course of the 2011 season that the Blue Devils lost by one score. Duke showed that they had what it took to keep up with teams who had winning records in 2011, including 38-31 and 14-10 losses to Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech, but dropped the season opener against FBS foe Richmond 23-21 after a missed field goal by kicker Will Snyderwine toward the end of regulation. But the Blue Devils would use the close losses as motivation during the offseason and would turn the tables the following season, as decisive fourth quarter victories against Wake Forest and North Carolina pushed Duke to an appearance in the Belk Bowl—the school’s first bowl berth since 1994.
The Blue Devils will need to be able to come out on top against Navy this Saturday, as there are few chances for Duke to get a bowl game without beating the Midshipmen. Looking beyond Saturday’s game, Duke will have to play every game at a high level from start to finish if it wants to start winning meaningful games in November, something that the Blue Devils have only done once during the Cutcliffe era.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.