Two close losses leave Blue Devils more determined

DURHAM, N.C. - Things often go wrong for Duke on the football field, and this was no exception.<br> <br> As cornerback John Talley returned an interception 62 yards for an early go-ahead touchdown against Connecticut last week, teammate Phillip Alexander was left writhing on the turf. He was blocking for Talley when another player had rolled on his leg, breaking it and ending Alexander&#39;s season after just five quarters.<br> <br> ``If you go to any school in the country and say you&#39;re going to take the best pass rusher, it&#39;s going to hurt,&#39;&#39; Blue Devils coach Ted Roof said Monday. ``Now somebody has to step in there and take up the slack.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Alexander led Duke and was third in the Atlantic Coast Conference last season with 18.5 tackles for a loss, and he also caused two fumbles and recovered two. A captain, he also was depended upon for leadership on what is a very young team.<br> <br> ``I don&#39;t want to downplay how Phil impacted us on defense, but unfortunately, we can&#39;t sit on that,&#39;&#39; linebacker Malcolm Ruff said. ``We have to keep moving.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> The loss of Alexander was another blow to the Blue Devils, who blew that lead against the Huskies a week after giving up an early advantage against Navy. That&#39;s two losses in two very winnable games heading into the bulk of their schedule, beginning Saturday at Virginia Tech.<br> <br> It&#39;s the Hokies&#39; first ACC game.<br> <br> ``They have a very good reputation,&#39;&#39; Ruff said. ``That&#39;s a football town. We like the idea of playing up there.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Duke has done plenty right in the first two games, just not at the right time. Connecticut scored 19 consecutive points in the second half to rally, and took the lead for good on a 21-yard field goal by Matt Nuzie.<br> <br> Later, after backup quarterback Mike Schneider led the Blue Devils down the field in the final minute, Matt Brooks hooked a 36-yard kick wide left with only six seconds left. He already had made one from that distance, as well as a 24-yarder.<br> <br> ``He took it hard,&#39;&#39; Roof said. ``That&#39;s because that&#39;s what everybody focuses on. But we&#39;re one play away from winning that game, and that&#39;s one play on offense, defense or special teams.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Still, Roof was impressed with how his team responded after losing the lead. Schneider, who started the opening loss to Navy, had not taken a snap against the Huskies until replacing Chris Dapolito for the final drive.<br> <br> Schneider was 4-of-8 for 55 yards.<br> <br> ``We emptied our tanks out there,&#39;&#39; Roof said. ``I was proud of our resiliency. We were up, and then we were down. That shows we&#39;re growing. We&#39;re going to get one and it&#39;s going to snowball.<br> <br> ``But we have to get one.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> The Blue Devils will be hard pressed to do that in the next two weeks. After going to Virginia Tech, Duke returns home after a three-game road trip to play Maryland, followed by the only lightweight on the schedule, Division I-AA The Citadel.<br> <br> That&#39;s what makes the losses to start the season more frustrating.<br> <br> ``It would be one thing if I thought those two teams were better than us,&#39;&#39; wide receiver Deonto McCormick. ``But I think we were definitely better than them. We should have won both of those games.&#39;&#39;