The Duke football team beat NC State by 10 points on Saturday, but the result could have swung in a very different direction if not for tight end Jake Taylor at the end of the first half.
With the Blue Devils leading 12-6 and within 15 yards of the end zone in the final 30 seconds, it seemed like [autotag]Maalik Murphy[/autotag] and the offense could put the game out of reach before the break. Instead, Wolfpack linebacker Tamarcus Cooley ripped the ball from Eli Pancol’s hands and took off with nothing but empty space between him and the other goal line.
Cooley made it most of the way there, but Taylor ran 70 yards downfield to tackle him at the 20-yard line with six seconds left. The play forced NC State to kick a field goal, maintaining a 3-point Duke lead at the midway point rather than giving the Wolfpack a 13-12 advantage with the first possession of the second half.
“Massive, massive play,” head coach [autotag]Manny Diaz[/autotag] said after the game. “Big, big-time effort. Four-point play, a four-point tackle, and that’s the pride that those guys have in this program.”
Duke outgained NC State 158-102 in the first two quarters, so the Wolfpack finding a way to take the lead could have given them a shot in the arm. Even if the next 28 minutes happened the exact same way, Todd Pelino’s 49-yard field goal attempt with 2:06 to play would have been much more dramatic if the score was 26-23 instead of 26-19.
Instead, Pelino redeemed himself from the SMU debacles, and Taylor’s play ensured Duke put the game on ice.
“That’s just a guy winning with effort,” Diaz concluded. “To me, that just highlights the culture that (strength and conditioning coach) David Feeley trains every day in our weight room. Huge play, and proud that it happened.”