Hokies’ win over Blue Devils a sloppy success

DURHAM, N.C. -- The winning team left Wallace Wade Stadium yesterday and walked the length of a practice field to reach its locker room, as all visiting squads at Duke do. The players and coaches proceeded mostly in silence. Some made small talk. None shouted or screamed, hooted or hollered.

None sprinted toward the locker room to celebrate the victory. If they weren't wearing uniforms, they could have been mistaken for a team that just finished a routine Wednesday practice.

Virginia Tech achieved its bottom-line result yesterday by beating Duke 34-26. The sixth-ranked Hokies improved their record to 2-0 in the ACC, 4-1 overall, with an invigorated passing game that used a play hatched at halftime to secure the win.

But parts of how they got there left some of them unable to rejoice. Too many penalties -- 12 for 105 yards. Too many missed tackles, missed assignments and, as a result, too many long plays by Duke -- yesterday's most unsettling development for the Hokies, considering their defensive reputation and the Blue Devils' losing streak against ranked teams, now 38 games dating to 1994.

A week after putting together a complete performance in a 31-7 win over Miami, the Hokies had too much missing from yesterday's game, especially for a team with aspirations of winning their third consecutive ACC championship.

They can afford fewer missteps the next two Saturdays, when they host Boston College and travel to Georgia Tech. Nor can they afford a repeat of what defensive coordinator Bud Foster noticed last week, as the Hokies prepared for a game with far less national appeal than their previous opponents: Alabama, Nebraska and Miami.

"I don't know whether it's immaturity or lack of concentration," he said. "But I do know this: I felt like our kids at the end of the week kind of laissez-faire a little bit. I was very, very upset with them at the end of the week."

Not that yesterday was a total wash. Tech's junior quarterback, Tyrod Taylor, and his wide receivers exploited Duke's game plan -- stack the line, stop the run -- by beating one-on-one coverage for Taylor's best passing game as a Hokie: 17 of 22 for a career-high 327 yards and two touchdowns. He threw five passes of 20 yards or longer. Before yesterday, he completed 47.2 percent of his passes this season for 135.5 yards per game.

But Duke (0-1, 2-3) also thrived when throwing. Senior quarterback Thaddeus Lewis passed for 359 yards, including gains of 34, 48, 55 and 74 yards, against a Tech defense that was allowing 160.5 passing yards per game.

In the first quarter, Tech bit on a play-action fake, turning tight end Brandon King's catch 10 yards off the line into a 48-yard touchdown. In the third quarter, cornerback Stephan Virgil missed tackling wide receiver Conner Vernon 10 yards off the line, and Vernon sprinted to Tech's 7 for a 74-yard gain.

"I wouldn't say guys were taking it easy [in practice] or taking those guys light," corner Rashad Carmichael said. "But it wasn't as much focus as it was to go play a Nebraska or a Miami."

The Hokies survived their errors because they answered Duke with long passes when they needed to in the second half.

A field goal pulled Duke to 17-13 with 12:43 left in the third quarter. On Tech's next drive, it faced third down and 34 from its 16. Before the play, a coach told Taylor: "Get the ball down the field, and if the guy intercepts it, make sure you tell your wide receiver to make the tackle." Instead, a pleasant surprise for Tech: Receiver Jarrett Boykin sprinted open for a 62-yard pass that resulted in a field goal.

Another field goal cut Tech's margin to 27-19 when 7:08 remained in the game. Then the Hokies faced a tight spot again: third and 11 from its 36. Coordinator Bryan Stinespring called his newest play. In the first half, Taylor noticed Duke's safety often covering the tight end, leaving the corner one on one with a receiver. Taylor reported this to the offensive coaches at halftime, and they sketched a play that had tight end Greg Boone run a short route, while receiver Danny Coale ran a post route -- a potential deep ball.

Coale ended up getting behind corner Leon Wright and leaping above him for a 37-yard catch that set up a touchdown. On a day when numerous problems marred a win, the play marked valuable progress for Taylor and his receivers, who last season never produced more than 171 passing yards.

"I just think we've come along way in the trust between both of us: Me trusting them and them trusting me," Taylor said. "It's gotten very close, and I think it can be very special for us this year."