The Duke defense that had been stellar in it’s opening two wins was hit hard by the Georgia Tech offense and sophomore quarterback Vad Lee.
Lee threw four touchdown passes,half of his total completions. He finished 8 for 16 for 125 yards threw the air and added one more touchdown and 76 yards on the ground, accounting for all of the Yellow Jackets’ points except an early first quarter field goal in Georgia Tech’s 38-14 win.
A homecoming for Vad Lee, and former Duke head coach Ted Roof, now the defensive coordinator for Georgia Tech. Both would have a good return to Durham. Duke scored on their second possession, as they easily marched down the field and Jela Duncan scored on a 1 yd touch down run. That was the end of easy for the Blue Devils who didn’t score again until the 4th quarter.
Duke was held to 254 total yards meanwhile Georgia tech racked up 469 with 344 on the ground. Duke had chances, but not many as the slow moving and methodical offense dominated time of possession as the Yellow Jackets had the ball for nearly two thirds of the game.
Duke could not get anything going on offense large in part to a failure to convert on third downs. In a critical point in the first half they were stopped deep in Tech territory on a 4th and 1 trailing just 10-7 at that point. Jela Duncan lead the ground game for Duke with 89 yds on 16 carries. Brandon Connette threw for just 122 yards, but added only 15 on the ground.
Overall it was a game that can’t be too soon forgotten, but one that Duke will hopefully use to get better. Without quarterback Anthony Boone the offense will take a few steps back, and Connette has to develop into the every down quarterback for Duke to compete for the remainder of the season.
But that is something that the Duke coaches and players all feel will happen with time.
