NCAA Football

Duke Football Proves It Shouldn’t Even Be A Thing

There’s a reason you won’t find a “Cameron Crazies” type of contingent for the Duke football team — they are bad. For a long time, woefully bad, but they finished .500 this year and got a chance to play in a bowl game against Cincinnati (again, this is football, not basketball). The Belk Bowl marked Duke Football’s first postseason game since 1995 and they were in a position to win it, before they inevitably messed it all up.

With the game knotted at 34 with 5:17 remaining, Duke started a drive at its own 43 and was able to get it down to Cincinnati’s 5-yard line, all the while milking almost four minutes off the clock. With a Second-and-Goal at the 5, running back Josh Snead (who led the drive) coughed the ball up. Cincinnati recovered, and it took them only three more plays before Brendon Kay connected with Travis Kelce for an 83-yard touchdown.

The Blue Devils get the ball back at their own 32, and after a quick 13-yard pass and 15-yard personal foul penalty on the Bearcats, Duke found itself in prime position, on the Cincinnati 40 with half a minute left. Naturally, on the very next play Cincinnati’s Nick Temple intercepted a Sean Renfree pass and took it all the way back to the house, a pick-six that iced the game for Cincinnati, which they went on to win, 48-34.

See, Duke? This is why your football team can’t have nice things.

[Getty Images]

Follow Jordan Rabinowitz