By BRYAN STRICKLAND

bstrickland@heraldsun.com; 419-6671

DURHAM -- Duke coach David Cutcliffe insisted Saturday that his Blue Devils would grow from their hard-to-take loss at North Carolina.

Tuesday, he illustrated his belief.

"The Golden Gate Bridge and the Empire State Building were both built during the Great Depression, which I think is a good example of what I'm talking about," Cutcliffe said. "Difficult times make you better, and that's the challenge we face this week."

Cutcliffe said the Blue Devils showed signs of depression after the loss, which ended a three-game winning streak and put a serious damper on Duke's postseason hopes.

But Tuesday morning, at Duke's first full practice since the loss, Cutcliffe saw signs of life.

"The momentum did stop for a minute; it just came to a dead silence," he said. "We kind of have a 24-hour rule that win or lose, you've got to put it behind you. But when you play rival games that mean so much, I do think that has been a challenge.

"It took us a little while to get our motor running today, but I think our motor was running well as we made our way through practice."

The Blue Devils certainly will have to be going at full speed come Saturday when No. 7 Georgia Tech visits Wallace Wade Stadium (noon, ESPN2).

If the Yellow Jackets (9-1, 6-1 ACC) extend their winning streak to eight games, they'll wrap up the ACC's Coastal Division and a spot in the ACC title game. If Duke (5-4, 3-2) bounces back, the Blue Devils will remain in the race along with Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech and Miami.

The Blue Devils say they understand the stakes and insist that one loss isn't going to derail their dreams, which still include a bowl bid with a 2-1 finish.

"Nobody likes to lose to Carolina," linebacker Damian Thornton said. "Obviously, we don't like to lose to them with them being our rival, but we're not dwelling on the past.

"We lost to Carolina, but we live to fight another day. We're looking forward to Georgia Tech."

If anything, according to left tackle Kyle Hill, the loss left the Blue Devils more determined than ever.

"It lit a fire in all of us," Hill said. "A loss like that is real tough to deal with, so you want to get that taste out of your mouth as fast as you can.

"The first step is the first practice after the loss. You crank it up, and you try to keep that going the entire week and into the game. Everybody is ready to go."

The Blue Devils, who haven't been to a bowl since the 1994 season, know what many outsiders are saying: If Duke can't win at UNC, how are the Devils possibly going to beat either Georgia Tech this week or No. 12 Miami next week to keep their hopes alive?

"A lot of people at the beginning of the season said it was over when we lost to Richmond," Duke quarterback Thad Lewis said. "It's not over until these last 12 quarters play out, and then the clock strikes zero."

Maybe Cutcliffe doesn't have as much to worry about as he first feared.

"Nothing will snowball unless you let it," Cutcliffe said. "It's like anything else: If you want to have a bad day, you'll have a bad day.

"I'm reminding them of what their opportunities are, taking it from a much more positive approach -- look at what the carrot is out there, and how hard are we willing to work?"

Cutcliffe certainly is willing to put in the work.

"I'm going to go work on building the Empire State Building and the Golden Gate Bridge," he said as Tuesday's news conference concluded.