4 | MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2011
THE CHRONICLE
KEY NUMBERS
3 MISSED FIELD GOALS Will Snyderwine missed 28and 45-yarders and Jeffrey Ijjas shanked a 51-yarder to cost the Blue Devils. In the second half, Duke went for it twice in the red zone instead of attempting more field goals.
6 STANFORD SACKS The Cardinal defensive line generated enormous pressure on Sean Renfree, including two sacks in three plays which turned momentum away from Duke after its onside kick recovery in the first half.
DAN SCHEIRER II/THE CHRONICLE
FOOTBALL from news page 1 The scoreboard read 44-14. The box score showed the opponent dominated every phase of the game. But after the Blue Devils walked off the field after losing to No. 6 Stanford, they were still haunted by what could have been. “We should’ve won this game,” running back Juwan Thompson said. Duke (0-2) certainly had its chances-—were it not for missed field goals, a dropped pass and a shanked punt, the Blue Devils very easily could have been leading at half time. Instead, they found themselves down by 10, a lead that the Cardinal (2-0) quickly expanded into a blowout early in the second half. “We drove down and missed three field goals. We got in the red zone countless amount of times, and we just didn’t take those opportunities. Our defense did their job, but they just got tired because they were out there so long, and we didn’t do our job,” Thompson said. Stanford quarterback and Heisman Trophy front-runner Andrew Luck showed the Cardinal offensive chops early, as the quarterback engineered a nine play, 85-yard touchdown drive
QUOTE OF THE GAME
“We should have won this game.” —Duke running back Juwan Thompson
in under five minutes that included an early 43-yard flea-flicker. Duke responded, though, with a 70-yard drive of their own, though it stalled in the red zone. The Blue Devils could not muster even three points, as preseason second team AllAmerican kicker Will Snyderwine missed a 27-yard attempt just a week after he missed a potential game winner of the same length against Richmond. Snyderwine later missed a 44-yard field goal, putting him at 0-for-4 on the season—this after a 21-for-24 performance last year. Snyderwine later left the game after injuring his foot on an onside kick. “I walked out there confident that I was going to make it,” Snyderwine said of his first attempt. “I ran through my normal reminders, and I just hooked it. It just happens.” Behind a stellar early performance from their defense, though, the Blue Devils were able to remain within two possessions of
Stanford for the rest of the first half. The defensive effort was largely thanks to Duke’s ability to pressure Luck after that first possession, led by nose tackle Charlie Hatcher and two sacks by Kenny Anunike. And with the offense failing to make a dent on the scoreboard, it was the Blue Devil defense that finally broke through with a big play. Senior cornerback Johnny Williams deflected a Luck pass right into the hands of Lee Butler, and the senior scampered 76 yards and emphatically dove into the endzone for a touchdown. “The ball was just tipped up in the air, and I caught it and took off running,” Butler said. “It was a great time... because we thought we were going to turn it into a ball game.” After an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Stanford allowed Duke to kick from the 45-yard line, head coach David Cutcliffe did his best to turn it into a ball game with a surprise onside kick. Snyderwine executed and the Blue Devils recovered, but quickly went three-and-out after quarterback Sean Renfree was sacked twice. Duke could have easily gone into the locker room down only 10-7, but Alex King pushed his punt to the right and gave the Cardinal possession at their own 41. Luck drove Stanford those 59 yards in just 43 sec-
6.8 YARDS PER CARRY 5-foot-11, 208-lb running back Stepfan Taylor led the Cardinal with 75 yards on 14 carries, helping open up the passing game for Andrew Luck. JAMES LEE/THE CHRONICLE PHOTOS BY DAN SCHEIRER II AND JAMES LEE/THE CHRONICLE