Collegiate Times

Jarrett Boykin (#81) maneuvers around Duke Linebacker Kelby Brown (#59)

In its first Coastal division game of the season, No. 25 Virginia Tech dominated the Duke Blue Devils 44-7 at Lane Stadium.

The Hokies (6-2, 4-0 ACC) reached the endzone four times Saturday before the Blue Devils were able to mount a scoring drive. Senior quarterback Tyrod Taylor connected with redshirt senior tight end Andre Smith for a 14-yard touchdown midway through the first quarter to begin the attack.

“Our quarterback is playing really well, we are a much more consistent football team,” said Frank Beamer, head coach.

Following his record-setting effort against Wake Forest last Saturday, Taylor remained proficient, nearly outdoing his previous performance by completing 13 of 17 passes for 280 yards and three touchdowns.

Taylor’s 43-yard touchdown pass in the second half to junior wide receiver Dyrell Roberts summed up the most efficient ACC passer’s entire game as Taylor exhibited pinpoint control, guiding the ball over the head of the Blue Devils’ most experienced defensive player, redshirt senior cornerback Chris Rwabukamba, directly into the arms of Roberts.

While Taylor executed through the air, the Hokie offense was able to amass 159 rushing yards.

Each of Tech’s three varsity letterman tailbacks found the endzone once on Saturday.

In his first game back from a hamstring injury, running back Ryan Williams ran for 10 yards on six carries and scored on a one-yard touchdown run in the closing minutes of the first quarter.

It was the heralded redshirt sophomore’s first touchdown since the Hokies’ win over East Carolina on Sept. 18.

“I’m probably at 80 percent right now,” Williams said. “It was my decision to come out here, I just wanted to get a feel for the game.”

Sophomore running back David Wilson rushed for 17 yards but was also Tech’s leading receiver on the day. His only catch came on a 65-yard touchdown strike from Taylor in which a review by the officials was needed to determine whether or not a Duke secondary player had knocked the ball out of Wilson’s hands a few yards before the back had crossed the goaline.

Redshirt junior Darren Evans also contributed to the score, rushing for a two-yard touchdown with ten minutes left the first half. Evans accounted for 36 rushing yards, second-best on the team behind Taylor’s 47.

Backup quarterback Logan Thomas entered in the third quarter, relieving Taylor for the third straight game. The redshirt freshman threw for a career-high 52 yards, completing six of 14 pass attempts.

“He just needs to play right now,” Beamer said of Thomas.

Senior rover Davon Morgan led the Hokies with eight tackles while sophomore cornerback Jayron Hosley picked off his ACC-leading fifth pass in the second quarter.

With the defeat, Duke falls to 1-6 overall, 0-4 in-conference, and mathematically loses hope of attaining their first winning season in sixteen years.

On the opening kickoff of the second half, the Blue Devils surprised the Hokies and successfully kicked an onside kick, recovering possession of the ball and allowing those in attendance wearing royal blue a rare opportunity to applaud.

Duke’s only score of the game came with 7:19 left in the third quarter when running back Jay Hollingsworth rushed for a six-yard touchdown.

Duke produced 208 yards of total offense with quarterback Sean Renfree completing 12 passes for 116 yards.

After starting 0-2, the Hokies have now won six straight contests. Tech has a week and a half off before playing its next game against Georgia Tech on Thursday, Nov. 4 under the lights of Lane Stadium.

“Three games ago, I think we had some guys that just assumed we would win the game and kind of played that way, but I don’t think now we felt that,” Beamer said. “We have a little time off here, we need to rest our bodies, rest our minds and we have a critical stretch coming up here starting with Georgia Tech.”

A version of this article appeared in the Oct 26 issue of the Collegiate Times.