Virginia Tech 24, Duke 3
When: 7:20 PM ET, Saturday, October 28, 2017
Where: Lane Stadium, Blacksburg, Virginia
Temperature:
58°
Head Official:
Jeff Flanagan
Attendance:
60914
By The Sports Xchange
BLACKSBURG, Va. -- A steady rainfall saturated Lane Stadium on Saturday night, but it didn't affect No. 13 Virginia Tech's ability to fight off Duke.
The Hokies (7-1, 3-1) dominated on defense and protected the football in a sloppy 24-3 victory.
"It was a lot of fun actually. It was like being a kid again," Tech quarterback Josh Jackson said.
Tech outgained Duke (4-5, 1-5) 387-183 and forced two turnovers to break a two-game home losing streak to the Blue Devils.
The Hokies, meanwhile, didn't turn the ball over once.
"Obviously if we hold onto the ball and take care of the ball, I really like it," Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster said. "That's always the challenge with these kind of conditions."
Duke suffered its fifth straight loss, its longest losing streak since dropping five straight to end the 2012 season.
The Blue Devils must win two of their final three games to become bowl eligible.
"We are very intentional of going to a bowl game. We're very confident we're going to do it," Duke quarterback Daniel Jones said. "This team is talented and we have a lot of winners in our locker room and a lot of people capable of getting this season back where it needs to be."
Jackson passed for 200 yards and one touchdown. He also rushed for Tech's only second-half score on a 6-yard run in the third quarter.
Jackson led an offense that reached Duke territory on 11 of 13 possessions, but Tech turned that into only a modest scoring output.
The Hokies took advantage of the wet conditions by rushing for 187 yards and two scores.
Sophomore running back Deshawn McClease ran for a career-high 75 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries.
McClease was back after missing last week's game with an illness. He had a career-long 23-yard run in the second quarter.
Jones passed for 82 yards and also led the Blue Devils with 65 yards on the ground.
The Blue Devils reached Tech territory only three times. The Hokies defense had nine tackles for loss, including one sack.
A costly personal foul penalty by Duke running back Shaun Wilson late in the second quarter gave Virginia Tech the time it needed to score right before halftime to take a 17-3 lead into intermission.
Wilson was stopped short in bounds on a third-down run with 42 seconds remaining in the second quarter, but the clock stopped when he was flagged.
The Hokies took advantage of that short window of time with a quick touchdown drive that featured a 16-yard pass from Jackson to wide receiver Eric Kumah and a 26-yard touchdown completion to wideout Sean Savoy.
The touchdowns gave Virginia Tech a more comfortable cushion after a close contest for much of the first two quarters.
"It's always tough whenever they get points going into a half because you feel it in the locker room, but it didn't really phase us," Blue Devils center Austin Davis said. "We knew we were going to go out there and it was going to be a four-quarter fight."
The Hokies scored on their second possession to take a 7-0 lead. Virginia Tech put together a nine-play, 71-yard drive that resulted in a 4-yard touchdown run by McClease with 5:06 remaining in the first quarter.
Hokies kicker Joey Slye booted a 34-yard field goal early in the second quarter to extend the lead to 10-0. Tech started that possession from Duke's 19-yard line thanks to a forced fumble by linebacker Mook Reynolds that was recovered by defensive end Trevon Hill.
Duke cut the deficit to 10-3 on Austin Parker's 31-yard field goal with 5:09 remaining in the second quarter.
NOTES: Virginia Tech QB Josh Jackson broke Michael Vick's record for most passing yards in a season by a Hokies freshman. Vick had 1,840 yards in 1999. Jackson entered Saturday's game with 1,832. ... Duke's defense stonewalled Tech on two fourth-down conversion attempts in the first half. ... Hokies RB Steven Peoples started after missing the previous three games with an ankle injury. He had two runs for 7 yards and one catch for 6 yards before leaving in the first quarter with a foot sprain. He didn't return. ... Virginia Tech WR Cam Phillips has caught a pass in a school-record 35 straight games.
Top Game Performances
Team Stats Summary
| |
Yards |
Scoring |
Defense |
| Team |
Tot |
Rus |
Pas |
TD |
FG |
INT |
Sck |
FF |
| Duke
|
183 |
101 |
82 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1.0 |
0 |
| Virginia Tech
|
387 |
187 |
200 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1.0 |
1 |
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