Duke - Syracuse Football: Gameday Open Thread
Duke and Syracuse square off in a game both teams desperately need to turn around disappointing seasons.
Syracuse (3-6, 0-5 ACC) has lost four straight, is winless in the ACC and needs to win out to have a shot at a bowl.
The Blue Devils (4-5, 2-3 ACC) have lost three straight and need to win two of their final three to become bowl eligible, although Duke coach David Cutcliffe doesn’t want to hear his team talking about the bowl picture, saying if anyone is thinking about a bowl, “they won’t be in my locker room.”
The weather could be a factor as Syracuse brought down its Northeast chill for the contest. It’s expected to be 48 at kickoff, dropping into the low 40s by the end of the game, cloudy and dismal with a heavy wind.
That’s bad news for a Duke offense that has been struggling. Cutcliffe said he isn’t defeated, but he’s also not happy as the offense has been unable to move the ball consistently. The team benchmark is to gain four or more yards on 60 percent of their plays, but this season Duke is doing it a little over 40 percent of the time.
Cutcliffe also wants the team to be better on third downs, saying that the Blue Devil offense needs to be able to stay on the field, but the team’s conversion rate on possession downs has fallen each of the last four games.
The Belk Bowl is scheduled to have a scout in attendance for the game, as are the NFL's San Francisco 49ers.
Fashion update: Duke is going with black jerseys, white pants, white script Duke helmets. Many of the players out for warmups have on blue long sleeve shirts under the black jerseys which makes for an odd combination.
Syracuse going with white jerseys, orange pants and helmets.
Look for some interesting decisions on fourth downs. Anything farther out than about 32 yards is giving kickers trouble in warmups, especially in the open end of the field. Wind is blowing hard.
Coin toss: Syracuse calls tails. It's heads. Duke wants the ball. They'll be going toward the closed end of the stadium. Let's do this
First quarter
Five of Duke's first six plays went for at least four yards. Blue Devils have had no gain on last two, however, putting them just over the 60 percent benchmark.
Duke drive stalls. Reed tries a 44-yard field goal and (like everything in pregame) it was wide left. Still scoreless, 11:12 to go in first.
Syracuse's second snap is a 50-yard pass to Trishton Jackson. Orange is in the red zone.
And Devito to Jackson for an 18-yard touchdown. Syracuse up 7-0 9:36 to go. Duke defense just got shredded on that drive.
Rak Chambers completely misses a blitzing Trill Williams, who hits Harris for a six-yard sack. Another drive stalls. Duke 7-of-16 on four-yard plays, 1 of 3 on third down. So no significant change to the two areas where they've been struggling.
Moe Neal with a 33-yard rush on second snap of second drive. Duke's defense just looks spent right now.
Syracuse converts a fourth-and-one to keep its drive going at the Duke 31.
A false start moves it back to the 36, and then Neal takes it 35 yards to the one. They're reviewing to see if he hit the pylon before touching out of bounds.
Ruling stands. Devito keeps for a touchdown. 14-0 Cuse 3:37 left in the first. Duke's bowl hopes growing dimmer and dimmer.
Touchdown run was an option. Dimukeje was the only person over there, looked like he was responsible for ball carrier and pitch man. Had no chance.
Another sack blows up another Duke drive. LT Casey Holman is down.
They're bringing the stretcher and cart out for Holman.
After a long delay, Holman is on the stretcher. Entire team surrounds him at midfield. They wheel him off on a stretcher. Cart drives off empty.
Second line drive punt in a row by Parker. Seems to be a strategy, not a miscue.
Duke gets a third down sack on Devito as time expires. After one, it's 14-0 Syracuse
Second quarter
Jaylen Miller in at left tackle for Duke in place of Holman. Drive stalls. Duke lines up for a long field goal, then gets flagged for illegal substitution. They'll punt now.
This was Duke's best chance of getting a win in the last three games and certainly the only game the Blue Devils were favored in. Team is experiencing a shutdown in all three phases right now. Stadium is empty. Offense is frozen. Defense is getting lit up. Special teams making crucial mistakes.
To recap the offense benchmarks. Duke wanted 60 percent of plays to go for 4+ yards. They haven't done that on any drive yet this game, let along for the game. And they've gotten progressively worse each time they had the ball.
| Plays | 4+ yards<br> |
|---|---|
9 | 5 |
7 | 4 |
7 | 3 |
9 | 3 |
Duke also wanted to do well on possession downs (third and fourth). So far 2-of-6 on those.
Duke converts a fourth-and-one in the red zone. New set of downs at the 14.
Duke loses 3, then Harris throws behind Young, then Harris throws a four-yard completion on third and 13. Duke kicks a 31-yard field goal to trim the Syracuse lead to 14-3. 6:14 left in the half.
Scott Bracey makes a catch for first down and got hit in the face by Andre Cisco's arm. He was down and Cisco got flagged for targeting.
All kinds of bad news for Duke on the review. Not only did they take away the targeting on Cisco. They also decided that Bracey didn't make the catch. And Harris gets sacked on the ensuing third down.
Punting from its own 19, Duke has a false start. Parker now standing in the end zone to punt.
Parker flips the field with a 72-yard punt.
Reed hits a 51-yard field goal with 22 seconds left in the half to cut the lead to 14-6. For everything that's gone wrong for Duke in the half, they're beyond fortunate to be one score down. Big missed opportunity for Syracuse.
Syracuse takes a knee and we hit the half with Syracuse up 14-6.
Third quarter
Harris' pass is tipped, and Cisco, whose ejection for targeting was overturned in the second quarter, picks it off and returns it 48 yards for a score. 21-6 Syracuse, 12:48 left in third, and all the positive momentum Duke may have had by pulling to within one score is gone, just that quickly.
Jake Bobo has the ball bounce off his hands and it's intercepted. Duke just imploding to start this half.
Duke caught guessing on misdirection and Syracuse goes up the sideline for a 22-yard touchdown to Luke Benson. That after Moe Neal goes over 100 yards on just his 13th carry. It's 28-6 Syracuse, 7:54 to go in the third.
Duke reprises the first quarter of the Pitt game, turning it over on three straight drives. This one is a Mataeo Durant fumble where all the Blue Devils seemed to just stand around and watch Syracuse run in and pick it up.
This one might come back though, Durant's knee might have been down.
Ruling stands. Syracuse is set up in the red zone. 1st and 10 Duke 15.
Syracuse rushes it in. 35-6 with 4:35 to play in the third.
Earlier this week, Duke defensive lineman Tre Hornbuckle said he remembered Duke missing a bowl his freshman year. He didn't like the feeling. Then he added, "Granted, it was nice to go home and be with my mom for Christmas and all that."
Duke playing today like a lot of players on the roster feel that way.
Time for a beat writer (and other media) round up!
That's a wrap. Syracuse with a 49-6 win to send Duke to 4-6 on the year.
