Duke................. 0 0 0 0 - 0 Virginia Tech (14)... 13 10 7 6 - 36 Scoring Summary: 1st Quarter 12:59 VT - Ore 1 yd run (Kick blocked) 00:39 VT - Royal 58 yd punt return (Pace kick) 2nd Quarter 11:02 VT - Pace 42 yd FG 02:49 VT - Wheeler 17 yd pass from Glennon (Pace kick) 3rd Quarter 07:17 VT - Morgan 25 yd pass from Glennon (Pace kick) 4th Quarter 10:55 VT - Kenny Lewis 2 yd run (Kick blocked)
Blacksburg, VA — #14 Virginia Tech rode a stingy defense and a much improved offense to a 36-0 victory over the Duke Blue Devils on Saturday afternoon in Lane Stadium. The Hokies have now shutout Duke in two consecutive seasons. The win moves Tech to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the ACC. Duke drops to 0-3 and 0-2 in ACC play.
The Duke offense could never manage to move the football against the Hokie defense. Tech held the Blue Devils to just 139 yards of total offense for the game. Duke had just 58 yards on the ground and averaged 1.4 yards per carry.
Bud Foster’s unit spent the entire afternoon in Duke’s backfield, amassing 11 tackles for loss, including an amazing eight sacks. R-freshman defensive end William Wall had three sacks, while cornerback Brandon Flowers added two. Brenden Hill added 1.5 sacks, and Orion Martin had half a sack. Wall also forced a fumble.
Vince Hall led Tech in tackles with seven. Brandon Flowers added six tackles and broke up a pass.
Sean Glennon showed a lot of improvement from the UNC game, repeatedly attacking the Duke secondary down the field. Glennon completed 15 of 25 passes for 301 yards, with two touchdown passes and one interception. He had one scramble for six yards, and he was not sacked during the game.
Glennon’s receivers made plenty of big plays for him. David Clowney led the team in receiving with four catches for 120 yards. Josh Morgan had four receptions for 69 yards and a touchdown, and Eddie Royal had two catches for 55 yards. Justin Harper added two catches for 30 yards, and Josh Hyman got into the act with one reception for 18 yards. Tight end Sam Wheeler caught two passes for 25 yards and a touchdown.
As expected, the Duke front seven did a very good job against the Tech running game. Branden Ore had 15 carries for 64 yards and a touchdown, but no other running back was able to get on track. Kenny Lewis had six carries for 16 yards and a touchdown. Elan Lewis, who is serving as Ore’s top backup, had six carries for two yards.
The Tech offense racked up 418 total yards on the day, with 102 coming on the ground and 316 through the air. This was Virginia Tech’s best offensive output of the season, from a yardage standpoint.
Perhaps the only downside of the game for the Hokies came on extra points. Brandon Pace had two PATs blocked during the game.
Recap
Virginia Tech didn’t waste a lot of time getting on the scoreboard. On the first play from scrimmage at their own 35 yard line, Glennon escaped pressure in the backfield and fired a pass down the right sideline to a wide open David Clowney. Clowney hauled in the pass and was tackled on the five yard line for a 60 yard gain.
One pass interference call and three Branden Ore runs later, and the Hokies were in the end zone, as Ore barely made it over the goal line on a one yard run right up the middle. Brandon Pace’s extra point attempt was blocked, and the Hokies led 6-0 early in the game.
The Hokies moved the ball down the field on their next drive, taking it all the way to the Duke 40 yard line. However a Sean Glennon pass intended for Justin Harper near the goal line was intercepted by John Talley. It was Talley’s third pick against Virginia Tech in as many years. The First Team All-ACC cornerback now has interceptions against Bryan Randall, Marcus Vick and Sean Glennon.
The Hokies found the end zone near the end of the quarter as well. Duke punter Alex Feinberg launched a punt that Eddie Royal fielded on the bounce at the Tech 42 yard line. Royal made several great moves on the return, followed his blockers, broke a tackle, reversed field and outran the Duke coverage team to the end zone for a 58 yard punt return. Pace’s extra point made the score 13-0 Hokies with 39 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Tech added a field goal early in the second quarter. Glennon hit Josh Hyman on a screen pass, and Hyman reversed his field and gained 18 yards to the Duke 44 yard line. Josh Morgan then caught a 14 yard pass to the Duke 30, but Tech’s drive stalled and Brandon Pace nailed a 42 yard field goal. With 11:02 remaining in the second quarter, the Hokies led 16-0.
Tech’s next drive was their most impressive of the game. Starting on their own 13 yard line, Sean Glennon led the Hokies down the field with accuracy and precision. First Glennon hit Eddie Royal with a pass up the seam, which Royal turned into a 41 yard gain. On the next play, Glennon hit Sam Wheeler for an eight yard gain to the Duke 41 yard line.
The Hokies drove to Duke’s 17 yard line, and from there Glennon hit Sam Wheeler again on a post pattern for a 17 yard touchdown. Pace’s extra point made the score 23-0 with 2:49 left in the second quarter. Glennon was 4-4 for 75 yards and a touchdown on the drive. Tech would take the 23-0 lead into halftime.
Tech’s defense and special teams setup the first Hokie touchdown of the second half. Duke began a drive at their own 14 yard line with 10:45 left in the third quarter. On the first play of the drive, Noland Burchette sacked Duke quarterback Marcus Jones for a four yard loss. Duke running back Justin Boyle was stopped for a four yard loss on the next play. On third down, the Hokies brought Brandon Flowers on the cornerback blitz and he sacked Jones for a three yard loss.
A delay of game penalty then forced Duke to punt from their own two yard line. Eddie Royal fielded the punt at the Blue Devil 42 yard line and returned it to the 22 yard line. Three plays later Sean Glennon found Josh Morgan in the end zone for a 22 yard touchdown pass. Pace’s extra point made the score 30-0 Hokies with 7:17 remaining in the third quarter.
Tech’s final touchdown came in the fourth quarter. The drive started at Tech’s 16 line, and Sean Glennon got the job done on the drive, converting three third and longs for first downs.
The drive began with 3:09 left in the third quarter, and Glennon’s first conversion came on third and nine from the Tech 17 yard line when he found David Clowney for a 28 yard gain. He later converted a third and 13 when he found Justin Harper for a 15 yard gain. Later in the drive the Hokies faced a third and 10 from the Duke 30 yard line, and he found Clowney again for an 11 yard gain.
The Hokies were 5 of 10 on third down conversions during the game, and three of the successful conversions came on this drive. Kenny Lewis capped the drive with a two yard touchdown run, but Pace’s extra point attempt was blocked again, and the Hokies went on to win 36-0.
The Hokies return to action next Saturday when they host the Cincinnati Bearcats. Kickoff is scheduled for noon, and the game will be televised by ESPNU.
STATISTICS
VT DU
---- ----
First downs 22 12
Rushed-yards 33-102 41-58
Passing yards 316 81
Sacked-yards lost 0-0 8-44
Return yards 141 40
Passes 16-27-1 8-14-0
Punts 2-40.0 8-42.1
Fumbles-lost 2-0 3-1
Penalties-yards 9-85 7-43
Time of possession 25:54 34:06
Att: 66,233
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-Virginia Tech, Ore 15-64,
K.Lewis 6-16, Whitaker 2-8, Weatherford 1-8
Glennon 1-6, E.Lewis 6-2, Allen 1-1.
DU, Boyle 10-36, Robinson 7-32, Harris 5-18
Boyette 1-(-1), Jones 10-(-7), Lewis 8-(-20).
PASSING-Virginia Tech, Glennon 15-25-301-1,
Whitaker 1-1-15. DU, Jones 6-8-71, Lewis 2-6-10
RECEIVING-Virginia Tech, Clowney 4-120,
Morgan 4-69, Royal 2-55, Harper 2-30
Wheeler 2-25, Hyman 1-18, Ore 1-(-1)
DU, Stefanow 3-21, Riley 2-45, Boyle 1-6
Wright 1-5, Chestnut 1-4.
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