The SMU Mustangs and Duke Blue Devils went toe-to-toe in a game that could could have gone any way. It was so close you can pinpoint a handful of plays that could have produced a different outcome.
SMU looked poised to walk away with a late when once kicker Collin Rogers drilled a long field goal to put the Mustangs ahead 34-31.
Working with just 29 seconds left, Duke connected on a deep pass down the middle and would be able to even the game and send it to overtime.
In overtime, a Preston Stone pass into the end zone was intercepted and it looked like the game was over. However, Duke would go for the win with a field goal on first down and send it wide right and the teams would play on.
On the following overtime possession Duke scored quick on a pass to the running back. SMU would string some plays together and get near the goal line but were unable to get in and were forced to try a fourth down attempt to extend the game.
QB Preston Stone, who was shaky from the two interceptions, decided to tuck and run up the middle where his feet were cut out from under him and he would come crashing down at the one yard line to give Duke the hard fought ACC victory.
SMU now falls to 6-3 (4-1) on the year and fall into a log jam in the ACC standings.
Coach Shiesty and the Duke Blue Devils traveled to Dallas to take on SMU over the weekend. These two coaches, coach Block and coach Shiesty have a little history both having coached teams in the CUSA last season. Blocks Jax State team walked FIU off with a pick 6 in OT to win their only meeting to this point. A meeting between a well coached SMU team sitting atop the ACC and a Duke team trying to stay relevant in the conference race ended up making for a great game.
As expected, both of these teams showed up for this one and we got a barn burner out of it. These two offenses spent the first half going tit for tat. SMUs running game broke Duke off quick in the first to take a 7-3 lead. Duke QB Maalik Murphy got the Blue Devils down the field to follow up with a TD of their own.
Duke held a 24-14 lead with 30 seconds left in the half and the ball, trying to extend the lead before halftime. Maalik Murphy tries to force a ball to a receiver on the sideline only to have the ball intercepted and returned for an 88 yard pick 6, cutting the Duke lead down to 3 going into the half.
Not much offense to speak of in the 3rd quarter as SMU puts 3 on the board to tie the game going into the 4th quarter. SMU opens up the 4th with an impressive drive and Preston Stone gets them in the endzone to take a 7 point lead. Maalik Murphy wont be outdone, answering back with a 43 yard dart to Jordan Moore to tie the game at 31. SMU goes on a clock grinding drive looking to seal the win with a FG. They convert multiple 3rd downs on the drive and kill over 3 minutes of clock. Drilling a FG with only 26 seconds left in the game and Duke without timeouts, the game looks all but over for the Blue Devils. Not so fast! Maalik Murphy connects deep down the middle of the field, follows it up with a 7 yard scamper out of bounds and gives Duke one last shot with 3 seconds on the clock. Pelino drills the 45 yarder to send this already great game into OT.
Remember we mentioned how coach Block defeated coach Shiesty last season? Well, Dukes defense comes up huge and looked like they were about to return the favor to their coach as corner Joshua Pickett picks off Stone in the endzone and takes off down the sideline. Hes pushed out of bounds at the 32 yard line. Now all Duke needs is a FG to win the game. Simple right? Not quite. After nailing multiple clutch FGs in this game Pelino pushes his game winning FG wide right to send this game to double OT. Duke puts 7 on the board on the first play with a pass to Quran Boyd. SMU gets down to the 3 yard line and the Blue Devil defense stands strong giving the Mustang offense one last shot on 4th down. Preston Stone calls his own number and takes off up the middle only to be met by the MLB spying him. He falls short at the 1 and Duke walks away with the upset.
One for the books and coach Shiesty gets his get back against coach Block in another overtime thriller. The ACC race just got more interesting and is really up for grabs at this rate.
GG Block
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