The Duke football program once again missed out on a prime opportunity to make a statement, as it fell to No. 12 Georgia Tech at home, 27-18. It was a tale of two halves for the Blue Devils, as they kept the Yellow Jackets' offense in check through the entirety of the first half. Coming off a three-game win streak where Duke outscored its opponents 128-57 and averaged nearly 43 points per game, it was completely shut down in the second half by Georgia Tech's stellar defense. The Blue Devils now fall to 3-1 in conference play, with hopes of bringing the first ACC Championship to Durham since 1989 slipping away. The ACC is still very wide open after Louisville took down No. 2 Miami, but Duke has struck out for the second time with an opportunity to earn a major win at home.
Duke football offense goes silent as Blue Devils fall to No. 12 Georgia Tech at Wallace Wade Stadium
Duke entered the matchup against the Yellow Jackets riding a high wave of momentum with a three-game win streak before its bye week. Darian Mensah had looked like one of the top quarterbacks in the nation over the last few weeks, but any rhythm seemed to go out the window in the second half.
“It felt like a tale of two games. I'll even say two halves,” Duke head coach Manny Diaz said. “To play two and a half quarters and be as dominant as we were … at some point, [the Yellow Jackets] were going to have a response, and when they made a response, they were able to capitalize on their red zone efficiency in a way that we didn't.”
The Blue Devils entered the halftime locker room tied 7-7. The Yellow Jackets' only score came via a 95-yard fumble return touchdown off of Mensah. After three straight turnover-free games for Duke's signal caller, Mensah coughed up a costly fumble that would prove to pay dividends.
It was a similar makeup to Duke's 45-19 loss early in the season to Illinois, as the Blue Devils coughed up five turnovers that turned into 21 Illini points.
Duke totaled 238 yards of offense in the first half and seemed to have some sort of rhythm heading into the locker room. However, the Blue Devils were held to just 116 through the majority of the second half.
Now 4-3 overall, Duke has now let another marquee opportunity slip away, and with that could be the end of the program's conference title hopes.