When Duke traveled to Blacksburg, Va. last season to take on Virginia Tech, the Blue Devils raised eyebrows when they narrowly fell to the reigning ACC champions.
And even though head coach David Cutcliffe’s team has made significant strides since that game, the No. 6 Hokies arrived in Durham with an entourage in the thousands anticipating an easy victory at Wallace Wade Stadium.
Cutcliffe’s squad, however, had very different expectations of the matchup. Even against one of the top teams in the nation, the Blue Devils knew they could be competitive—and as it turned out, they were right.
On Saturday, Virginia Tech barely edged Duke 34-26 in the Blue Devils’ first conference game of the season. Just like in last fall’s contest, the Blue Devils (2-3, 0-1 in the ACC) managed to stay in the game for its duration before eventually falling to the heavily favored Hokies (4-1, 2-0).
“I am really proud of the effort,” Cutcliffe said. “I thought the staff did a really fine job preparing our team. We had good plans on both sides of the ball. It’s pretty amazing our guys played as inspired as they did for 60 minutes. To be able to do that despite the opposing team having more fans than you got is pretty impressive.”
The Blue Devils jumped out to an early 7-0 lead when quarterback Thaddeus Lewis connected with a wide-open Brandon King for a 48-yard touchdown with 2:48 remaining in the first quarter. Duke featured a strong aerial attack throughout Saturday’s game as Lewis threw for 359 yards and two touchdowns on 22-of-40 passing.
Virginia Tech quickly responded as Hokie quarterback Tyrod Taylor lofted a 36-yard touchdown pass to receiver Danny Coale nearly two minutes later. With 6:04 remaining in the second quarter, Taylor, who also had over 300 yards passing, threw for his second touchdown on a 28-yard strike to Jarrett Boykin, who killed the Blue Devils’ secondary all game with 144 yards receiving on six receptions.
After the Hokies added a field goal to increase their lead to 17-7, Duke placekicker Will Snyderwine knocked the first of his four field goals through the uprights to cut the lead to 17-10 at halftime.
Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, they could never overcome the deficit.
“I’m definitely proud of those guys,” Lewis said of his teammates. “They never quit. They kept playing and that’s what you want to see out of a football game. It makes you feel good to be able to trust that guy next to you when you’re in battle.”
Throughout the second half, Duke stayed in the game largely through Snyderwine, who was the first Blue Devil to nail four field goals since Sims Lendhardt in 1999.
Although Duke’s defense executed successfully against the Hokies’ offense for the majority of the game, Virginia Tech got the better of the Blue Devils’ defense in the fourth quarter. Late in that period, the Hokies held a 27-19 advantage. But Hokie running back Josh Oglesby scored on a 19-yard run to increase his team’s lead to 34-19.
Down two scores with two minutes left, Duke could have easily given up. But Duke Football’s new mentaliy does not permit such an attitude as Cutcliffe and his coaching staff have emphasized the importance of always finishing strong.
On the Blue Devils’ final possession, Lewis led a 14-play. 90-yard drive capped off by a touchdown pass from the senior quarterback to junior receiver Austin Kelly.
After failing to recover the onside kick, the team walked off the field hugely disappointed. While satisfied with his team’s performance, Cutcliffe and the rest of the team are no longer content with just keeping the score close.
“There are no moral victories at Duke, regardless of what anybody’s opinion is,” he said.
In Cutcliffe’s mind, a loss is a loss. But after competing on such a high level with the nation’s sixth-best team and the reigning ACC champion, the rest of Duke’s season looks bright.
“When you play a team like [Virginia Tech], they are going to hit you in the mouth,” Cutcliffe said. “It’s not so much whether you hit them all the time, it’s how you respond.”
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