BLACKSBURG, Va. — David Cutcliffe stared straight ahead as he sat with his hands on his temples and his elbows on the table in the postgame press conference.
“I would have just about bet my life on us playing extremely well,” he said. “Losing is never easy to take. But when you digress as a squad a little, I think it bothers you more.”
Going into the matchup against No. 23 Virginia Tech (6-2, 4-0 in the ACC), the Blue Devils felt like they were as well prepared as they have been for any game this season. Afterward, though, Duke (1-6, 0-4) came off the field with a season-low 208 yards of total offense, its worst defensive performance in a month and a special teams unit that yielded a 61-yard punt return in the first quarter.
The preparation had not translated into success on the field. Duke lost 44-7.
That type of performance, especially when it comes as such a surprise, can leave lasting emotional ramifications. Cutcliffe’s thoughts were foremost on the mental state of the team.
“That’s right now probably my number one concern,” Cutcliffe said of the psychological effect of the defeat. “I’m looking at a bunch of young men, and I’m not just saying this, that have worked and done everything we’ve asked them to do, and they’re not reaping the benefit of reward. That’s frustrating, and that’s one of the things we’re battling right now. There’s a lot of emotion.”
Cutcliffe pointed to three specific moments, all of which occurred on three consecutive drives in the first half that led his team into the locker room down 27-0 and in a state of shock.
The first came with about 4:30 remaining in the first quarter. Virginia Tech’s Jayron Hosley fielded Alex King’s 40-yard punt at the Hokies’ 20-yard line. Hosley weaved through Duke’s special teams unit all the way down to the Blue Devils’ 19-yard line. Less than 3 minutes later, the Hokies had a 14-0 lead. Duke’s offense, meanwhile, had only amassed 44 yards of total offense.
“It kind of hit us hard,” Daniels said. “We weren’t expecting that at all.”
The second play Cutcliffe emphasized was Brandon Connette’s interception that led to Virginia Tech’s third touchdown. Connette, who had only attempted 10 passes coming into the game, tried to force a pass under pressure instead of taking a sack on a second-and-10 at his own 34. He threw it right to Hosely, the same player with the long punt return on the last Hokie drive. Virginia Tech capped that drive with seven more points.
Quarterback Tyrod Taylor’s third-down scramble on the Hokies’ next offensive possession was the final element in Duke’s undoing. Taylor—who Cutcliffe called possibly the best quarterback in college football after the game—took off after all of his receivers were covered and gained 36 yards on a third-and-6 play. Chris Hazley kicked a 39-yard field goal to make the score 24-0.
Another field goal from the Hokies two minutes later capped a first half that couldn’t have better defied Duke’s expectations.
“We all would have bet our lives on this performance being a special one,” Cutcliffe said. “We were very confident coming in, and that’s not a false sense of confidence. We knew we were ready. It shows you how quickly something can slip away from you.”
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