Duke head coach David Cutcliffe did not have the right words to address his team after Saturday night's game.
The Blue Devils had just been stunned by a Miami touchdown on the game's final play, a score that was upheld by a replay review that lasted nearly eight minutes—and according to an ACC statement Sunday, one that failed to determine that a Hurricane player's knee had touched the ground during the lateral frenzy.
"I've never heard a locker room as quiet. Anybody who was there will tell you there was not anybody moving, let alone anybody speaking. It was deafening silence. It was very difficult for me to start talking," Cutcliffe said Sunday on a conference call with reporters. "There were just no appropriate words to talk about what had just happened on the field."
After stomaching a difficult Halloween loss, the Blue Devils have to move forward. Duke controls its own destiny in the ACC Coastal Division, but the margin for error is now slim to none. To have a chance of making it to Charlotte and the ACC championship game, Cutcliffe's squad must navigate through No. 21 North Carolina and Pittsburgh in the next two weeks.
"I'm so impressed with our young people. They had a great spirit and they're ready to go to work. It wasn't just pretend—we worked out with weights [Sunday] afternoon, both offense and then the defense," Cutcliffe said. "There was a great deal of energy and enthusiasm in the room, so I think it's a great indication of who our people are."
The ACC ruled Sunday that a "series of errors" led to the upholding of the Hurricanes' touchdown that ended Saturday's contest at Wallace Wade Stadium. Cutcliffe said he made some calls to people at the NCAA, but said he did not know of a formal mechanism by which the outcome could be reversed.
Rule 1, Article 3, Paragraph B of the NCAA rule book states that "When the referee declares that the game is ended, the score is final."
When asked if he was satisfied with the ACC's decision to suspend the on-field and replay officials who worked Saturday's game, Cutcliffe deflected the question.
"That's way beyond me. The only thing that I'm not satisfied with is that you can't get the score right, that you can't reverse the decision," he said. "Nothing's changed other than they realized they got the replay wrong. That's the heartbreaking part of it.... If we're going to have technology [in order to] get it right, then let's get it right. Otherwise, let's not have replay."
Cutcliffe said he had heard from "a multitude" of other head coaches in the aftermath of Saturday night's play, adding that he hopes the outcome will lead to a broader conversation about how to prevent future replay debacles.
One option could be the creation of a national replay center, the kind now used by the National Football League. Cutcliffe said he favors such a system, but acknowledged that building the necessary infrastructure could be too costly.
Regardless of the solution, Cutcliffe said something needs to be done to address the current system.
"Officiating at its best is not very visible," he said. "I think when you use this technology, you better use it well.... You don't want officials affecting the outcome of a game. And as far as pass interferences or things that are non-reviewable plays, those are going to be judgment calls.... That's different than having a reviewable play that you're discussing on Sunday that was not right that was left wrong. There's a huge difference."
This story was updated at 11:57 a.m. Monday to include the NCAA rule.
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