On an afternoon when the Blue Devils honored the living members of their 1942 team that hosted the Rose Bowl, the outcome of the game at Wallace Wade Stadium remained the same nearly 75 years later—a loss.
Duke remains winless in ACC play after a 24-21 loss to No. 23 Virginia Tech Saturday. The Blue Devils could not get much going through the air a week after redshirt freshman quarterback Daniel Jones threw for more than 300 yards in a losing effort at Georgia Tech, and another second-half rally came up just short.
Head coach David Cutcliffe’s team has now dropped six games in a season for the first time since 2012.
“What we have is a good football team without a very good record,” Cutcliffe said. “We’ve just got to keep valiantly trying to close games and win games.”
Duke (3-6, 0-5 in the ACC) was down by double digits at halftime for the second straight week, but Jones kept the ball on a read option for his second touchdown run of the day to trim the Hokie lead to three with 7:10 remaining in the contest.
The Blue Devil defense held Virginia Tech to a three-and-out on the ensuing drive to get the ball back with a chance to tie or win the game.
“The past two games, we’ve been down at halftime because it’s our fault,” redshirt senior defensive tackle A.J. Wolf said. “It wasn’t the other team beating us, it was just, we were beating ourselves. The second half, we just cleaned it up a little bit. We all know we’re capable of coming back.”
Junior running back Shaun Wilson then appeared to fumble the ball back to the Hokies, but the officials called targeting on a helmet-to-helmet hit by Terrell Edmunds that jarred the ball loose following a replay review. Edmunds was ejected and Wilson did not return to the game.
Duke’s drive stalled after the penalty, and Cutcliffe elected to punt the ball away with 4:12 remaining and depend on his defense that had kept the Blue Devils in the game.
“I didn’t really think it was the right time to win or lose the game right there at midfield,” Cutcliffe said. “You’re a little bit more fair to your team when you use the team to try to win the game, not one play…It worked until they make a play.”
But the Hokies (7-2, 5-1) converted three third downs on the final drive—the first on a 21-yard rush by running back Trevon McMillian and then one on a 15-yard pass from quarterback Jerod Evans to All-ACC receiver Isaiah Ford and one on an Evans run—to run out the clock.
“At that point, it’s just a matter of sheer will,” Wolf said. “I’m not saying we didn’t want it. They just got a few blocks on us.”
Duke had all the momentum early in the second quarter, marching down the field for the second straight possession with the score tied 7-7 thanks to a three-yard touchdown run by Wilson late in the first quarter. Wilson, Jones and redshirt junior Joseph Ajeigbe carried the team’s offense on the ground, combining for 227 yards.
But when freshman A.J. Reed trotted out to attempt a 30-yard field goal that would have given the Blue Devils their first lead of the game, Hokie cornerback Greg Stroman dashed around the line to block the kick, and Adonis Alexander picked the ball up and sped to the opposite end zone for a Virginia Tech touchdown.
“The blocked kick was merely an alignment issue,” Cutcliffe said. “That falls on me 1,000 percent, and we haven’t had that happen before, but when it does, it’s certainly on the head coach. We’re going to have to learn from that.”
The Hokies tacked on another score on their next drive with a fourth-down touchdown run by Evans—the first fourth-down conversion Duke’s defense gave up all season—and the Blue Devils stumbled into halftime facing a 21-7 deficit.
Duke came out of the locker room with a lot more energy, though.
Jones scampered into the end zone untouched late in the third quarter to cap an 11-play touchdown drive that was highlighted by a 28-yard run by Ajeigbe to move the Blue Devils into the red zone.
Duke rushed for 227 yards, more than doubling the Hokies’ average of 113.1 rushing yards allowed entering the game, and the success came a week after losing top running back Jela Duncan for the season due to a torn Achilles tendon. But the Blue Devils did not generate much production in the passing game, as Jones threw for just 148 yards with no touchdowns.
“We were moving the ball. The offensive line was doing a great job creating some holes up there for our backs,” Jones said. “Ultimately, we just didn’t make enough plays.”
With the health of yet another key player in Wilson in question, Duke will have a short week of practice before hosting Tobacco Road rival North Carolina Thursday night, desperately needing a win to stay in contention for a bowl game.
“We can get some confidence from what we’re doing and how we’re playing,” Jones said. “But at the end of the day, it doesn’t mean a whole lot if we don’t win.”
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