Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson said several times last week that the Yellow Jackets would have to limit their mistakes against Duke because the Blue Devils weren’t going to beat themselves.
Johnson was proved right: Duke didn’t beat itself. Instead Tech committed enough mistakes for both teams in a 31-25 loss Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium. The defeat snapped Tech’s season-opening five-game winning streak and a 10-game winning streak against the Blue Devils.
“I’m disappointed in the way we played,” Johnson said.
Tech (5-1, 2-1) entered the game ranked first in the ACC in turnover margin (plus-5), but lost the ball three times — including on three of its four drives in the second half — compared with Duke’s none.
“Three turnovers in the second half is atrocious,” said B-back Zach Laskey, whose first fumble this season started the turnover parade on Tech’s opening drive of the second half.
That wasn’t the only issue.
Tech entered the game in the middle of the pack in the ACC in penalties, averaging 53.8 yards per game. Tech was flagged eight times for 69 yards, including two in the first half that kept alive Duke drives that eventually led to touchdowns.
Lastly, Tech couldn’t convert inside the 20-yard line, turning six trips into three touchdowns and two field goals, compared with Duke’s four touchdowns and a field goal.
The most egregious mistakes came at the worst times: back-to-back interceptions thrown by Justin Thomas as Tech tried to rally.
The first came with Tech facing second-and-9 at Duke’s 10 late in the third quarter. Thomas tried to loft the ball over Duke’s Zavier Carmichael to Tony Zenon. But Carmichael came down with the pass to kill the drive at the 5.
Thomas compounded that error with another interception on the next series. Nearing the sideline, Thomas appeared to try to throw away the ball. Instead, he threw it right to Duke’s Jeremy Cash, who returned it 23 yards to the 23-yard line with 9:15 left.
The Blue Devils converted that into another touchdown to take a 31-12 lead with 8:18 left.
“Hopefully we can learn from this and move on,” Johnson said.
