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Blue Devil Rewind: Fifty-Three Yarder for the Win
6/3/2020 5:00:00 PM | Football
This series will take an inside look at top moments in Duke football history and are not meant to be a complete listing of all memorable accomplishments, but a sampling of great moments as determined by the GoDuke.com staff.
The Duke Blue Devils had just one win to their name heading into the final two contests of the 2004 regular season. The Blue Devils were first set to welcome a 5-4 Clemson squad that brought a four-game winning streak to Wallace Wade Stadium that November 13th afternoon.
By the time the contest was over, however, Duke had ended Clemson's winning trend and kicker Matt Brooks was hoisted on his teammates' shoulders after his 53-yard game-winning field goal as time expired lifted the Blue Devils to an exhilarating 16-13 win.
Brooks' kick capped a 10-0 Duke rally over the final 81 seconds in which it took a seven-point deficit and turned it into a three-point victory. Ronnie Drummer and Deonto McCormick added to the Blue Devil cause as well. Drummer had a four-yard touchdown catch to tie the game with 1:21 left, and McCormick came up with a perfectly-timed interception of Charlie Whitehurst near midfield which set up the game-winning drive.
Clemson took a 3-0 edge after Jad Dean converted on a 20-yard field goal with 9:10 remaining in the opening frame. Duke responded with Brooks' first of three made field goals exactly five minutes later to knot the score at 3-3. The Blue Devils then recovered an on-side kick on the ensuing kickoff to get the ball back, looking to make it consecutive scores. And that's exactly what they did as Brooks converted on a 21-yard field goal to hand the home team a 6-3 advantage after the first 15 minutes of play.
The Tigers tied things up just two minutes into the second quarter and the two teams closed out the low-scoring opening half deadlocked at 6-6.
After a scoreless third period, Clemson was the first to find the end zone as running back Reggie Merriweather scored from three yards out to give the Tigers a 13-6 lead. But the Blue Devils wouldn't waver and strung together a seven play, 54-yard scoring drive, relying on the arm of quarterback Mike Schneider. The sophomore went five-of-six during the drive, the last pass going to Drummer out of the backfield on the left side. Drummer made the catch, then cut back inside for the tying score.
McCormick then picked off Whitehurst at the 50-yard line on the Tigers' first play of their ensuing drive to give the ball back to Duke in great field position with 1:07 remaining on the clock. Schneider completed two of his three pass attempts to move the ball to the Clemson 36-yard line on 4th-and-4 with two seconds left. Duke quickly called timeout to stop the clock. Clemson then tried to ice Brooks by calling back-to-back timeouts. But as the teams headed back out onto the field, Brooks got himself into position, watched the ball being snapped back to him, and calmly booted it through the uprights sending his teammates and all 24,000-plus fans into a frenzy.
Schneider completed 20-of-31 passes for 213 yards. Brooks converted all three of his field goals from 27, 21 and 53 yards.
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FROM THEIR POINT OF VIEW
Matt Brooks (Duke Kicker, 2001-04) – "2004 was an emotional year for our team. The summer leading into the season we lost an amazing person and teammate, Micah Harris. Losing a teammate leaves a mark on a team that endures time and the loss of Micah was obviously a big part of that season. I want to give a special thanks to Coach Cutcliffe and Duke football for continuing the memory of #55 – that's truly special and why Duke football is a family.
"The Clemson game was one of the best team wins I have been a part of. Our defense was unbelievable. Special teams was great with Trey McDonald pinning Clemson inside the 20-yard line three times in the second half and Chris Sprague limited Clemson's dangerous returners to 20 total kickoff return yards, caused a fumbled return that we recovered, and almost caused another one. Coaches always say that field position and defense win games, and that was the story of the Clemson game for us. I was just lucky enough to be the one to attempt a field goal at the end.
"Preparing that week for the game, Clemson was coming off an overtime win against No. 10 Miami, so we knew they were going to be confident. The coaches prepared us with one thought in mind: we were going to take the fight to Clemson from the start. Coach (Ted) Roof set the tone for the game when he called a surprise on-side kick on the opening kickoff. We stuffed Clemson repeatedly on defense (holding them to 1-of-12 on third downs), forced turnovers, pinned them deep in their own zone, scored when we got into position and kept them from scoring.
"The game stayed tight as we entered the fourth quarter tied. The stadium was half-filled with Clemson fans and you could sense their anxiety as the game went on – it was great. Finally, we got offensive momentum and we punched in a touchdown on Ronnie Drummer's nasty cutback in the open field to tie the game with under two minutes remaining.
"After we scored the touchdown and tied the game, we knew we were going to win. When Clemson's pass went in the air on their next play, you could immediately see Chop (Deonto McCormick) read it, start to break on it and he pulled down the interception. The interception epitomized the way our defense played the whole game and put us in a position to win.
"When Coach Roof called timeout with two seconds left, I told him we were ready, and I made my way onto the field. Throughout the three timeouts that were called, the Clemson fans were as loud as they could be, their band was playing throughout the timeouts, and they kept doing their Tiger Rag fight song. Throughout that, I just sung a song in my head, stuck to the routine we practiced and trusted it. When you're out there, you try not to think too much. The hardest thing to do is to clear your head and just do what you've done a million times before. I knew that our snapper Tyler Krieg was going to be on the money, Trey was going to hit our spot with the hold and the line would block. I just had to kick it straight and long. Thankfully, I did, and we won the game.
"As soon as the kick went up, Trey and I knew it was good. We were grabbing each other before the ball even went through the uprights. Watching our team run onto the field to celebrate, the fans rushing the field and tearing down the goalposts, the Clemson fans in stunned silence: it was a dream come true and something our team, especially the seniors, had earned. A lot of the post-game celebration is a blur, but something that I won't ever forget is that feeling of pure joy that our team felt that day. We were the best team on the field that day and we earned that win."
#GoDuke
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The Duke Blue Devils had just one win to their name heading into the final two contests of the 2004 regular season. The Blue Devils were first set to welcome a 5-4 Clemson squad that brought a four-game winning streak to Wallace Wade Stadium that November 13th afternoon.
By the time the contest was over, however, Duke had ended Clemson's winning trend and kicker Matt Brooks was hoisted on his teammates' shoulders after his 53-yard game-winning field goal as time expired lifted the Blue Devils to an exhilarating 16-13 win.
Brooks' kick capped a 10-0 Duke rally over the final 81 seconds in which it took a seven-point deficit and turned it into a three-point victory. Ronnie Drummer and Deonto McCormick added to the Blue Devil cause as well. Drummer had a four-yard touchdown catch to tie the game with 1:21 left, and McCormick came up with a perfectly-timed interception of Charlie Whitehurst near midfield which set up the game-winning drive.
Clemson took a 3-0 edge after Jad Dean converted on a 20-yard field goal with 9:10 remaining in the opening frame. Duke responded with Brooks' first of three made field goals exactly five minutes later to knot the score at 3-3. The Blue Devils then recovered an on-side kick on the ensuing kickoff to get the ball back, looking to make it consecutive scores. And that's exactly what they did as Brooks converted on a 21-yard field goal to hand the home team a 6-3 advantage after the first 15 minutes of play.
The Tigers tied things up just two minutes into the second quarter and the two teams closed out the low-scoring opening half deadlocked at 6-6.
After a scoreless third period, Clemson was the first to find the end zone as running back Reggie Merriweather scored from three yards out to give the Tigers a 13-6 lead. But the Blue Devils wouldn't waver and strung together a seven play, 54-yard scoring drive, relying on the arm of quarterback Mike Schneider. The sophomore went five-of-six during the drive, the last pass going to Drummer out of the backfield on the left side. Drummer made the catch, then cut back inside for the tying score.
McCormick then picked off Whitehurst at the 50-yard line on the Tigers' first play of their ensuing drive to give the ball back to Duke in great field position with 1:07 remaining on the clock. Schneider completed two of his three pass attempts to move the ball to the Clemson 36-yard line on 4th-and-4 with two seconds left. Duke quickly called timeout to stop the clock. Clemson then tried to ice Brooks by calling back-to-back timeouts. But as the teams headed back out onto the field, Brooks got himself into position, watched the ball being snapped back to him, and calmly booted it through the uprights sending his teammates and all 24,000-plus fans into a frenzy.
Schneider completed 20-of-31 passes for 213 yards. Brooks converted all three of his field goals from 27, 21 and 53 yards.
---
FROM THEIR POINT OF VIEW
Matt Brooks (Duke Kicker, 2001-04) – "2004 was an emotional year for our team. The summer leading into the season we lost an amazing person and teammate, Micah Harris. Losing a teammate leaves a mark on a team that endures time and the loss of Micah was obviously a big part of that season. I want to give a special thanks to Coach Cutcliffe and Duke football for continuing the memory of #55 – that's truly special and why Duke football is a family.
"The Clemson game was one of the best team wins I have been a part of. Our defense was unbelievable. Special teams was great with Trey McDonald pinning Clemson inside the 20-yard line three times in the second half and Chris Sprague limited Clemson's dangerous returners to 20 total kickoff return yards, caused a fumbled return that we recovered, and almost caused another one. Coaches always say that field position and defense win games, and that was the story of the Clemson game for us. I was just lucky enough to be the one to attempt a field goal at the end.
"Preparing that week for the game, Clemson was coming off an overtime win against No. 10 Miami, so we knew they were going to be confident. The coaches prepared us with one thought in mind: we were going to take the fight to Clemson from the start. Coach (Ted) Roof set the tone for the game when he called a surprise on-side kick on the opening kickoff. We stuffed Clemson repeatedly on defense (holding them to 1-of-12 on third downs), forced turnovers, pinned them deep in their own zone, scored when we got into position and kept them from scoring.
"The game stayed tight as we entered the fourth quarter tied. The stadium was half-filled with Clemson fans and you could sense their anxiety as the game went on – it was great. Finally, we got offensive momentum and we punched in a touchdown on Ronnie Drummer's nasty cutback in the open field to tie the game with under two minutes remaining.
"After we scored the touchdown and tied the game, we knew we were going to win. When Clemson's pass went in the air on their next play, you could immediately see Chop (Deonto McCormick) read it, start to break on it and he pulled down the interception. The interception epitomized the way our defense played the whole game and put us in a position to win.
"When Coach Roof called timeout with two seconds left, I told him we were ready, and I made my way onto the field. Throughout the three timeouts that were called, the Clemson fans were as loud as they could be, their band was playing throughout the timeouts, and they kept doing their Tiger Rag fight song. Throughout that, I just sung a song in my head, stuck to the routine we practiced and trusted it. When you're out there, you try not to think too much. The hardest thing to do is to clear your head and just do what you've done a million times before. I knew that our snapper Tyler Krieg was going to be on the money, Trey was going to hit our spot with the hold and the line would block. I just had to kick it straight and long. Thankfully, I did, and we won the game.
"As soon as the kick went up, Trey and I knew it was good. We were grabbing each other before the ball even went through the uprights. Watching our team run onto the field to celebrate, the fans rushing the field and tearing down the goalposts, the Clemson fans in stunned silence: it was a dream come true and something our team, especially the seniors, had earned. A lot of the post-game celebration is a blur, but something that I won't ever forget is that feeling of pure joy that our team felt that day. We were the best team on the field that day and we earned that win."
#GoDuke
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