DURHAM, N.C. (AP) -Virginia Tech’s top rusher couldn’t get anything going. At times, the defense had trouble stopping Duke.
Good thing for the Hokies that Tyrod Taylor found his passing touch.
It took a career day from the junior quarterback to avoid what would have been a huge letdown against the Blue Devils. Taylor passed for 327 yards in the Hokies’ 34-26 victory Saturday, a day when Virginia Tech nearly fell into a trap.
The Hokies (4-1, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) had numerous penalties and trouble getting their ground game started.
Taylor, often maligned for his inability to pass, threw two long touchdowns and put up big numbers that seemingly surprised everyone except himself.
“I never surprise myself,” he said. “I go out there and play the game. I look forward to games like this. We’ve just done a good job of executing.”
Especially when the Hokies needed a big play.
ump the Blue Devils’ cornerbacks and beat them with athletic plays. The most impressive was the second TD, a 28-yard toss to Jarrett Boykin in which the wideout and Duke’s Leon Wright seemed to simultaneously catch the ball before Boykin wrestled it away in the end zone.
“Trying to get the ball down the field, that was big,” coach Frank Beamer said. “That’s got to be big in our offense.”
Taylor’s conversion on a third-and-34 had the stadium buzzing.
He found Boykin streaking through the Duke secondary for a 64-yard gain, and that seemed to suck the life out of the upset-minded Blue Devils fans who made up only a fraction of an otherwise maroon-and-orange-dominated crowd at Wallace Wade Stadium.
“It’s pretty amazing that our guys were as inspired as they played for 60 minutes, and they’re able to do that despite the opposing team in their home stadium having more fans than you’ve got,” Duke coach David Cutcliffe said. “You can’t let a quarterback stay as comfortable as Taylor did.”
Tech needed that kind of production because its rushing game struggled against a Duke defense determined to stop it. Ryan Williams, the nation’s No. 6 rusher, was held to 83 yards – 40 fewer than his average – by a Blue Devils team that packed around the line of scrimmage and dared Taylor to beat them.
He did.
Beamer said.
The Hokies finished with 477 total yards, a big number that overshadowed their season-high 12 penalties and the uncommonly big stats allowed by a traditionally stingy defense. Duke gained 359 yards and two touchdowns through the air; Tech entered having allowed only one passing touchdown all season.
“I’m not happy, but I’m not angry,” Hokies defensive coordinator Bud Foster said. “We won the game.”
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