Duke’s Near Upset Fails, Loses 20th Straight Game Versus Florida State

Durham, NC – Wallace Wade Stadium was field with a sea of burgundy and blue, as the Duke Blue Devils looked to make history by winning their first game against three-time National Champions, Florida State, but came up short in a 17-10 defeat.

The loss was Duke’s 20th-consecutive loss against the Tallahassee-based school to bring the all-time match-up record to a slightly lopsided 20-0. The two schools first started playing each other in 1992.

In the first quarter, the Blue Devils were scoreless, while Florida State quarterback, James Blackman threw for 20-yards to connect with Auden Tate for a Seminoles touchdown along with a good Ricky Aguayo field goal.

Since starting, Blackman has thrown a touchdown consecutively. Quarterback, Daniel Jones was not able to convert in the second quarter, the Blue Devils were forced to kick an Austin Parker field goal which put the Blue Devils on the board. The Devils were only getting started. Blackman threw an interception on the Duke 15-yard line to Mark Gilbert. Beginning to illuminate confidence, Daniel Jones handed off the ball to running back, Shaun Wilson, who threw the ball, intending to get into the hands of a Blue Devil, but was intercepted by Emmett Rice at the Florida State 14-yard line.

By third quarter, Duke was knocking on the door to tie the game. If Duke were to win the game, they would be making HISTORY! Florida State has beaten Duke every time since first playing them in 1992.

Daniel Jones threw a MONSTER 57-yard throw to wide receiver, T.J Rahming Jr who went out of bounds at the Seminoles 25-yard line.

This played helped the Devils finally get on the board with the help of running back Brittian Brown with a nine-yard touchdown run (his third touchdown of the season), tying the game 10-10. Continue to STILL take this into consideration: Duke has lost every game against Florida State. If they were to win the game, they would’ve made history.

Just when James Blackman and gang were in field goal range, Blackman threw an interception to Jeremy McDuffie (third of the season), where he ran to return the ball for 19 yards. As McDuffie was tripped up, he was brought down and hit by two Seminoles, which caused a flag to be thrown for targeting. The play was reviewed and the flag was picked up. Boos were heard all around the stadium along with a lot of confusion from the press box. Head coach David Cutliffe was asked what he thought about the play. “It’s very difficult to get a call on a ball carrier. It’s so judgmental – I don’t know how they do it. I don’t think there was any intent to hurt our player, he was trying to get him tackled.” The Blue Devils continued to struggle, as they were forced to punt.

Going into the fourth, the Blue Devils defense were out ran. Literally. James Blackman handed off to Cam Akers who ran for 42-yards into the end zone, giving the Seminoles the 17-10 lead and relieving the Blue Devils of any remaining type of hope.

With only eight minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Blue Devils defense what they could to keep the offense off the field and they did JUST that. With Duke’s defense, the Seminoles were forced into a three and out situation.

With 1:32 left in the fourth, Daniel Jones had field position. Back to back, Jones was able to link with both T.J Rahming Jr (17 yards) and Johnathan Lloyd (2) who pushed them into Seminoles territory. These were the last two connections of the game. On second and eight, Jones threw to Chris Taylor, Daniel Helm and T.J Rahming who were all unable to complete the pass, giving the Blue Devils their third loss of the season or continuing to be a statistic with a 17-10 loss.

Although the ACC team lost, some Blue Devils were content with the team’s effort like running back T.J Rahming Jr. “We fought hard and our last drive was a good drive… We just couldn’t finish.”

This is the closest that Duke has come to beating Florida State, but not quite. The Blue Devils will meet the Pittsburgh Panthers at home in Wallace Wade Stadium at 12:20 next Saturday.

(Photo courtesy of Duke Athletics)