I thought it was over.  When Tony Gregory bobbled that football and Jordon Byas grabbed it and returned it for a touchdown, I couldn’t help but think that any hope of salvaging the season was over.  Duke was up 20-0, and after two straight losses to Cincinnati and UNC, I really didn’t think the Hokies had the mental fortitude to right the ship.

I did a little math in my head, and figured that if the Hokies did indeed go on to lose to Duke, they would probably lose their next three games against Clemson, Miami and FSU as well.  That would mean six consecutive losses, and seven losses out of eight games total.  That thought was simply unfathomable a couple of months back.

Fortunately, we don’t have to worry about such thoughts now.  The Hokies started running the football on their very next drive, Logan Thomas connected with Marcus Davis on a deep ball, Martin Scales punched it in from four yards out, and Tech was back in the game.  Not only were they back in it, they dominated it, outscoring Duke 41-0 after that tough start.

For as many big plays as the Hokies hit through the air, this game was won in the trenches.  J.C. Coleman ran for 183 yards, and Duke could not stop the Tech running game all day.  However, to me the most important part of the game was the way the defensive line played.

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