DURHAM -- Despite three consecutive losses to ACC opponents, Duke football players balked at any notion of throwing in the towel with four games remaining on their regular-season schedule.
"There's still hope out there," said Duke senior safety Matt Daniels, whose play in a 14-10 loss to No. 15 Virginia Tech last week exemplified the effort and determination the Blue Devils (3-5, 1-3 ACC) have displayed during a topsy-turvy season.
Daniels, a 6-foot-1, 210-pound Fayetteville native, finished with 13 tackles, two interceptions and two pass break-ups, helping the Blue Devils hold the Hokies scoreless in the second half. Duke had a chance to win and will take that small consolation with them to Miami for Saturday's game against the Hurricanes (4-4, 2-3).
The Blue Devils will then face Virginia (5-3, 2-2), Georgia Tech (7-2, 4-2) and North Carolina (6-3, 2-3) in their remaining games. The program, which earlier this season won consecutive games over Boston College, Tulane, and Florida International, must win another three games to become bowl eligible for the first time since 1994.
Duke coach David Cutcliffe said last Saturday's near-win frustrated his team, but players elevated their practice intensity instead of sulking.
"Nobody is going to tuck their head anytime around here and feel sorry for themselves," he said. "We do not have time for that."
For a Duke team averaging 22.9 points per game and having lost the past two contests by four points or less, finding ways to score is a priority. The Blue Devils own the league's 11th-ranked scoring offense - even though it ranks third in passing offense (279.2 yards per game).
Scoring in the red zone has proved difficult for the Blue Devils, who have converted 24 of 33 chances and are ranked 11th in the league in that category. Wake Forest is ranked first, scoring on 32 of 35 chances (91.4 percent).
Cutcliffe said his team is not as talented - player-for-player - as opponents, and that gives the Blue Devils a slim margin for error in each game. Over the past three weeks, he said, Duke's errors have overshadowed some improved play, particularly on defense.
"Our program is winning right now; our team is not," Cutcliffe said. "But because we're getting better, because we're recruiting well, because ... our guys are playing harder, maybe harder than anybody else out there, the program continues to win. I'm not going to let that get lost."
Duke sophomore linebacker Kelby Brown laughed at the possibility of quitting with four games left.
"I feel better about this week than I have all this season," Brown said. "I don't know what it is. Maybe it's the challenge. Everyone on the team is ready to rise up to it. And we're ready to take this game over from the beginning."
