Tech dominates Duke 45-0
DURHAM, N.C. - Virginia Tech's defense throttled Duke's offense and quarterback Marcus Vick three touchdown passes as the Hokies blasted Duke 45-0 in an ACC game played Saturday afternoon in front of 25,014 fans at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, N.C.
With the win, the Hokies improved to 2-0 overall on the season and 2-0 in ACC play. The shutout also marked the 11th straight season in which the Hokies have shut out an opponent. Tech beat the Blue Devils, now 0-2 overall on the season (0-1 in the ACC), for the fifth consecutive time.
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Tech also remained unbeaten on the road in ACC play since joining the league (6-0).
"I'm pleased to get the win," Tech head coach Frank Beamer. "Defensively, we played well, and offensively, we played well. And we did some good things in the kicking game.
"We've got two good road wins now, and that means we've got most of our remaining games at Lane Stadium. We've accomplished a lot of things, so now it's a matter of us continuing to work hard and continuing to improve. That's the challenge for us."
Tech's defense gave up well over 400 yards and missed 15 tackles in the season opener against N.C. State, but the Hokies answered any critics in a big way. Tech held Duke to just 35 yards of total offense - the fewest yards allowed by the Hokies in a game in the modern era (post-1950).
How dominant was Tech's defense? The Hokies gave up just 13 yards rushing, intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown, recorded five sacks, and allowed Duke to take just two snaps in Tech territory the entire game.
"We had a great week of practice," defensive end Darryl Tapp said. "We didn't look so great against N.C. State, so we went back to work, had a great week of practice, and turned it up a notch."
On offense, Marcus Vick pretty much took care of things for the Hokies. The redshirt junior from Newport News, Va., completed 12-of-19 for 172 yards, with three touchdowns and one interception. And three of his passes were dropped.
Vick got the Hokies on the board with a 7-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jeff King early in the first quarter. A Roland Minor interception return for a touchdown - the third pick of his career and the second touchdown of his career - gave the Hokies a 14-0 lead late in the first quarter.
Then Vick took over. Early in the second quarter, he fired a 37-yard touchdown strike to Josh Morgan and then added 35-yarder to David Clowney in the third quarter as the Hokies attempted more deep balls than in their previous game against N.C. State.
"We just haven't been hitting them," Vick said. "We came into this game concentrating on trying to get the ball down the field and it worked out for us."
Tech's offense was nearly perfectly balanced - 182 yards passing, 180 yards rushing. Mike Imoh led Tech rushing with 66 yards on eight carries. Both George Bell and Branden Ore scored on short touchdown runs late in the game, and Pace added a field goal to account for the final scoring.
The Hokies get to return home for their next game as Ohio University comes to Blacksburg on Sept. 17th. Kickoff is slated for 3:30 p.m. and the game is scheduled to be televised on ESPNU.