Cutcliffe, Duke football pull off more magical trickery in bowl games in Sun Bowl but come up short

EL PASO, TEXAS—Duke fell short in its bowl game for the third consecutive year in the Sun Bowl vs. No. 15 Arizona State Saturday at Sun Bowl Stadium, but once again the loss wasn't due to a lack of creativity.

Last year in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, the Blue Devils caught then-No. 20 Texas A&M off guard with an onside kick in the first half.

This year, after falling behind early, Duke used a pair of trick plays to climb back into the game and take the lead.

First, halfway through the final quarter, with the Blue Devils down by six, on fourth-and-11 from midfield, punter Will Monday faked a punt and threw to sophomore wideout Johnell Barnes for 30 yards.

The payoff after the big play came on another fourth-down trick play, this time for the go-ahead touchdown, when senior wideout Jamison Crowder sprinted left on a jet sweep on fourth-and-two, then threw using his off hand—his left hand—to his high school teammate Issac Blakeney for a 12-yard touchdown.

Duke did not use many trick plays in the regular season other than short-yardage quarterback Thomas Sirk's Tim Tebow-esque jump passes, but used the extra time off before the bowl game to throw in a few wrinkles once again, strengthening head coach David Cutcliffe's reputation as a creative gambler in big games.

The legendary quarterback guru and head coach also gave credit to his staff and players for the highlight-reel plays.

"Our preparation was good. It was great execution by Jamison on a wide receiver slash halfback pass and a great call by [offensive coordinator Scottie] Montgomery," Cutcliffe said. "Our guys executed. At times, [Arizona State] made plays and at times, we made plays. We just fell short in the fourth quarter."