Duke’s Weak Spots to be Tested Against Georgia Tech

Here are a couple of shortcomings that the Blue Devils had to address during last week's game against the Yellow Jackets.

Red Zone Efficiency

Finishing drives has been a major downfall for Duke's offense at times this season, and that continued to be the case on Saturday. The good news is, these missed opportunities were self-inflicted wounds and are easily correctable.

The Blue Devils left at least 13 points on the board, starting with a bad exchange on a handoff between Darian Mensah and Anderson, which led to a scoop-and-score for the Yellow Jackets.

Duke also botched a field goal snap later in the first half and missed a costly field goal late in the game that would have made it a one-possession game.

Head coach Manny Diaz spoke on these miscues during his postgame press conference on Saturday.

• "We came up empty on two field goal attempts, which in a game as close as it is in the fourth quarter, those points all matter," Diaz said. "Even just the ability to make our [field goal attempts] in that situation would have kept the game dynamics very different."

As mentioned, these mistakes are not inconceivably impossible to correct. A fumble and botched snap are more than manageable to fix during practice. Those miscues really come down to simple execution, which these players are capable of addressing during the bye week.

Yes, the red zone offense is still a work in progress, but expect the Blue Devils' offense to be sharper in these situations moving forward.

Third-Down Defense

This aspect of the game was a mixed-bag review because Duke's defense in the first half was suffocating against the pass and run.

Heading into the game, it was well-documented that the discrepancy between the Blue Devils' defensive struggles on third downs and the Yellow Jackets' elite efficiency on converting third downs was evident.

However, in the first half, Georgia Tech converted two-of-six third downs, which was well below their 47% conversion rate. Duke's defense forced Haynes King into uncomfortable third-and-mediums throughout the entire first half.

That script flipped in the second half when the Yellow Jackets converted four-of-six third downs, finishing the game converting 50% in those instances.

It's difficult to say that it was abject failure from the Blue Devils' perspective, but the defense simply ran out of gas in the third and fourth quarters. Overall, it was a strong performance from a defensive standpoint.

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