What Has Been Duke’s Greatest Strength did not Show Up on a Night Where the Devils Needed it the Most.

In what was viewed as an ACC title play-in game, everything that could go wrong for the Devils did. They needed to come in with the some offensive fire power that they've had most of the year and they needed to show even the slightest shred of defense. Neither of those things really happened.

Duke's defense actually got some pressure on Chandler Morris the first two plays of the game then reverted back to "Duke defense". After being touchdownless in the loss against Wake Forest, last week, the Hoos marched it up the field on 14 plays to get into the end zone on the opening drive.

Virginia's defense put a lot of pressure on Darian Mensah the first couple drives of the game for Duke which made it difficult for them to respond.

The Hoos were able to completely neutralize the Darian Mensah air attack that we're used to seeing.

Even after Duke intercepted Chandler Morris in the first half, that burst of energy was short-lived after the Devils couldn’t muster anything up on the other side of the ball.

Duke also had a difficult time tonight stopping Virginia on third down. The Cavs were 12-19 on third down conversion.

Duke couldn't afford to come in to tonight and have their offense be just as bad as their defense has been and through much of this game that's exactly what you got.

Things didn't really improve much in the second half. The Hoos got into the end zone twice in the third quarter, the second time coming after Virginia got the ball back on a Darian Mensah fumble in the red zone. 

Duke got a couple of garbage time scores in the fourth when the game was already out of reach and many fans had already filed out of Wallace Wade Stadium.

Just like that, Duke's ACC title hopes are gone. It continues a frustrating theme for the Blue Devils this year where in moments that they could stamp their card as one of those "legit" teams, the fall flat.

The Devils now gear up for a meeting in Chapel Hill, next week, against Bill Belichick and the Tar Heels before returning home for the season and home finale with Wake Forest.