Virginia Tech (12)... 13 21 9 0 - 43 Duke................. 7 0 0 7 - 14 Scoring Summary: 1st Quarter 09:43 VT - Dunlevy 42 yd FG 06:48 VT - Dunlevy 44 yd FG 05:36 VT - Morgan 19 yd pass from Taylor (Dunlevy) 00:56 DU - Lewis 1 yd run (Maggio) 2nd Quarter 09:25 VT - Lewis 5 yd run (Dunlevy) 06:40 VT - Royal 25 yd pass from Glennon (Dunlevy) 05:42 VT - Ore 2 yd run (Dunlevy) 3rd Quarter 11:25 VT - Dunlevy 29 yd FG 01:11 VT - Morgan 40 yd pass from Glennon (Dunlevy) 3rd Quarter 13:33 DU - King 19 yd pass from Lewis (Maggio)
Durham, NC – #12 Virginia Tech used an offensive boost from an unexpected source to down the Duke Blue Devils 43-14 in Durham on Saturday afternoon. Sean Glennon stepped in for the injured Tyrod Taylor early in the second quarter and had a big game, helping the Hokies get the win. Tech improved to 6-1 overall and 3-0 in the ACC with the win, and are now bowl eligible for the 15th straight season.
Tyrod Taylor went down with a high ankle sprain on the last play of Tech’s first drive in the second quarter. Sean Glennon entered the game on Tech’s next drive and led the Hokies to a touchdown. He finished the game 16-of-21 for 258 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions. He played most of the second quarter and all of the third quarter, before giving way to Cory Holt.
Taylor also played well in his limited time. He was 5-of-7 for 88 yards and a touchdown, and also rushed for 15 yards.
Virginia Tech’s receivers finally played a prominent role in the offense this season. Eddie Royal led the team with six catches for 90 yards, including a 25 yard touchdown reception from Sean Glennon. Josh Morgan had four catches for 68 yards, including touchdown receptions of 19 yards and 40 yards. Justin Harper added five receptions for 62 yards, and Josh Hyman had one catch for 20 yards.
Tight end Sam Wheeler was also a major factor, with four catches for 94 yards. The Hokies threw for 346 yards as a team.
The running game didn’t go as well, with Tech totaling just 99 yards on the ground and averaging 2.6 yards per carry. Branden Ore had 17 carries for 37 yards. Dustin Pickle had two carries for 15 yards, and Kenny Lewis, Jr. added 13 yards on five carries.
Tech’s defense played very well, limiting the Duke offense to just 194 yards of total offense. Quarterback Thad Lewis, one of the top quarterbacks in the ACC, had a tough day. He finished 13-of-24 for 119 yards, with one touchdown and one interception.
Brett Warren, stepping in for the injured Vince Hall, was arguably Tech’s defensive MVP. He finished with 11 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, a sack, and had an interception that he returned 24 yards.
Tech had five sacks on the day. Orion Martin and Carlton Powell each had 1.5 sacks, while Chris Ellis had one as well. Ellis currently leads the team with five sacks. The r-senior has already topped his 4.5 sack total of 2006.
Recap
The Hokies drove for their first score on their first possession. After forcing Duke to go three and out on the game’s first possession, Tyrod Taylor took over on his own 35 yard line. On the first play of the drive, he hit Eddie Royal for a nine yard gain. Later in the drive he found Royal again down field for a 22 yard gain. Those were the key plays in the drive, but the Hokies were ultimately stopped and had to settle for a Jud Dunlevy 42 yard field goal that made the score 3-0.
Duke went three and out again on their next possession, and a bad 27 yard punt by Kevin Jones gave the Hokies the ball on Duke’s 44 yard line. However, Tech couldn’t take advantage of it, and instead settled for another Dunlevy field goal. This time Dunlevy was good from 44 yards, and the Hokies led 6-0 with 6:48 left in the first quarter.
The Hokies made a big play on special teams on the ensuing kickoff. Jabari Marshall dropped the kickoff, and the ball bounced forward to Tech’s Dorian Porch, who recovered it on Duke’s 23 yard line. Porch caught it on the bounce and ran it into the end zone untouched, but a muffed kick can’t be advanced, so the Hokies took over where Porch caught the ball.
Facing third and six from the Duke 19, Tyrod Taylor found Josh Morgan for a 19 yard touchdown strike. It was Taylor’s third touchdown pass of the year and Morgan’s first touchdown reception of the year. Dunlevy’s extra point made the score 13-0 with 5:36 left in the first quarter.
Duke got on the scoreboard on their next possession. Thad Lewis was very efficient on the drive, going 3-of-4 for 49 yards. The big play of the drive came on a 28 yard pass to Austin Kelly to the Tech four yard line. On fourth and goal from the one yard line, Lewis was able to find the end zone on a quarterback sneak. Tech’s lead was cut to 13-7 with 56 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
The Hokies got off to a good start on their next drive, with Tyrod Taylor hitting Sam Wheeler for a 33 yard gain to the Duke 36. Taylor later had a 12 yard run for another first down, but the drive fizzed out when Taylor was sacked on third down on the 25 by Vince Oghobaase. This was the play where Taylor was injured. He got up and limped gingerly off the field, and Sean Glennon began to warm up.
Unfortunately for the Hokies, Jud Dunelvy’s 42 yard field goal attempt sailed wide left. The score remained 13-7 early in the second quarter.
Duke went three and out on their next drive, and Glennon took over the Tech offense on his own 24. His first play of the game was a 12 yard completion to Kenny Lewis. Offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring continued to call pass plays for Glennon, who hit Josh Hyman for a 20 yard gain, and then Eddie Royal for a 16 yard gain. Glennon’s first three plays of the game gained three Hokie first downs.
Glennon later hit Justin Harper for a 21 yard gain to the Duke 5, and from there Kenny Lewis took it to the house for a touchdown, putting the Hokies up 20-7 with 9:25 left in the second quarter.
Duke’s next drive was another three and out, and Kevin Jones had another bad punt. This one was a 23 yarder that went out of bounds at the Duke 48. Glennon and the Tech offense were able to take advantage. Four plays into the drive, Glennon found former high school teammate Eddie Royal for a 25 yard touchdown pass to put the Hokies up 27-7 with 6:40 left in the half.
BeamerBall struck again on Duke’s next drive. After going three and out, Duke lined up to punt. Sophomore cornerback Stephan Virgil came flying off the edge untouched and blocked the punt, and the ball rolled out of bounds at the Duke 2. Branden Ore scored from there on the first play, and the Hokies increased their lead to 34-7. They took that lead into the halftime.
Virginia Tech got the ball first to start the second half, and they quickly added to their lead. Glennon hit Sam Wheeler on a perfectly thrown deep ball over the middle for a 38 yard gain to the Duke 31. Tech picked up one more first down on the drive, but eventually had to settle for a 29 yard field goal from Dunlevy. The Hokies led 37-7 with 11:25 left in the third quarter.
Later in the quarter, the Hokies had perhaps their most impressive touchdown drive of the season. The drive began on their own 20, and Tech promptly marched 80 yards for a touchdown. Glennon steadily drove his team down the field, completing passes of 13 and 11 yards to Justin Harper, and 13 yards to Eddie Royal.
On first down from the Duke 40, Glennon fired deep to Josh Morgan. Morgan made the catch in the back of the end zone, despite being nearly tackled by a Duke defensive back before the ball arrived. Pass interference was called, but it didn’t matter. Dunlevy missed this extra point attempt, and Tech led 43-7 with 1:22 left in the third quarter.
From there, the Tech offense went into conservative mode, and the Hokies went on to win the game 43-14.
In other college football news, #1 LSU lost to Kentucky, and #2 Cal lost to Oregon State. Ohio State will move up to #1 in the next poll, and Tech’s next opponent, Boston College, will likely move up to #2. The Eagles are off next week before traveling to Lane Stadium on Thursday, October 25. If Ohio State happens to get upset by Michigan State next Saturday, which isn’t out of the question considering how college football has gone this year, it’s possible Boston College could be ranked #1 when they travel south to take on the Hokies.
Tyrod Taylor’s status at this point is not clear. He was in a protective walking boot after the game. The Hokies are off this week, before facing the highly-ranked Eagles on October 25.
STATISTICS
VT DU
---- ----
First downs 21 13
Rushed-yards 38-99 36-72
Passing yards 346 122
Sacked-yards lost 4-15 5-26
Return yards 57 191
Passes 21-30-1 14-28-1
Punts 4-40.5 10-31.6
Fumbles-lost 1-1 2-2
Penalties-yards 7-95 3-24
Time of possession 28:57 31:03
Att: 23,691
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-Virginia Tech, Ore 17-37
Pickle 2-15, Taylor 5-15, Lewis 5-13, Royal 1-11
Cheeseman 1-7, Glennon 4-4, Holt 1-0, Team 1-(-1)
Hyman 1-(-2). DU, Boyette 8-42, Boyle 9-29
Drummer 7-12, Riley 1-6, Lewis 11-(-17).
PASSING-Virginia Tech, Taylor 5-7-88
Glennon 16-21-258, Holt, 0-2-0-1.
DU, Lewis 13-24-119-1, Asack 1-4-3.
RECEIVING-Virginia Tech, Royal 6-90,
Harper 5-62, Wheeler 4-94, Morgan 4-68, Hyman 1-20
Lewis 1-12. DU, Riley 3-37, King 2-25, Boyette 2-4
Kelly 1-28, Harris 1-13, Boyle 1-8, Stefanow 1-5
Wright 1-3, Huffman 1-3, Drummer 1-(-4).
Tech Sideline is Presented By: