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Jackets humble Blue Devils
Georgia Tech shuts down Duke offense, cruises to 27-0 win
AP Photo
Demaryius Thomas had 230 yards receiving, the second-highest total in Georgia Tech history.
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Published: October 5, 2008
ATLANTA - There was nothing that superb conditioning or expert coaching could have done to help Duke yesterday.
The Blue Devils (3-2, 1-1) were thumped by the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 27-0 in an ACC game at Bobby Dodd Stadium. Duke got 35 yards rushing, 97 yards passing and had no chance on offense.
The game was supposed to be a measuring stick for the Blue Devils, who had surprised many with a 3-1 record under first-year Coach David Cutcliffe. Instead, Cutcliffe had to call it a "humiliating" defeat.
"Obviously we failed the test on the field to a great degree," Cutcliffe said.
Quarterback Thaddeus Lewis, who was second in the ACC in total offense and passing yards, had a below-average day, completing just 15 of 28 passes for 97 yards and an interception.
The Blue Devils were also carved up by the runs of running back Jonathan Dwyer of the Yellow jackets, who rushed for a career-high 159 yards.
The Yellow Jackets played without starting quarterback Josh Nesbitt, who is injured. But freshman backup Jaybo Shaw played well enough, with nine completions in 14 attempts for 230 yards. All nine of Shaw's completions were to wide receiver Demaryius Thomas.
The Blue Devils will have a week off before they play Miami on Oct. 18.
"I feel like we will learn a lot more about ourselves when we go back out to practice and see if everybody comes back prepared, and just as hungry now that we got beat pretty soundly," said Eron Riley, a senior wide receiver.
The off week should help Duke recover from key injuries to defensive end Wesley Oglesby and cornerback Leon Wright. Both left the game with sore hamstrings.
Duke had difficulty on offense because it ran into one bad situation after another on third down. It couldn't accomplish anything on first down to stay out of obvious passing situations, gaining just 19 yards on first downs in its first seven possessions.
The Blue Devils came into the game tied for first in the ACC in third-down conversions (47.8), but they converted just 2 of 12 third downs yesterday.
Cutcliffe had his offense come out with two running plays to start the third quarter, a quick hitter off right tackle and a draw play, to try to slow Georgia Tech's aggressive front and stay out of an obvious passing down.
The Blue Devils got 5 yards with the two plays and were in a manageable third-and-5. But on the third-down play, blown protection resulted in a sack, a loss of 8 yards and any momentum.
Duke had to punt, and the modest kick gave Georgia Tech good field position on its 43-yard line. Georgia Tech went 57 yards for the score and a 10-0 lead.
The key play in the drive was a pass-interference call against 5-11 cornerback Jabari Marshall, who was defending Georgia Tech's 6-3 Thomas. Marshall had to line up on the inside of Thomas so he could be position to help with the run. Thomas released outside and had position down the right sideline when the ball was thrown by Shaw.
The interference call gave Georgia Tech a first down on the Duke 13 and Georgia Tech scored in three plays.
Georgia Tech was ahead 17-0 in the fourth quarter when it blew the game open with an 88-yard touchdown pass from Shaw to Thomas. Duke safety Catron Gainey, who had help over the top for the cornerback, fell down as Thomas jogged in for the touchdown.
Duke couldn't answer anything that Georgia Tech did because it couldn't deal with Georgia Tech's defensive line of ends Derrick Morgan and Michael Johnson and tackles Vance Walker and Darryl Richard.
"We just couldn't block them, we didn't have an answer for those ends," Cutcliffe said. "They moved them around a bunch, gave us some fronts that we hadn't seen."
"We took a lump, it's a bump in the road, it doesn't mean that we're worried about anybody thinking about going into the old mode or anything like that," said middle linebacker Michael Tauiliili.
Duke 0 0 0 0 -- 0
Georgia Tech 0 3 7 17 -- 27
Second Quarter
GaT--FG Blair 20, 5:29.
Third Quarter
GaT--Jones 4 run (Blair kick), 3:59.
Fourth Quarter
GaT--Shaw 2 run (Blair kick), 14:56.
GaT--Thomas 88 pass from Shaw (Blair kick), 9:11.
GaT--FG Blair 26, :54.
A--46,104.
TEAM STATISTICS
Duke GaT
First downs 9 21
Rushes-yards 20-35 59-224
Passing 97 230
Comp-Att-Int 15-29-1 9-14-0
Return Yards 15 28
Punts-Avg. 8-39.3 3-38.3
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 4-1
Penalties-Yards 3-45 5-40
Time of Possession 21:14 38:46
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Duke, Harris 5-22, Hollingsworth 6-12, Jackson 4-11, Lewis 5-(minus 10). Georgia Tech, Dwyer 23-159, Jones 10-26, G.Smith 3-14, Shaw 18-13, Peeples 2-6, Cox 1-3, La.Walls 1-2, Booker 1-1.
PASSING--Duke, Lewis 15-28-1-97, Z.Asack 0-1-0-0. Georgia Tech, Shaw 9-14-0-230.
RECEIVING--Duke, Riley 5-20, J.Williams 2-25, Harris 2-12, Hollingsworth 2-9, Kelly 1-20, Bell 1-6, T.Robinson 1-6, Varner 1-(minus 1). Georgia Tech, Thomas 9-230.
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