Jake Bobo: NC State's Goal-Line Stand "Sucked the Energy" Out of Duke
Wide receiver Jake Bobo led Duke with six catches for 62 yards and a touchdown, but he was unhappy after Duke’s 31-20 loss at NC State.
The Wolfpack defense made it difficult for the Duke offense to operate.
“They put a lot of pressure on our line and Chase (Brice) back there,” Bobo said. “Those three front guys are good. We knew that coming in. They got after us up front, and you’ve got to make them pay downfield. I feel like as a receiving group, we didn’t necessarily do that. If they’re going to bring pressure, we’ve got to make plays downfield. We had a couple opportunities, a couple shots, but we didn’t do that. Hopefully, we can get back to that this week in practice and do that two Saturdays from now.”
Despite the offensive struggles, Duke had the lead early in the second half and had the chance to go up by two touchdowns after getting inside the five yard line. The Blue Devils were stopped on fourth and goal at the one, however, turning the ball over on downs.
“It was a big play,” Bobo said. “It definitely sucked some of the energy out of the team, especially with them driving down and scoring. We’ve got to put those in the end zone, because that sucks the life out of your defense, especially the way they’ve been playing. They held their offense to 14 points at that point. You’ve got to put those in to obviously distance that lead, take a little pressure off our defense and off of Chase, too. We didn’t do that, so they go down and score, and the pressure is on. We’re pushing to make plays. Forcing to make plays has a big effect on the team.”
