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Duke did almost everything it could Saturday to avoid its first loss of the football season.
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But strange things, often losing things, tend to happen to the Blue Devils when they face Georgia Tech, and they did again at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta.
The Blue Devils rallied from 11 points behind in the second half against the Yellow Jackets, taking the lead with 2 minutes, 40 seconds to play on a 5-yard touchdown run by running back Nate Sheppard.
But the Yellow Jackets, their season seemingly at a crossroads, scored with 54 seconds showing, then held off Duke’s last-gasp push, for a 28-25 victory.
Running back Trelain Maddox, who had a 60-yard scoring burst earlier in the second half, scored from 1 yard out as the Jackets edged back in front.
Not that it was over. Duke had a chance to force overtime. Duke quarterback Walker Eget teamed up with Sheppard on a 42-yard catch-and-run, but freshman placekicker Gavin Strange was wide left on a 33-yard field-goal attempt with 4 seconds left.
The miss allowed the Yellow Jackets (2-3, 1-1 ACC) to beat Duke for the sixth straight game in the ACC series. Duke (4-1, 1-1) had won eight straight games the past two seasons and six ACC road games in a row, but had those two streaks come to an end.
“It was two teams going after each other,” Duke coach Manny Diaz said. “We kind of felt like the game would come down to the last play of the game. It did, and that play unfortunately didn’t go our way.
“You can’t really learn about yourself until you’re in that situation in a game. Down 11, the way our guys battled, the way we believed we would win the football game, the drives we made, the individual efforts, some of the plays Walker Eget made …. were big-time plays.”
It was a hard-hitting, often chippy game filled with a lot of on-field chirping.
Sheppard, who was leading the FBS in rushing yards per game, absorbed some vicious hits and tackles. He spent time in the blue medical treatment tent, and had his left ankle re-taped. He once was slammed by two Tech players after running out of bounds — a penalty on the Yellow Jackets.
By game’s end, Sheppard had 99 yards on 27 carries and had a team-high seven catches for 91 yards. It was the first game this season Sheppard was limited to fewer than 100 yards rushing — the sophomore was averaging 161 yards a game.
“We have a lot of resilience,” Sheppard said. “We show a lot of toughness and a lot of effort, even playing from behind.”
Duke played from behind most of the game The Yellow Jackets took the opening kickoff and scored for a 7-0 lead. After Duke tied the score, the Jackets took advantage of a roughing-the-passer penalty against the Blue Devils to maintain possession and went 92 yards for a 14-7 lead.
In the third quarter, with rain starting to fall, the Yellow Jackets hit the Blue Devils with the 60-yard run by Maddox for a 21-10 lead. Duke responded by making it a 21-18 game with a 75-yard drive that ended with Jared Richardson’s 8-yard scoring grab and then a successful two-point play.
Eget finished 26-of-41 passing for 259 yards without an interception or sack in another efficient game. Mendoza, a transfer from Indiana and the brother of Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza, was 23 of 30 for 218 yards.
Tech’s Jordan Allen had 10 catches for 99 yards and a TD, and set up the final score with a 14-yard grab to the 1-yard line with 1:01 left.
Observations from the game:
The flags were flying from the start, and neither team was happy with the early calls.
Especially Duke’s Diaz.
Diaz was hot after Duke’s Tyshon Reed was called for roughing the passer in the second quarter. Mendoza was hit and dropped as he was throwing the ball, and the incompletion would have had the Jackets punting out of their end zone.
“It was such a critical situation,” Diaz said. “It took momentum away from us.”
If Diaz was mad then, he was livid a few moments later when DaShawn Stone was called on a personal foul for roughness. The Jackets used the penalties, which appeared to affect the Devils’ poise and focus, to go 92 yards for a go-ahead score.
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Ten penalties were called in the first half, five on each team. Tight end Jeremiah Hasley, one of Duke’s most experienced players, had three penalties, twice for illegal blocks.
Another penalty on the Jackets’ final drive was costly for Duke: linebacker Bradley Gompers called for a late hit on Mendoza on a second-and-20 play from midfield.
Diaz and Duke defensive coordinator Jonathan Patke have preached all season about the need to minimize missed tackles. They’ll have more to say after Saturday’s game.
In the first half Saturday, the Blue Devils had potential tackles for loss become positive plays for the Jackets. After missing one tackle in the Georgia Tech backfield, linebacker Nick Morris Jr., appeared fighting mad, slapping himself on the helmet.
Morris later stopped a third-and-short run in the opening half, quickly filling the gap to make the play. He fired off a few fists in the air after that one.
The Devils had a chance to stop Maddox at the line on his third-quarter run, but he slipped through a gap at the line of scrimmage and outran everybody up the middle of the field.
“We didn’t tackle very good today,” Morris said. “That’s something that’s a strength of ours that didn’t show up today.”
Few things irk coaches like having injuries crop up during a bye week, usually the time to allow injured players to heal.
Duke had one this past week when starting place kicker Cosme Salas was hurt — a “freak” injury, Diaz said. That had Strange, a true freshman from Southlake, Texas, taking over on the road in an ACC game.
Strange’s first field-goal attempt was a 35-yarder in the second quarter, and he made it to pull Duke within 14-10. He then had the miss in the final seconds.
“I believe in Gavin,” Diaz said. “That’s not easy to get thrust into duty like that.”
The Blue Devils had some other special-teams lapses. The Jackets’ Jordan Allen broke off a 33-yard punt return in the first half, and a 39-yard kickoff return by Rahkeem Smith after Sheppard’s go-ahead TD gave the Jackets good field position.
“They didn’t have the stress of being backed up on that last drive,” Diaz said of Smith’s return.
It was a nightmare start for Duke. Both teams were coming off a bye week, but the Blue Devils appeared a step slow and the Yellow Jackets inspired in the first quarter.
The Jackets took the opening kickoff and scored on a 78-yard, 13-play drive capped by Jordan Allen’s 5-yard scoring catch.
After Tech’s kickoff, the Devils handed the ball to Sheppard on the first snap. The sophomore was immediately hit by Tawfiq Thomas, who picked up Sheppard and slammed him to the ground.
Then came Duke penalties. It was all Georgia Tech until the final seconds of the first period.
A 24-yard catch-and-run by Sheppard late in the quarter gave Duke some needed momentum. Sheppard then scored on the second play of the second quarter on a 5-yard run for a 7-7 tie.
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This story was originally published October 10, 2026 at 7:09 PM.