At some point the Duke Football post-game write ups will no longer require the use of the cliche "close but no cigar", but not today.
The Blue Devils came out on senior day in front of a sparse crowd of supporters and gave the few who did show, a good effort and a good game but in the end it wasn't enough to notch another mark in the win column. Duke now falls to 3-8 (1-6 ACC) and extend its most current losing streak to six games.
Blue Devils dropped another closely contested game this time to Georgia Tech, 38-31. However, early on it didn't appear the game would even be that close.
After the Blue Devils held Georgia Tech to a quick three and out, they marched down the field and scored on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Sean Renfree to Conner Vernon. After that the Yellow Jackets offense started clicking and reeled off four straight touchdowns on four straight drives and took a 28-14 lead going into the half.
Duke came out in the second half with a renewed since of purpose and quickly scored to bring the game back within a touchdown but never could get any closer.
Either Duke would fail to get a stop when they needed one from their defense or their offense couldn't capitalize on the opportunties their defense did give them.
Georgia Tech fumbled the ball twice and twice Duke's offense, including late in the game with a chance to tie, failed to score. The last fumble was followed up by a promising drive hindered by penalties and ended with a Sean Renfree interception. The third time this season Renfree has thrown a late game pick on a potentially go-ahead or tying drive.
In many ways this game showed the progess Duke is making under David Cutcliffe in year four. But in other ways it is the same old Duke team that Blue Devil fans are tired of seeing: Inconsistent, error prone, and just plain unlucky.
For at least the third if not the fourth time this season, a crutical play was reviewed and didn't go in Duke's favor. The Blue Devils appeared to hold Georgia Tech running back, Embry Peeples, out of the endzone when it looked as if his knee touched down before he reached for the pylon.
A review was apparently inconclusive to overturn the call of a touchdown and that seven points with the extra point was the difference in the game.
But you certainly can't put all the blame on an officials call. Duke had its chances but still can't seem to find a way to win in crunch time in close games.
Sean Renfree had a good numbers day but isn't looking like the quarterback he is often made out to be. He has just not been good in pressure situations and his play has many Duke fans frustrated and looking for other options.
At this point Duke has no other options but to give all they have against arch rival North Carolina next week. The Blue Devils haven't beaten the Tar Heels since 2003 and have lost 20 of the last 21 match ups.
We will have more about Duke-Georgia Tech later and Duke-UNC later next week.
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