Florida State blows open close game late
Seminoles outscore Duke 21-0 in final period for 38-20 win.
Florida State broke open a close game in the fourth quarter Saturday night in Tallahassee, defeating Duke 38-20.
The loss drops Duke to 5-2 overall, 2-1 in the ACC, while keeping the home team undefeated.
It would be a substantial understatement to note that the final score was deceptive. Duke led by 10 points twice and carried a 20-17 lead into the final quarter.
But a series of catastrophic blows turned around the game and led to the final score.
Riley Leonard got the start at quarterback but clearly wasn’t 100 percent.
Maybe Duke still had a way to win. Duke’s defensive line stuffed Florida State twice on fourth and one and Duke converted short fields into scores both times. Jaquez Moore sprinted 42 yards to put Duke up 7-0 and Todd Pelino nailed a 45-yard field goal and it was 10-0.
FSU answered with a TD drive when Duke couldn’t recover a fumble in the Florida State backfield but Chandler Rivers took a deflected pass 13 yards into the end zone and it was 17-7.
But Deuce Spann returned the ensuing kickoff 99 yards to keep Duke from gaining any significant separation.
A curious pattern emerged. Duke could run but couldn’t pass. Florida State couldn’t run but they could pass.
Mike Elko said Duke knew it had to run effectively to have a chance.
“We knew we couldn’t get behind the chains because we would have a really hard time keeping that pass rush off of us and so the plan was to force them to stop the run so that when we had to throw the ball it wouldn’t be third and long type situations and I thought for three quarters we accomplished that for the most part.”
Duke took a 20-17 lead into halftime after another Pelino field goal but only after having first and goal at the six, one of several squandered opportunities that would come back to haunt Duke.
The defenses controlled the third quarter. Duke appeared to be poised to seize control in the middle of the period, when Leonard was knocked out of the game on a personal foul, a face-mask penalty so vicious that Leonard had to leave the game, his balky ankle re-injured.
Elko said that Leonard pleaded to be allowed back on the field but his ankle did not look good and Henry Belin IV took over.
The penalty gave Duke a first down at the FSU 11. Three rushes moved the ball to the four, fourth down.
Duke passed up the field goal, Belin threw an incompletition and the ‘Noles took over at their four.
“We didn’t feel like going up six was really going to help us, Elko said. “Maybe we should have called a better play. Nobody got open.”
Still, FSU was pinned back. A quick three-and-out and Duke would still be in control.
It didn’t happen. Fourteen plays, 96 yards, over six minutes off the clock and Duke trailed for the first time in the game.
Duke never came close to getting back in it.
“In the fourth quarter we didn’t have the responses we needed,” Elko said “We didn’t convert the fourth down. We didn’t respond on defense. We gave up that 97-yard drive, which led to a lot of fatigue. We couldn’t put a drive together on offense to respond. Obviously the fourth quarter kind of got away from us.”
Jordan Travis took over in the fourth quarter, moving the chains with his arm and legs. He ended with 27 completions in 36 attempts, for 268 yards, while rushing for 62 more. A huge completion on 3rd and eight from inside the Florida State 30 kept alive that go-ahead drive, something Duke couldn’t match when they got the ball back.
Travis shared the wealth, four different receivers totaling between 40 and 58 receiving yards, while Duke could muster only 76 total passing yards.
“We’ve got to be more efficient in the throw game,” Elko said. “We can’t complete eight passes in the throw game and expect to win a game on the road like that. And we’ve got to finish better in the.fourth quarter. Our execution in the fourth quarter on defense was really poor.”
No argument from Duke defensive tackle DeWayne Carter.
“At the end of the day, we’ve got to execute better. We didn’t have a lot of three-and-outs. We’ve got to go back and fix it on Monday.”
There’s still a very clear path for Duke to make it to Charlotte for the ACC title game and Carter acknowledged that.
“We have a lot of football left. We have to focus on what’s ahead of us, reflect on this loss, get better and move forward.”
Another great summation by Jim. Duke is beyond moral victories. The ugly vicious illegal hit on Riley changed the game. He wasn’t playing great, but he’s our leader. Riley and Duke showed courage and fortitude. I believe we have a real shot at making the title game, and a chance at avenging the outcome. The Seminoles know it too. The game turned on the kickoff return and the deliberate injury to Riley. Despite the fourth quarter results, in Elko we trust. We have the capacity to put the season back on track. We’ve never overlooked an opponent, as UNC obviously did. Have faith in the coaching staff as the team does. FSU doesn’t want us again on a neutral field with an intact Riley Leonard. The season will continue to be special, and nobody reports on the team and the year like Jim Sumner. Treasure them and him, Duke fans! Go Devils!
Team needs to put this one in the rear view mirror and move forward. Lots of football left to be played this season.
Coach Elko’s comments on the pass game are spot on. We need better production throwing the ball to balance our strong rushing attack.
I’m proud of the team this morning. As always, proud to be a Duke fan.