Duke can’t finish No. 22 SMU, slides to 2-2 in ACC

DURHAM — Duke’s run of come-from-behind finishes — most memorably against North Carolina — came to an end Saturday night at Wallace Wade Stadium.

Facing No. 22-ranked SMU, an offensive powerhouse and the first ranked team the Blue Devils have faced this season, the game figured to be Duke’s toughest match-up so far. Yet, there were the Blue Devils, going for the almost certain win as Todd Pelino lined up a 30-yard field goal attempt with three seconds left in a 21-21 game.

But the Mustang’s Jahfari Harvey hurdled Duke’s line to block the kick and send the game into overtime.

After matching SMU’s OT touchdown with a 25-yard touchdown pass from Maalik Murphy to Eli Pancol, the Blue Devils went for the two-point conversion and the win. But Pancol couldn’t reach Murphy’s pass in the end zone and the Mustangs survived, 28-27.

“If you’ve got a chance to win the game in the bottom of the first inning, to me, you do it,” Duke head coach Manny Diaz explained. “We liked the play we had. We thought we had a chance to get it and were just a couple inches away.”

Critical to the loss was the inability of Duke’s offense to take advantage of the six takeaways its defense created. The Devils recovered three of the six fumbles it forced and intercepted three SMU passes — but could not put any points on the scoreboard from these gifts.

Ironically, the Mustangs are plus-53 in points off turnovers, leading the nation.

With the result, Duke falls to 6-2, 2-2 in the ACC, while SMU improves to 7-1, 4-0 ACC.

On paper, it was not a game Duke was favored to win.

SMU had averaged 45.5 points per game during its four-game winning streak. The Devils hadn’t scored more than 23 against a conference foe (and still haven’t).

The Mustangs are a run-first team and Duke came into the game as only the 15th-rated ACC defense against the run in conference games. Meanwhile, SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings leads the ACC in passing efficiency.

For a change, Duke moved the ball smartly from the start and, on its second possession, Murphy found Que’sean Brown beating his man down the sideline for a 43-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead.

Murphy, often the culprit in Duke’s sluggish early offense, completed 9-of-13 passes for 123 yards in the first quarter. Moreover, the redshirt sophomore quarterback was crucial in the Devils’ second half comeback.

Trailing 21-7, Murphy engineered a 75-yard scoring drive, completing an 18-yard pass to Jordan Moore on third and 10 and then finding Moore in the end zone for a 12-yard TD — although Pelino shanked the point after try, the first PAT miss of his career after 81 straight makes.

After stopping SMU on its next possession, Murphy’s completions kept the drive alive until Star Thomas scored from the 1. Then Murphy found Pancol in the end zone for the two-point conversion and the game was tied 21-all with 9:02 to play.

The Mustangs showed off their offensive might early by marching down the field on their first possession, only to be stopped by a fumble on the quarterback exchange at Duke’s 4-yard line. On its third possession, SMU drove 75 yards and Brashard Smith — who totaled 117 rushing yards — leaned over from the 1 to tie the game 7-7 early in the second quarter

Then SMU again moved the ball downfield and when Jennings recovered his own fumble in the end zone after a three-yard run, the Mustangs grabbed a 14-7 halftime lead. The margin could have been worse but for back-to-back SMU giveaways as Cameron Bergeron intercepted a Jennings pass and Tre Freeman recovered a fumble on SMU’s first play of its next possession.

The Mustangs continued their offensive dominance in the third quarter with Jennings’ 72-yard completion to Roderick Daniel. But in a classic goal-line stand, Duke stopped SMU four times from its own 1-yard line to take over on downs.

The momentum was short lived as Daniels scored on an 81-yard pass from Jennings and the Mustangs pushed their lead to 21-7 with under five minutes to play in the third quarter.

After Duke tied the game, it forced three more giveaways without turning the turnovers into points.

Freeman intercepted a Jennings pass and returned it to SMU’s 37-yard line, but Duke could not move the ball and Pelino’s 42-yard field goal attempt was wide left. Then Chandler Rivers’ diving interception gave Duke the ball at the SMU 39. But once again the Blue Devils failed to click and were forced to punt

Duke pulled one more rabbit to pull out of its hat, forcing another Jennings fumble, recovered by Ozzie Nicholas on the bounce and returned it 21 yards to the SMU 14, setting up Pelino’s last-second field goal attempt.

Murphy led Duke’s offense by completing 27-of-48 passes for 295 yards and three touchdowns, with Pancol catching 13 passes for 113 yards.

The road doesn’t get any easier next week as Duke travels to face sixth-ranked and undefeated Miami.

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