The Blue Devils were not in peak form Saturday, and ultimately their miscues caught up to them.
No. 19 Duke was upended 17-16 by Virginia Tech Saturday afternoon at Wallace Wade Stadium, snapping a four-game winning streak for the Blue Devils. Duke committed eight costly penalties and turned the ball over three times, which led to all 17 points for the Hokies. With the loss, the Blue Devils are no longer in control of their own destiny in their quest to return to the ACC Championship game and repeat as Coastal Division champions.
Given one last opportunity to drive for the tying score with two minutes remaining, Duke was handicapped by two costly penalties and a sack that prevented it from getting into field goal range for kicker Ross Martin.
“Our formula has been to do all the little things well. We work at it, our players believe in it, and sometimes it doesn’t go according to script,” head coach David Cutcliffe said. “We were the most penalized team today, with some of those at critical times. We lost the turnover margin. That’s always a challenge to overcome in a game—not easy for us.”
Earlier in the fourth quarter, a failed fake punt by the Hokies set Duke's offense up with a chance to drive for the winning score. The Blue Devils (8-2, 4-2 in the ACC) took over at their own 42 with 3:44 remaining following a surprise 10-yard pass from punter A.J. Hughes on fourth-and-16. Duke moved the ball to the Virginia Tech 30 in just two plays, aided by a crucial 15-yard personal foul penalty called on the Hokies. The Virginia Tech defense stiffened up after that, forcing the Blue Devils to settle for a potential go-ahead 40-yard field goal from Martin.
But Martin—who entered the game having hit on all 13 of his field goal attempts this year—couldn’t hit the clutch kick, missing his second field goal of the day and preserving the Hokies’ slim 17-16 lead.
“I missed it. Pulled it left,” Martin said. “I probably picked my head up a little bit too quickly and looked up, and it definitely wasn’t going in.”
After a back-and-forth first half in which the Blue Devils jumped out to an early 10-0 lead but allowed Virginia Tech (5-5, 2-4) to crawl its way back to 10-7 at halftime, the second half proved to be no different. Duke racked up 176 yards of total offense in the first quarter, but couldn’t produce another touchdown after running back Josh Snead’s two-yard plunge midway through the opening period. The Blue Devils tallied only 150 yards and six points in the final three quarters despite starting multiple drives with favorable field position.
A relentless defense that held Virginia Tech to just 293 total yards and produced a season-high six sacks did its best to lead the Blue Devils to victory, but it was not enough to overcome an 18-of-40 performance by quarterback Anthony Boone and an offense that had to settle for five field goal attempts.
“Part of it is [Virgina Tech’s] willingness to play straight-zero coverage, man-to-man,” Cutcliffe said. “We missed things. When we have struggled offensively, if you look at the statistics, it’s when we’re not very good with the completion percentage. I think we probably did leave some points on the field.”
Already up 16-7, the Blue Devils looked to have a great opportunity to put the game out of reach late in the third quarter, when cornerback Breon Borders—who recorded two interceptions last week against Syracuse—picked off Virginia Tech quarterback Michael Brewer as he was pressured on third-and-one. The lone turnover of the day generated by the Duke defense set up the offense at the Hokie 36.
But the Blue Devils did not capitalize on this golden opportunity. After two runs gained no headway, Boone dropped back to pass on third-and-10 and found the pocket collapsing around him. Hit as he threw, Boone’s pass barely fluttered to the line of scrimmage, where it fell into the arms of Virginia Tech linebacker Derek Di Nardo—who nearly ran it back to the house before being tracked down at the Duke nine-yard line.
Fortunately for the Blue Devils, the defense continued its stellar play from the third quarter—when it otherwise did not allow the Hokies to cross midfield—and moved Virginia Tech backwards to the 18 thanks to a second-down sack from Kyler Brown. The Hokies settled for a 35-yard field goal that brought the score to 16-10.
Then came the killer miscue for Duke.
DeVon Edwards returned the ensuing kickoff but fumbled it away, as the ball popped way up in the air and was recovered by Virginia Tech sophomore Dahman McKinnon. Given their second straight possession that started deep in Blue Devil territory, the Hokies did what Duke had not—converted scoring chances into touchdowns.
The scoring play came on a 15-yard strike down the middle from Brewer to freshman tight end Bucky Hodges. The touchdown was Hodges’ team-leading sixth scoring reception of the season, and it gave the Hokies their first lead of the afternoon at 17-16.
The Blue Devils don’t have much time to dwell on this disappointing loss, as they welcome rival North Carolina to Wallace Wade Stadium Thursday night for another crucial ACC matchup. Cutcliffe stressed the need for everyone to fully reflect on the loss Saturday night, so that they can put it in the rearview mirror entirely and focus on the Tar Heels come Sunday morning.
“We know we have a huge task in front of us, one that we’re going to embrace and look forward to,” Cutcliffe said. “So we know we’re going to pick ourselves up and move forward. When you’re an 8-2 football team, you’re a lot better than most. The challenge is to try to find a way to become a nine-win football team. That’s the only thing we need to concern ourselves with, and the only thing we will concern ourselves with.”
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