Three seconds and a 30-yard field goal stood between the Duke Blue Devils and the ACC championship picture.
Despite six wins in their first seven games, first-year head coach Manny Diaz and his team couldn’t break into the top 25 thanks to some questions about their strength of schedule. Yet on Saturday night, there the Blue Devils stood with a chip shot to beat No. 22 SMU despite a handful of self-inflicted mistakes. After he missed a 42-yard attempt one drive earlier, it seemed like kicker Todd Pelino would redeem himself.
The snap, the hold, Pelino strode forward and booted the ball…straight into the waiting hand of SMU’s Jahfari Harvey, who’d broken through for the deflection. The ball dropped harmlessly to the ground at Wallace Wade Stadium, and another chance to put the game away wriggled out of Duke’s hands.
The Blue Devils wouldn’t get another.
Duke (6-2, 2-2) lost to SMU (7-1, 4-0) 28-27 in overtime in Week 9, opting for a 2-point conversion attempt in extra time that came up empty when quarterback Maalik Murphy couldn’t connect with wideout Eli Pancol.
Through the first two quarters and change, it seemed like more of the same for the Duke Blue Devils. The offense gained just 180 yards of total offense against the Florida State Seminoles, by far their worst showing of the year, and despite an early 43-yard touchdown pass from Murphy to Que’Sean Brown, the offense finished the first half with 181 yards to SMU’s 232.
The Mustangs scored two touchdowns and outgained the Blue Devils 116-49 in the second quarter, seemingly taking control of the battle, but the vaunted Duke defense refused to let the game get out of reach.
The SMU offense got within four yards of a touchdown on its opening drive, but quarterback Kevin Jennings let the ball hit the turf for a fumble before Duke’s Ryan Smith fell on it. Jennings threw an interception to Cameron Bergeron at midfield in the final minute of the half when it seemed like the Mustangs could add some points at the buzzer, and the Blue Devils stopped SMU on four straight rushing plays from the 1-yard line for a turnover on downs early in the third quarter.
While all those heroics went on, the Duke offense seemed stuck in neutral. The Blue Devils’ five full drives after the initial touchdown resulted in four punts and a turnover on downs, and an 81-yard scoring pass from Jennings to Roderick Daniels Jr. gave SMU a 21-7 lead with five minutes left in the third frame.
As he’s done over and over again, Murphy found a way to dust off the cobwebs when he absolutely needed to. The former Texas Longhorn led a 75-yard touchdown drive in just nine plays, culminating in a one-handed catch from Jordan Moore at the goal line to make it a 21-13 game.
The defense forced another punt, and Murphy again marched the team down into SMU territory. He and Pancol, who finished the game with 11 receptions for 138 yards, for a beautiful 22-yard over-the-shoulder catch down the left sideline to move the Blue Devils deep into enemy territory.
Six plays later, running back Star Thomas punched the ball in from the 1-yard line to cap off a 64-yard touchdown drive. Murphy connected with Pancol for a leaping grab on the 2-point conversion, a pass that didn’t count toward his career-high 295 passing yards. Somehow, the game was tied at 21 points apiece.
Jennings made three crushing mistakes on the next three SMU drives, however. He tossed a pick to Duke linebacker Tre Freeman when he tried to throw back across his body on a third down attempt, and he threw another interception on the next third down when he rifled a ball straight into the hands of Chandler Rivers for his third interception.
Despite starting in enemy territory each time, the Blue Devils somehow didn’t take advantage of either possession. They only made it to scoring range once: the aforementioned Pelino miss from 42 yards.
It looked like Jennings gave the Blue Devils one last answered prayer when he fumbled in the final two minutes, letting reigning ACC Linebacker of the Week Ozzie Nicholas scoop up the ball and run all the way back to the 14-yard line for what looked like the final dagger. Instead, the blocked kick on the final play of regulation sent the proceedings to overtime as the SMU defense held Duke scoreless on all six possessions after turnovers.
SMU running back Brashard Smith rumbled free for a 24-yard touchdown on the second play of free football, and despite Murphy finding Pancol for a 25-yard score one play later, the failed 2-point conversion gave Duke its second loss of the year.
Instead of heading to Coral Gables for a chance to throw their weight around against the undefeated Miami Hurricanes in Week 10, the Blue Devils fall two games behind the pace in the battle for a spot in Charlotte, completely removing their ability to control their destiny. The first year of the Diaz era remains an overachievement, but for a brief moment as Pelino lined up that kick, it looked like so much more.