Daniel Jones
Statline: 18-for-31 passing, 148 passing yards, 18 carries for 99 rushing yards and two touchdowns
The good: After losing two of his biggest weapons in Jela Duncan and Anthony Nash to season-ending injuries, Jones was still able to carry the bulk of the load for the Duke offense Saturday. Although he didn’t light it up through the air, he did not make any big mistakes and excelled on the ground in executing the read option.
The Charlotte, N.C., native capped third- and fourth-quarter touchdown drives with short touchdown runs to turn a 21-7 hole into a manageable 24-21 deficit late in the fourth quarter. Jones was the leading rusher for an offense that racked up 227 yards on the ground against No. 23 Virginia Tech, a top-25 rushing defense in the nation in yards per carry.
Through the air, Jones distributed the ball to a variety of receivers, completing passes to eight different Blue Devils.
The bad: Jones had a prime chance to engineer the second game-winning drive of his young career, but couldn’t propel the offense enough to steal a win from the Hokies.
After a targeting penalty, Duke had a first down at midfield, down 24-21 with fewer than six minutes left to play. For the second straight week in a similar situation, Jones couldn’t even get a first down, much less a touchdown, or even a field goal to send the game to overtime. Instead, Jones took a sack, completed a short pass and overthrew a ball on third down, forcing head coach David Cutcliffe to send out his punt team, The Blue Devils' offense never got the ball back.
Jones also missed an open receiver in the end zone on a second-down play in the second quarter, which would have given Duke a lead. Instead, the Blue Devils opted to attempt a field goal, which was blocked and returned 75 yards by Virginia Tech's Adonis Alexander for a touchdown, giving the Hokies a 14-7 lead.
The bottom line: Jones played well enough in both facets to engineer a strong comeback and put the Blue Devils in position to upset Virginia Tech, but couldn’t close the deal. Additionally, a Jones-led offense stalled in the first half, punting on four of six drives, which forced Duke to play from behind.
Honorable mention: Sophomore linebacker Ben Humphreys anchored a Blue Devil defense that kept the offense in game, racking up 16 tackles, including nine solo tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss. He made a key open-field tackle on the Hokies’ second-to-last drive, which helped set up one final chance for Jones to win the game. Saturday marked Humphreys’ fourth double-digit tackle performance in his last five games.
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Managing Editor 2018-19, 2019-2020 Features & Investigations Editor
A member of the class of 2020 hailing from San Mateo, Calif., Ben is The Chronicle's Towerview Editor and Investigations Editor. Outside of the Chronicle, he is a public policy major working towards a journalism certificate, has interned at the Tampa Bay Times and NBC News and frequents Pitchforks.