With fellow Coastal competitor Virginia Tech falling to Maryland, Miami faced a must-win game at Duke, hoping to take down an upstart Blue Devils team putting together a historic season. The Hurricanes were unable to do so, falling 48-30 to a Duke team that looks on track to play in the ACC title game.
Miami vs. Duke 2013 reactions and highlights: Blue Devils stun the ‘Canes in Durham
Miami fans are not happy after an all-important loss to the Blue Devils.
Duke had quarterback questions coming into the game, but Jim Sumner at Duke Basketball Report said head coach David Cutcliffe has shown an ability to utilize both of his signal callers.
Duke settled down and marched 75 yards for a touchdown, with Brandon Connette going in from 2 yards out.
Get used to that sentence.
There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth among the Duke fan base about the quarterback situation. But no worries. Anthony Boone got the start--he's still undefeated as a starter--but he and Connette switched roles seamlessly.
Jerry Steinberg at State of the U says the Hurricanes don’t look like a complete football team, and that the defense has been letting them down.
The defense in a word, is atrocious. You can argue if its players or coaches or a little of both, but something has gone horribly wrong. I know Florida was offensively challenged, but it sure seemed like at that point in the season Miami was at least hitting people and fighting off blocks. The few stops they got were mostly about Duke executing poorly for a play or two. No one made plays.
Miami jumped out to a 17-7 first quarter lead and looked to take advantage of the talent gap between the two schools.
From that point on, the game was all Blue Devils, as Anthony Boone moved the team down the field and Brandon Connette consistently punctuated drives with touchdowns. Boone finished the game 11 of 15 for 104 yards, while Connette had five total touchdowns, including four on the ground. The two-headed rushing attack of Josh Snead and Jela Duncan had 138 and 98 yards respectively, leading the Blue Devils down the field against the Miami defense.
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