CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The 20th-ranked Duke Blue Devils were not themselves in suffering a 45-7 loss to the top-ranked team in the country, the defending Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) champion Florida State Seminoles, at Bank of America Stadium on Saturday.
Early on, it seemed like Duke was the team that has taken the Coastal Division by storm this season as it became the first team since 2012 to hold Florida State scoreless in the first quarter.
However, the Blue Devils themselves were shut out in the opening quarter for the first time this season, and soon afterwards trailed the Seminoles 17-0 by halftime.
Although it was the largest deficit they faced at the half since playing Georgia Tech back in mid-September, anyone who watched Duke play during the season, particularly during its recent eight-game winning streak, would not have recognized the team that gave up another 28 points during the final two quarters of play.
“Obviously disappointed in the result of the game,” Duke head coach David Cutcliffe said.
“Not disappointed in our preparation, not disappointed in our effort. The inability to make first downs on offense and stay on the field, I think our defense wore down a little bit as it went on. We’ll look at it and see what we can do better.”
Quarterback Anthony Boone (20-40, 138 yards, 2 INT) was limited in the options he had to move the Duke offense forward against a Seminoles defense that allowed only 239 all-purpose yards, well below the Blue Devils’ season average of 422 yards per game.
“We started to get stuff goin’ and they answered back to us,” Boone said.
“We didn’t answer back and that’s kinda’ what it boiled down to.”
As both teams played to a scoreless first quarter, it was the game’s MVP, Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston, who went to work and finished the game 19-of-32, passing for 330 yards and three touchdowns while running with the ball 10 times for 59 yards and another touchdown.
After scoring the game’s opening try in the second quarter, Winston really kicked the Florida State offense into high gear during the third quarter, passing for his remaining two touchdowns and running the ball in himself to put the game out of Duke’s reach.
Trailing 38-0 after the third quarter, it seemed as though the Blue Devils had lost the ability to capitalize on opportunities they had after making big defensive plays such as two interceptions from freshman cornerback Breon Borders.
“No, I never felt like it was slipping away,” Boone said.
“They just kept adding momentum and we couldn’t answer – we couldn’t stop the wave. They just took over.”
As the Seminoles added one more touchdown with 7:25 remaining in the fourth quarter and keeping a perfect 5-for-5 conversion rate in the red zone, the Blue Devils managed to put one final drive together to avoid being shut out in the game.
Boone led the Blue Devils down the field and completed a 14-play, 75-yard offensive series that was capped off by running back Josh Snead who ran the ball in from five yards out to give Duke it’s only touchdown.
Even though his team lost by 38 points to the top-ranked team in the country, Cutcliffe thought it was an important step that his players and the Duke football program took in playing in the ACC championship game.
“It’s about wanting to get back to it and wanting to win it,” Cutcliffe said.
“There’s a process involved in all of this, and there’s no atmosphere like conference championship atmosphere, and I’m glad they have experienced it. I hate the fact that it was experienced in such a manner where the loss hurt, but maybe that hurt propels you forward is what you have to hope.”