The Duke Blue Devils built a strong lead over Miami on Saturday afternoon, but the undefeated Hurricanes scored 35 of the game’s last 38 points for a comfortable victory.
According to first-year Duke head coach [autotag]Manny Diaz[/autotag], two main culprits held the Blue Devils back from a season-changing upset.
“It’s a game of turnovers and explosive plays,” Diaz said after the game. “It’s hard to beat anyone on the road if you lose those two battles and it’s definitely hard to beat a team as talented as they are, and I thought that was the telling difference in the second half.”
The Hurricanes offense entered the game leading the FBS in scoring (46.8 points per game) and total offense (560.8 yards), and quarterback Cam Ward was already on the short list of Heisman Trophy contenders with 2,746 passing yards and 28 total touchdowns through eight games.
Duke paced the ACC in yards allowed per pass attempt through Week 9 and held Ward to 138 yards in the first half, but after winning the turnover battle 10-0 over the previous two games, the Blue Devils coughed up the ball three times in the final two quarters.
Each giveaway set the Hurricanes up across midfield, and Miami scored 21 points off turnovers for the game.
“Giving an offense like that short fields,” Diaz continued. “The quarterback is good enough as it is, and to have breakdowns in our coverage to leave guys wide open allowed them to get separation on the scoreboard and really take control of the game.”
Duke quarterback [autotag]Maalik Murphy[/autotag] threw for a career-high 325 yards and three touchdowns, but he also tossed three interceptions and fumbled the ball away. Three of those mistakes came after the Hurricanes moved within three points in the third quarter.
“It’s what happens, right?” Diaz said. “When you fall behind and you’ve got to drop back to try to come from behind, you’re going to put the ball in harm’s way.”
The defense stopped limiting the Hurricanes over the final 30 minutes as well. 18 of Ward’s 41 attempts resulted in a first down or a touchdown, including nine completions of 20 yards or more. The Blue Devils allowed touchdowns of 34, 49, and 66 yards.
“A lot of it was leverage and tackling,” star defensive back Chandler Rivers said after the game. “Getting the ball down, playing another play. We didn’t do a good job of that and then they exposed that.”
Five of Ward’s last eight throws picked up at least 20 yards, including his last two scoring passes, and the Miami quarterback averaged 9.76 yards per attempt for the game.
“We just made mistakes that just cost you a football game,” Diaz concluded.