BLACKSBURG, Va. — Shocking. That was about the only way Duke could describe its 44-7 shellacking this weekend at the hands of No. 21 Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. Safety Matt Daniels used the word several times in a postgame interview. So did head coach David Cutcliffe.
“By the time [we] got to the locker room, our guys were a little bit in shock,” he said.
Cutcliffe’s squad came in confident, but the problems began for the Blue Devils from the first play, when quarterback Sean Renfree fumbled the snap. He recovered, but his first pass attempt was batted down at the line of scrimmage.
Remarkably enough, the first drive was the most rhythm the Duke offense would show all day after several gains by the Blue Devils put them at the Hokie 31-yard line. Desmond Scott was then stuffed for a four-yard loss, though, and Renfree missed a throw to Austin Kelly and took a sack on a fourth-down attempt to give the Hokies the ball.
The turnover on downs brought Duke’s defense onto the field, and it also struggled from the start. The Hokies marched right down the field on their first drive, requiring just five plays and 2:37 to traverse the 57 yards to the end zone.
A quick exit from the Blue Devil offense on the subsequent drive led to an Alex King punt, which was returned 61 yards by Virginia Tech cornerback Jayron Hosley. The Hokies gained the final 19 yards in under three minutes, and just like that Duke was down 14-0.
As the first quarter wound to a close, Cutcliffe turned to backup quarterback Brandon Connette. Connette looked played the same way he has all year: fearless as a runner, but hesitant as a passer. He threw an easy pick in the second quarter and was pulled again in favor of Renfree.
“During the game, I felt like we needed to try to get Brandon in a little bit more to run the football, to get some consistency to do some things that we think are strengths of his,” Cutcliffe said.
After Virginia Tech went up 27-0 at halftime, the Blue Devils mounted their only scoring drive early in the third quarter, thanks to a long kickoff return by Scott and two Renfree completions that got Duke down to the Hokie 30-yard line. Connette entered and rushed three times for 24 yards before Jay Hollingsworth punched the ball into the end zone from the six-yard line to make the score 34-7. It would be one of only three times Duke crossed midfield into Virginia Tech territory.
Renfree re-entered the game on the next drive and proceeded to throw a pick. Connette then took over and engineered two three-and-outs before Renfree finished the game by completing just two of his final eight pass attempts.
The end-game offensive statistics were disheartening for Duke. Together, Renfree and Connette completed just 12-of-36 passes for only 116 yards—just 9.7 yards per completion. The rushing attack was no more potent, as 30 carries went for just 92 yards.
“We didn’t have nearly as many big plays on offense as you need against a team like Virginia Tech,” Cutcliffe said.
The Blue Devils punted nine times in 14 drives; perhaps the brightest spot for Duke was punter Alex King, who averaged 44 yards per punt and pinned the Hokies inside the 20 five times. To add injury to insult, both running back Josh Snead and tight end Brett Huffman both left the game hurt and did not return.
Duke’s defense looked no less error-prone. The defensive line got very little penetration into the Hokie backfield. Soft coverage in the secondary and very poor tackling all around gave receivers room to gain yards after the catch, and quarterback Tyrod Taylor’s 13 completions went for a remarkable 280 yards—an average of 16.5 per attempt, including three touchdowns. Several badly blown coverages didn’t help either: Chris Rwabukamba was caught several times trying to defend passes with his back to the quarterback, and Ross Cockrell left running back David Wilson alone for a 65-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter.
“We left some people open in coverage that were busted assignments,” Cutcliffe said. “And when you do that against a team like Virginia Tech, as many weapons as their offense has—you give [Taylor] opportunities, he is going to make the most of them.”
When Blue Devil coverage did hold long enough to allow pass rushers to get upfield, Taylor was more than willing to take off running, using his speed and shiftiness to elude tacklers at the second level. He would finish the day with six carries for 47 yards, including a 36-yard breakaway.
All the statistics did not give Duke many positives to take away from Blacksburg. Cutcliffe, though, insisted he has not lost faith in his team.
“I am going to continue to be an optimist,” he said. “We are not going to hang our heads.”
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