Duke's perfect season came to an end on Saturday in Atlanta with the Blue Devils falling 28-25 to Georgia Tech for their first loss of the season.
It was a frustrating and heartbreaking defeat, with freshman kicker Gavin Strange missing a short field goal to tie the game with just a few seconds remaining. But Duke blew several opportunities before that, which would have rendered a game-tying field goal attempt moot.
This loss will sting for a while, but all the Blue Devils can do is learn from it and move on with a massive matchup vs. North Carolina on tap next week in Durham.
Let's examine the winners and losers from the three-point defeat.
Winner: Nate Sheppard
Credit Georgia Tech's defense for keying on the Duke running game and holding Nate Sheppard under 100 rushing yards for the first time this season. He managed 99 yards on 27 carries, but he still found a way to impact the game.
He added 91 receiving yards on seven receptions, and made a huge 42-yard catch-and-run in the fourth quarter on the drive that ended with Strange's missed field goal.
Even on an "off" night, and despite being less than 100%, Sheppard managed 190 total yards on 34 touches.
He's a special player.
Winner: Walker Eget
Duke didn't push the ball down the field enough in the passing game to force Georgia Tech to stop stacking the box, but Walker Eget was more than good enough for the Blue Devils to win this game. He did exactly what he has been asked to do: he managed the game effectively, and he took care of the football.
Eget put up 259 passing yards and a touchdown on 26-of-41 passing. Manny Diaz probably would have preferred not to have to throw the ball that much, but Eget made some plays and put Duke in a position to win the game.
He led a touchdown drive to put Duke ahead with under three minutes to go, and he led the Blue Devils down the field with a chance to win or tie the game with under a minute to play before Strange's missed kick.
That version of Eget is good enough to help Duke win a lot of games.
Winner: Luke Mergott
It wasn't a banner night for Duke's defense. They had a chance to win the game after the offense put them ahead 25-21 with 2:32 to play, but they couldn't get the stop they needed with the game on the line.
But I thought LB Luke Mergott played a strong game in the middle. He led Duke with seven tackles, a tackle-for-loss, and had a pass deflection.
Loser: Duke at the line of scrimmage
Against a 1-3 Georgia Tech team that had struggled up front on both sides of the ball, it appeared that Duke would have a significant advantage.
But that's why you play the games on the field and not on paper. Georgia Tech won the battle up front on both sides of the ball. The Yellow Jackets outrushed the Blue Devils 165-159. In particular, Duke's defense struggled to contain Trelain Maddox, who rushed for 81 yards on 10 attempts with three touchdowns.
Duke's offensive line struggled to get a push, particularly on the interior. The rushing yards Duke managed came thanks to Sheppard and CJ Campbell breaking loose on the outside.
Loser: Duke's pass rush
This goes hand-in-hand with the line of scrimmage, but it was disappointing to see Duke get zero pass rush on Georgia Tech. They didn't affect Alberto Mendoza, and the Yellow Jackets' QB put up 218 passing yards in the Jackets' win.
Duke didn't get a single sack on the afternoon. That reared its head on the final possession, as Mendoza picked Duke apart with time to throw and led Georgia Tech on a game-winning touchdown drive.
Loser: Duke's late game execution
You may be tempted to blame the freshman kicker for missing a short kick to tie the game, but Duke shouldn't have put him in that position. The late-game execution left a lot to be desired.
The Blue Devils allowed too easy a touchdown drive to give up the lead late, leaving Eget and the offense less than a minute to get in position to tie or win the game.
To their credit, they did it. Sheppard's 42-yard catch-and-run positioned Duke with a chance, with plenty of time on the clock. But Campbell's inability to get out of bounds on a checkdown on the next play cost Duke a lot of time and an entire down.
Diaz wanted to save his last timeout, so Duke rushed to the line and spiked the ball to bring up a 3rd-and-3. Eget threw an incomplete pass on the next play, and the Blue Devils were forced to try a field goal when they should have had another chance or two at getting into the endzone.
The margins are razor-thin week-to-week in the ACC, and Duke didn't execute well in the critical moments.
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