LOUISVILLE, Ky.—With the Blue Devils heading into a nationally televised matchup at the seventh-ranked team in the country, many figured the stage would be too big.
But Duke found itself down just one score late in the fourth quarter.
Since the Blue Devils had been gashed by big plays early in the season and were facing Heisman Trophy frontrunner Lamar Jackson, many thought Duke would struggle to keep pace.
But the 35-point underdogs held the Cardinals to a season-low 24 points and had the ball for more than 37 minutes.
“We believed from 15 minutes left in the first quarter,” sophomore linebacker Ben Humphreys said. “When we got on the plane, when we boarded—if you didn’t believe, you weren’t getting on the plane.”
Despite all of the positives, the result at the end of the day was something all too familiar for the Blue Devils—a tough conference loss defined by a few game-changing plays that left them winless in ACC play.
After the teams traded scores to open the game, the Blue Devils mounted a drive midway through the second quarter that chewed up nearly eight minutes. Duke could not get the big first down it needed near the red zone, and a 40-yard A.J. Reed field goal attempt sailed wide right to keep the Blue Devils down by three entering halftime.
With an offensive mindset focused on ball control, Duke’s misfire was crucial in a game with fewer possessions. Nonetheless, the drive illustrated the team’s main strategy to stay in Saturday’s game.
“When you have a freshman quarterback, the best defense against Lamar Jackson and the rest of that offensive talent is for them to watch us make first downs,” Blue Devil head coach David Cutcliffe said.
Duke struggled on its first offensive possession out of halftime, and a quick three-and-out gave Louisville the opportunity to get its offense humming. Blue Devil punter Austin Parker—who later left the game with an injury—appeared to pin the Cardinals deep in their own territory, before cornerback Jaire Alexander made multiple defenders miss en route to what looked like a back-breaking 90-yard punt return for a touchdown.
But a block in the back penalty nullified Alexander’s touchdown, and all of a sudden, it seemed that things were turning in Duke’s favor.
When Louisville took possession, the Blue Devils appeared to make a huge play when Humphreys pried the ball loose from Louisville tight end Cole Hikutini, only for the referees to rule Hikutini’s forward progress had stopped.
Instead of the offense taking over in the red zone, the Blue Devil defense was back on the field and yielded an 80-yard touchdown run to running back Jeremy Smith just a couple plays later. Defensive coordinator Jim Knowles’ unit showed how far it has come through seven games again Friday, but one lapse proved costly as it has so often in 2016.
“We struggled a bit with the turnover being reversed because there was a boatload of celebrating,” Cutcliffe said. “The energy was firing everywhere and then you have to go gather your guys back up to get them back out there.”
The series of plays in the third quarter paled to the heartbreak that awaited Duke late in the game.
After using 8:53 on a 15-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to cut the lead to three, the Blue Devil defense made a key stop with the clock winding down and forced the Cardinals into a 46-yard field goal attempt.
Excitement abounded on the Duke sideline as kicker Evan O’Hara’s attempt sailed wide, but the Blue Devils were done in by a flag on the play. Senior cornerback Breon Borders—who is among the nation’s leaders in career interceptions and pass breakups—was whistled for roughing the kicker.
In a game that featured numerous back-breaking plays that threatened to dampen a strong Duke effort, the penalty proved to be the final nail in the coffin.
“I’m not complaining about the officiating at all. We hit the guy and that’s what you do, you call it,” Cutcliffe said. “I would like the rule makers to take a look at that or we’re all going to have to stop trying to block an extra point because I had a perfect angle and Breon did exactly what he was coached to do.”
Although the Blue Devils stayed competitive on the scoreboard and played Louisville much tougher than the 35-point underdog they were on paper, the end result was nothing more than a moral victory.
“You don’t just want to take one in the chin and back up,” redshirt freshman linebacker Joe Giles-Harris said. “You want to take one in the chin and press forward and deliver one right back in the chin.”
Friday was another shot to the chin for Duke, but the team that takes the field in two weeks against Georgia Tech may be ready to deliver one of its own as it keeps improving.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.