Duke's Upset Bid Falls Short in Miami

The Duke Blue Devils had slim hopes of reaching the Atlantic Coast Conference title game for the second straight year. They needed to win out and get some help along the way. 

The first step? Beating Miami on Saturday on the road, a tough task for a Duke team that had a three-game win streak entering this game. But the result? Duke's upset bid fell short as Miami used a big second half push to earn the 36-25 win. 

With Duke on the road, they did a good job on defense in the first half. The offense outside of Nate Sheppard struggled a bit, but it was that stingy Blue Devils' defense that kept them in the game. 

Miami took the lead early with a field goal, grabbing the 3-0 advantage in the second quarter. Duke was able to match that, getting a field goal of their own on the following possession. And then they traded touchdowns, both by running backs.

Mark Fletcher ran four yards for a touchdown on Miami's next drive and it was answered quickly by Sheppard's 47-yard score. Both backs had multiple rushing touchdowns on the day, powering their offenses. 

A late Miami field goal in the first half gave them a 13-10 advantage at the break. And the second half was the Hurricanes' surge. 

Miami got a field goal top open up the third quarter and then Darian Mensah hit Javian Mallory for a 63-yard touchdown to give them a 22-10 lead. But it was Sheppard's turn to respond.

The Heisman dark horse had a few big plays on the next drive, including capping it off with a five-yard score to cut the lead to 22-17.

But Mallory found the end zone two more times in the fourth quarter, one from two-yards out and one from 39-yards out to all but seal it for the Hurricanes. Duke did find the end zone one more time with under a minute left but in the end, their efforts fell short.

It was another strong day for Sheppard, rushing for 131 yards and three touchdowns while also catching 12 passes for 93 yards. He put up double what the Hurricanes' run defense had allowed per game going into this one this season. Miami's offense overall was too much for Duke, racking up 532 total yards and picking up multiple third down conversions in that second half. 

Duke is now 7-3 overall and 4-3 in the ACC this season. They will host Clemson on Friday night in Week 13.