Duke Football Loss Sparks 'Sadness, Anger, Confusion, Pride'

Manny Diaz's first Duke football squad no longer boasts an undefeated home record, but the Blue Devils didn't go down without a fight.

Duke football head coach Manny Diaz / Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images

Somehow, a 6-0 advantage in the turnover column failed to translate into a Duke football home win over the No. 22-ranked SMU Mustangs (7-1, 4-0 ACC) in Wallace Wade Stadium on Saturday night.

Although the Blue Devils (6-2, 2-2 ACC) exhibited their patented resiliency in climbing back from what grew to a 21-7 deficit late in the third quarter, they wound up with an undeniably deflating 28-27 overtime defeat.

Manny Diaz's upstart Blue Devils had a chance to take a 24-21 lead with under six minutes to play in the game. However, Todd Pelino was wide left on his 42-yard field goal attempt.

They saw another opening to seize control of the contest after Chandler Rivers put Duke in prime scoring position via his impressive interception at SMU's 39-yard line with just under four minutes remaining. Duke went three-and-out, though, on that drive.

A few minutes later, Ozzie Nicholas recovered a Mustangs fumble and returned it to within 14 yards of the endzone with 77 ticks remaining. Nevertheless, SMU's Jahfari Harvey leaped over Duke's line to block Pelino's 30-yard attempt as time expired in regulation.

After SMU quickly found paydirt in overtime, Duke countered on its first play. This time, the Blue Devils went for two in an attempt to prevent a second overtime, but Maalik Murphy's scrambling incompletion finalized the first home loss of Manny Diaz's debut season in Durham.

Here's what Diaz told the media in his opening statement afterward:

Manny Diaz's opening statement following Duke football home loss to SMU: pic.twitter.com/9F4WlSFQy4

— Matt Giles (@MattGilesBD) October 27, 2024

"An extraordinary contest — certainly one, for the neutral, would be very appealing. But for those guys in that locker room, it's a lot of emotions. It's sadness, anger, confusion. Whatever you can feel, they feel.

"And I think that's because there's another emotion. There's an immense pride to be a part of a team that will battle like our guys will. I'm proud to be their head football coach. I mean, the way they played in the second half — I think it was 5-0 in turnovers — you probably have to go back a long time before somebody won turnovers, 5-0, and lost a football game.

"But ultimately, it's about points off of turnovers and our inability to capitalize, and you have to give them credit. Those are two of the top three defenses in the ACC. And they made it difficult on us. So, we made some improvements. In some aspects of our game, we improved today. But ultimately, it was not enough to get the job done. And I think that's what was so harsh on our kids.

"But that's sports, right? I mean, you don't always get what you deserve, and you had a game where two teams were going back and forth, and ultimately, we ended up one play away."

Duke football has quite the bounceback opportunity in a road game versus No. 6 Miami (8-0, 4-0 ACC), Manny Diaz's only previous head coaching stop. Kickoff between the Blue Devils and Hurricanes is set for noon ET Saturday (ABC).

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