In Duke football’s defeat against No. 5 Miami, the vulnerabilities of the Blue Devils were exposed on both sides

How good is Duke football?

On one hand, the Blue Devils have been on the cusp of two top-25 wins over the last two weeks. If not for missed field goals against SMU, Duke would have won the game. And the Blue Devils, at one point, were up two scores on the No. 5 team in the country. This is a team that started 5-0, and is near the top of the nation in tackles for losses. Duke has shown it repeatedly can beat anyone.

But at the same time, the Blue Devils have been lucky. They beat Northwestern in double overtime, needed three turnovers on three snaps against Florida State and squeaked by North Carolina by the skin of their teeth. The offense has been anemic at its worst and serviceable at its best. The defense, while capable of big plays, is also prone to giving up chunk yards.

The truth is somewhere in the middle. Duke is not a bad team, but it’s also not a great team; there are holes for the Blue Devils on each side of the ball. Saturday’s loss to Miami forced these problems to the surface and revealed that while Duke has played near its ceiling all season, he is far from ready to hang with a top team for four quarters.

“It’s a great lesson for my guys,” head coach Manny Diaz said after the game. “You have to execute at a high level for 60 minutes against really good football teams, especially in their stadium.”

The first and most often criticized flaw displayed by the Blue Devils Saturday is their offense, or lack thereof. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Maalik Murphy has shown he has the arm to make any throw on the field, but his decision making is a step behind. Often against the Hurricanes, Murphy struggled when his first read wasn’t there.

On the touchdown drives, he was able to hit open receivers in stride and place the ball downfield when needed. But, when push came to shove in the fourth and Miami tightened its screws defensively, Murphy tried to force balls into windows that were bolted shut.

His second interception of the game — which mirrored the first — came on an ill-advised throw to Jordan Moore downfield. Moore, who was blanketed in double coverage, had little chance to even lay a finger on the ball. The senior wideout played defensive back on another fourth-quarter play, breaking up what would have been Murphy’s third interception.

Even when Ward was in the pocket, Duke’s tendency to bring pressure put the defense in bad situations. Senior wideout Xavier Restrepo — who became Miami’s all-time leading receiver Saturday and hauled in three touchdowns to boot — constantly beat his man in coverage. Each time, Ward hit him in stride.

When playing against an offense as dangerous as the Hurricanes, it plays like that is inevitable. However, the Blue Devils make them all the more common by gifting Ward one-on-one opportunities. Diaz’s defensive philosophy is in part to force the opponent into making bad decisions.

Against a quarterback like Ward, those bad decisions rarely come. Instead, he led his team to 53 points, by far the most allowed by Duke thus far.

“We were out of character. You have to give them credit in terms of their players and what they were doing,” Diaz said. “But, it’ll be a tough study tomorrow with the mistakes that we made that, to their credit, they capitalized on.”

The Blue Devils should take away from Saturday’s game that they can hang with a team of Miami’s caliber, but they also left Hard Rock Stadium with an abundance of things to work on. Their play style often leaves little room for error, especially as the competition stiffens.

The true strength of Duke football remains to be seen. Diaz has built a strong culture, and the Blue Devils cannot be criticized for a lack of effort. But if Duke hopes to finish the season better than it started, it will need to adapt.