Duke turnovers, mistakes too much to overcome against Georgia Tech
In a television interview moments before the second half Saturday, Duke coach David Cutcliffe confidently said his team was poised to play some of its best football of an imperfect season against Georgia Tech.
Even though he was masked, Cutcliffe’s eyes conveyed conviction as he spoke to the socially distanced sideline reporter.
But it was not to be. The second half would be much like the first, Georgia Tech using its backfield speed and skill to blow through Duke’s defense on its way to a 56-33 victory at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta.
The Yellow Jackets got a 61-yard scoring run from freshman Jahmyr Gibbs in the opening minutes of the game and never stopped running, closing with a season-high 377 rushing yards and 523 yards in total offense. They outscored Duke 28-7 in the second half.
Cutcliffe called it a long and difficult night, just as it has been a long and difficult season, and he said it made for an emotional locker room. It was another game in which there were good plays for Duke, well-conceived and executed, but far too many poor ones to overcome.
“At the most inopportune times these things raised their ugly heads,” Cutcliffe said on his postgame media call.
And, as it has been all too often in 2020, there were turnovers. The Blue Devils lost four fumbles and had one Chase Brice pass tipped and picked off, pushing Duke’s turnover count to 30 for the season.
Thirty turnovers. That will sink any team and it has Duke, 2-7 overall and 1-7 in the ACC.
“I hurt for those players. It has not been easy,” Cutcliffe said.
A sequence of plays near the end of the first half, at least for Duke, added to the Blue Devils’ frustration and futility.
First, Duke’s Shaka Heyward dropped Georgia Tech running back Jordan Mason in the Yellow Jackets’ end zone for a safety. Duke’s defense had made a big play and the Blue Devils had a 23-21 lead in the second quarter.
But on the ensuing free kick by Georgia Tech, the Blue Devils’ Damond Philyaw-Johnson watched the ball bounce down the sideline, fielding it at the Duke 1-yard line as he waved his arm, signaling for a fair catch. Standing still with the ball tucked under his arm, he waited for a referee’s whistle that didn’t come until he was tackled by the Yellow Jackets.
It was a live ball, not a touchback. And soon it was a Georgia Tech touchdown as Brice was swarmed under in the end zone and fumbled, pushing the Yellow Jackets ahead 28-23.
“You go from getting a safety to giving up a touchdown,” Cutcliffe said. “No way you should have the ball on the 1-yard line after gaining a safety. We could have put on some steam there, potentially. Just missed too many opportunities and it comes back to bite you.”
The Blue Devils had not played a game since their Nov. 7 blowout loss to rival North Carolina. The Wake Forest game, scheduled for Nov. 21, was called off for COVID-19 issues in the Wake program and will not be made up.
Cutcliffe said he held off on contact work and scrimmaging during the long break, a decision made because of injuries. There were semester exams to be taken. The Blue Devils then left for Atlanta without starting linebacker Rocky Shelton II, who did not make the trip because of the school’s COVID-19 protocols, the university announced Saturday.
Cutcliffe was asked if Shelton’s situation caused any preliminary discussion about not playing Saturday’s game or if the game was ever in doubt, replying, “We don’t have that kind of issue.”
The Blue Devils, after a scheduling change announced Sunday by the ACC, will host Miami on Saturday at Wallace Wade Stadium. Duke was to face struggling Florida State but now it’s nationally ranked Miami.
It may or may not be Duke’s last game of 2020 -- there is the possibility of the Blue Devils adding a 10th ACC game. But if it is the last, it will be a final chance for the Duke players to end an unforgettable season, as Cutcliffe put it, with a “memory they want to hold on to.”’
“I think it’s very important, especially if we can get a win, it can carry over to the next season with the mentality and momentum you get from winning a game,” senior defensive back Michael Carter II said.
This story was originally published November 29, 2020 at 7:50 AM.
