DURHAM, N.C. – The No. 19 Duke Blue Devils suffered a 17-16 loss to the Virginia Tech Hokies at Wallace Wade Stadium on Saturday.
The loss was the first at home for the Blue Devils on the season and first since Sept. 21, 2013 (Pittsburgh, 58-55).
On the stats sheet and on the field it was a closely contested game, and one which shone bright lights on the slightest mistakes made.
The Blue Devils (8-2, 4-2) had made few of those throughout the season, but the miscues they presented as the game played on against a tenacious Hokies (5-5, 2-4) squad were costly.
“The things we pride ourselves in — taking care of the ball, no lost yardage plays, no sacks — didn’t happen,” Duke head coach David Cutcliffe said.
“I am responsible to see that we are ready in all that regard. That’s the end of the story. That’s the end of a one-point loss to an annual foe. Our players played hard, I don’t have to look at the tape to know that.”
Duke place kicker Ross Martin, the team’s leading point scorer this season and all-time, converted three field goal attempts, but his two missed attempts, including a 40-yarder that could have won the game, stood out in particular.
Running back Josh Snead (9 carries, 54 yards) rushed for the Blue Devils’ lone touchdown of the game in the first quarter, but the running game was slowed after that point.
In leading the aerial attack, quarterback Anthony Boone threw many missed passes and completed 18-of-40 pass attempts for 181 yards while being intercepted twice and sacked four times – all occurrences that hadn’t happened to that extent in one game throughout the season.
On the other side of the ball, Virginia Tech quarterback Michael Brewer eventually proved to be more effective.
Even by being sacked six times and intercepted once, Brewer finished the game 12-of-23 and threw for 138 yards and two touchdowns.
Bottom line, it was a much closer game than many had anticipated, particularly with the number of turnovers and defensive lapses that the Blue Devils had.
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Everything looked very positive early on as Duke scored on its first drive of the game with Martin’s first field goal from 36 yards out coming just three minutes into the game.
Snead then helped to move the ball during the Blue Devils’ second possession, carrying for 18 and 16 yards before scoring to put Duke farther ahead, 10-0, with 8:06 remaining.
Duke dominated Virginia Tech throughout the quarter, racking up 176 total yards to the Hokeis’ 40 and finishing two-for-two in the red zone.
Boone posted 90 all-purpose yards, while Snead had five carries for 58 yards and the lone touchdown.
Then, Duke’s pace started to slow.
The second quarter was the exact opposite as Virginia Tech took control offensively, while Duke struggled.
The Hokies got on the board with 9:49 to play in the half when Brewer lofted a ball high towards receiver Isaiah Ford who got airborne and claimed the ball in the end zone over Duke’s Breon Borders (6 tackles, 1 INT).
The play narrowed the score to 10-7.
Boone struggled with his passing and threw for an interception just outside the Virginia Tech end zone.
With 1:11 remaining, Martin missed his first field goal in 15 tries, a 51-yard attempt that kept the Duke lead at three points.
With the Hokies threatening to keep their final drive going towards the end zone, safety Jeremy Cash (7 tackles, 2 sacks, 3 TFL, 1 PBU) broke through the line on the Blue Devils’ blitz and sacked Brewer for a loss with eight seconds left.
The play helped to keep Duke ahead as both teams proceeded to their locker rooms for halftime.
Duke’s offensive troubles continued in the second half, and eventually resulted with consequence.
However, not before the Blue Devils put some positive plays together.
A fumble by Snead was recovered by the Blue Devils.
Martin kept the ship moving in the right direction forward as he put up 48-yard and 24-yard field goals to extend the Duke lead to 16-7 during the third quarter.
Borders made up for getting beat on the Hokies’ earlier touchdown when he intercepted a Baker pass at the two-minute mark and put the Blue Devils in good field position.
Then, it seemed that the football gods decided to give Duke unanticipated challenges that i couldn’t overcome.
The possession off the Borders pickoff was short-lived as Boone was intercepted on a hurry-up play that was tipped and caught by the Hokies’ Derek DiNardo who ran the ball 51 yards before Max McCaffrey (3 catches, 47 yards) stopped him at the Duke nine-yard line.
The Hokies eventually converted on the opportunity with a 46-yard field goal from Joey Slye, after Brewer was tackled for a 10-yard loss by Kyler Brown (3 tackles, 1 sack, 1 TFL).
The score cut the Duke lead back to six points, 16-10, as the quarter ended.
Another Duke turnover to start the fourth quarter, a fumble on the kickoff by DeVon Edwards (3 returns, 57 yards) gave Virginia Tech the ball on the Blue Devils’ 31-yard line and threatening to take the lead.
Similar to the Hokies’ first touchdown play, Brewer threw a pass to tight end Bucky Hodges who beat safety Deondre Singleton (8 tackles, 8 PBU’s) to the soft spot in the Duke secondary and made a 26-yard reception at the Duke three-yard line.
After a holding call, the Hokies took their first lead of the game when Brewer connected with Hodges in the end zone with 12:47 to play.
“There were several plays that really went against us today,” Duke linebacker David Helton (9 tackles, 1.5 TFL) said.
“They were doing some route combinations that were a little confusing for our secondary. They were kind of bitin’ on different things that they maybe not should have. I think they just had a few breakdowns back there, especially on that touchdown pass – a little miscommunication.”
Trailing 17-16 and with ample time to win the game, Duke’s defense worked to deny Virginia Tech any further scores, but the Blue Devils couldn’t finish the job offensively.
Boone struggled to get Duke’s drives to finish, even with exceptional gains in between.
Virginia Tech’s offense wasn’t much more productive or impressive either.
When forced to punt the ball on a fourth down with 16 yards to go, the Hokies attempted a surprising fake kick-pass play from punter A.J. Hughes.
The play gained 10 yards, but was not enough and gave Duke the ball back on its 42-yard line with 3:44 to play.
It was the opportune time for Duke to right all of its wrongs and to pull out the dramatic, storybook ending that many of the 30,107 in attendance wanted to see.
However, the 40-yard field goal attempt that many thought would have been the game changer was missed by Martin and kept the Hokies ahead by one with 2:26 to play.
“I missed it,” Martin said.
“It went left. I probably lifted my head up too quickly and looked up and it definitely wasn’t goin’ in.”
Even though Duke got the ball back again at its 40-yard line after Virginia Tech couldn’t advance the ball on its possession, consecutive penalties pushed the Blue Devils farther back.
Boone was smothered by an energized Virginia Tech defense for losses on consecutive downs that finally ended Duke’s attempt to win.
“They were well prepared,” Cutcliffe said of the Hokies.
“They played well when they had to, made plays in every phase when they had to. That’s ultimately why they won the game. Our formula, and you all know it, 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.”