Duke and Miami meet in ACC showdown
Miami Gardens, FL (Sports Network) - The Duke Blue Devils will try to keep their bowl hopes alive this weekend, as they challenge the 21st-ranked Miami- Florida Hurricanes in an ACC clash at Land Shark Stadium.
Typically the doormat of the ACC, Duke has taken a step forward this season to removing that label. Last weekend, the Blue Devils had a chance to put themselves in position for the Coastal Division title, but instead were blasted, 49-10, by highly-ranked Georgia Tech, which clinched the division crown with the win.
"Today, was probably the first time we have seen Duke in quite some time not play very well in all three phases," said head coach David Cutcliffe.
"When that happens to us, athletically, we are not going to hold up." The loss was damaging in more ways than one, as Duke is no longer in the running for the ACC title game at 3-3 and it now must win its final two games to become bowl eligible. The Blue Devils, whose last bowl appearance was in 1994, is 5-5 overall and wraps up its regular-season campaign versus Wake Forest next weekend.
As for the Hurricanes, they too were in the hunt for the ACC Coastal Division crown, so they obviously were big Duke supporters last weekend. After learning it had no chance of the title, courtesy of the GT win, Miami took the field against North Carolina and suffered a 33-24 upset in Chapel Hill.
"It was a good game, we fought back and didn't quit, we kept going, but when you have four turnovers and two of those go for touchdowns it's going to be a long day," said head coach Randy Shannon.
The loss dropped the Hurricanes to 7-3 overall and 4-3 within the conference, and they can solidify their spot in a better bowl game by winning the remaining games on their schedule. Miami will conclude its regular-season with a bout against South Florida next weekend.
For the all-time series, Miami owns a 5-1 lead over Duke and it has won the last five encounters since the Blue Devils won the inaugural meeting, 20-7, in 1976.
Duke scored the game's first 10 points and then was blanked the rest of the way in a 49-10 setback to Georgia Tech over the weekend. The Blue Devils managed just 281 yards of total offense, including a mere 25 rushing in the setback.
"We didn't execute at the level we needed at to compete with those guys today," said quarterback Thaddeus Lewis.
Lewis finished the day 22-of-35 for 212 yards, with one pick and one touchdown. It was a mediocre performance from one of the ACC's most underrated quarterbacks, who has completed 62.1 percent of his pass attempts, with 16 scores against six picks on the season.
Duke's strength on offense is passing the ball, averaging 297.0 ypg through the air, and Lewis has done a good job spreading the wealth. Austin Kelly, Donovan Varner and Conner Vernon have each caught over 40 passes on the season and figure to be factors in this weekend's game.
Defensively, the Blue Devils were just manhandled by the GT offense, which rolled up 519 total yards and seven touchdowns. Duke was shredded for 306 yards and five scores on the ground as GT averaged 5.9 yards per carry.
"They are very good," said linebacker Vincent Rey." Offensively, they run their scheme was close to perfect, you have to play close to perfect defense. They were very sound." Teams continue to run that ball right at the Duke defense, which is allowing 155.9 ypg on the ground, compared to just 186.9 ypg through the air. If the defense can't stop the run, it means less time for the offense, which is the strength of this team.
Rey has done his best to slow down opposing ground attacks, as he leads the Blue Devils with 82 tackles. Leon Wright is a guy to keep a look out for in the secondary, as he has five picks to his credit this season.
Quarterback Jacory Harris had a rough one, to say the least, last weekend against UNC, as two of his four interceptions were returned for touchdowns, sending Miami to a 33-24 loss.
"Basically in a game like this you can't have four turnovers, and you can't have two touchdowns off those turnovers," said coach Shannon.
Despite the picks, Harris still rallied Miami within six points twice and finished the game with 319 yards and a score on 28-of-50 pass attempts. The interceptions, though, were just too much to overcome and Harris has now thrown 16 on the campaign. That is far too many for any quarterback, although he has done well to complete 60.7 percent of his pass attempts with 19 touchdowns.
Leonard Hankerson has been Harris' main outlet with 34 receptions for 609 yards and four scores on the season. He led the way with seven catches and 92 yards last weekend.
Tailback Graig Cooper also performed well last weekend, toting 15 times for 63 yards and a score, while grabbing seven passes for 37 yards. It was a balanced effort from Cooper, the team's leading rusher with 541 yards on the campaign.
Trailing 30-24 with just over seven minutes to play, Miami's defense desperately needed to come up with a stop. However, the unit was unable to come through, allowing UNC to put together an 11-play, 60-yard drive that spanned 5:18 and was capped with a game-clinching 33-yard field goal with 1:57 left.
It was a disappointing ending for the defense, which was only accountable for one touchdown scored by the UNC offense. The unit limited the Tar Heels to 329 total yards, although it forced no turnovers and had only one sack. Miami has done a good job on the season holding foes to just 327.7 total ypg, but it hasn't forced many turnovers, generating only 14 on the campaign.
Colin McCarthy, who had 13 stops last weekend, paces the defense with 77 tackles for the year, and Allen Bailey has provided a pass rush with seven sacks and 10.5 TFLs to his name.
11/18 11:08:43 ET
