bstrickland@heraldsun.com; 419-6671
DURHAM -- The largest crowd since the 2001 season jammed into Wallace Wade Stadium on Saturday night to watch what it may have assumed would be an encouraging start to a promising season for Duke.
Unfortunately for Duke, it looked a little bit too much like the winless season of 2001.
Nearly as many Richmond fans remained as Duke fans at the final whistle, as the Spiders did it to the Blue Devils again, claiming a 24-16 win.
Duke fell to 9-2 in its history against Football Championship Subdivision opponents, with both losses coming at the hands of Richmond since 2006.
"It's very disappointing, especially being your home opener in front of your fans," Duke quarterback Thad Lewis said. "It doesn't have a thing to do with their division. A lot of their guys could play on this level.
"You just don't want to lose, period."
Duke coach David Cutcliffe, while careful to credit the reigning FCS champion Spiders, said his Blue Devils lost mainly because they weren't the same team he coached throughout the preseason, the team he had trumpeted as the one to end the school's bowl drought that dates to 1994.
"We were not ever, ever at a level that I have seen us practice at this entire camp," Cutcliffe said. "Our week this week was as good as I've been around -- our preparation, our execution, our understanding of the game plan.
"But it never existed tonight. It never existed out of the tunnel, and it didn't come back in the second half. You saw a football team running hot and cold the entire night, and that is an indication that you're not playing at your absolute best."
Beyond the Blue Devils' intensity level, Cutcliffe had plenty of practical areas to bemoan. Lewis hit on 34 of 55 passes for 350 yards and a pair of touchdowns, but he was on the run against Richmond's hard-charging line all night. Plus the Blue Devils couldn't run the ball, finishing with just 19 yards.
The Duke defense arguably ran more hot than cold, but two long drives by the Spiders were too much to overcome, especially given what happened on special teams.
The kicking game shined in Cutcliffe's first season, but Nick Maggio missed two field goals after missing just three all of last season, and punter Kevin Jones had his first punt blocked after having one blocked all of last season.
That play set the tone and put Duke into catch-up mode for the rest of the night. After Duke's first drive, Richmond's Tyler Kirchoff came through the line untouched and easily blocked the punt, which teammate Jonathan Mayfield scooped up at the 5-yard line for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
"Your first punt of the year? Good gosh," Cutcliffe said. "Since we've been together as a staff, we've put a bunch of time into the kicking game and we're good in that area.
"We miss two field goals and get a punt blocked? That's enough to get you beat."
Richmond made a mistake in the punting game soon after, sailing a snap out of the back of the end zone for a safety that made it 7-2. Maggio missed a 38-yard field goal on Duke's ensuing drive, and then the Spiders went 80 yards in 13 plays behind veteran quarterback Eric Ward, building the lead to 14-2 when Justin Forte scored from 2 yards out.
Duke answered quickly, with Lewis hitting Johnny Williams in stride for a 54-yard score on its next drive to make it 14-9.
For the next two quarters, Duke played better everywhere but on the scoreboard.
After Richmond made it 14-2, the Spiders' next six drives resulted in just two first downs. Duke took advantage at first with the TD strike to Williams -- who caught seven passes for 115 yards -- but the offense fizzled the rest of the half.
Then in the third quarter, with Richmond still stalling, Maggio missed a 36-yard kick and Duke missed two more opportunities, getting past midfield twice only to end up back on its own side of the 50 thanks to costly errors.
That's when Richmond rose again, matching its earlier touchdown drive down to the second (6 minutes, 56 seconds) while covering 83 yards on 12 plays. Kirchoff capped this one, from 1 yard out on third-and-goal to make it 21-9.
Duke never again gained possession with a chance to catch up.
"We were timid," said Duke running back Re'quan Boyette, who had 15 yards on nine carries. "We didn't compete as well as we should have, as well as we can, as well as we did through all of fall camp.
"That falls on us, on the leaders of the team."
