By Jimmy Robertson
BLACKSBURG – The euphoria of Virginia Tech's big victory over NC State wore off within 24 hours of the end of the game, and the Hokies immediately turned their attention to Duke and their first road game of the season.
The Hokies have enjoyed plenty of success against the Blue Devils since joining the ACC, sporting a 13-3 record against Duke, including eight consecutive victories at Wallace Wade Stadium. But Duke got a decade's worth of payback last season when a veteran, physical Blue Devil squad totally destroyed the Hokies 45-10 at Lane Stadium.
The Hokies insist they don't view this game Saturday as a "revenge" game – but they certainly know what took place a year ago.
"They came in and beat the crap out of us," offensive guard Lecitus Smith said. "They came in more ready, more prepared. We definitely learned our lesson from Duke last year.
"I think Coach Fuente did a great job of talking about it after Sunday's practice. He was saying a lot of people are going to make this a revenge type of game, and we're going to go into this game like we do every other game we play this year. We're going to go into ready to be physical and pound them up front and try to hit them out of the gate running the ball. With our pass sets as well, that's something that we're going to really have to focus on because I know how shifty they can be up front and how much wiggle those guys have in them. So it's going to be a challenge, but we remember everything about that Duke game last year, and we're ready for this Saturday."
This year's Duke squad certainly isn't the same as last season's. The Blue Devils enter this game with an 0-3 record and have lost all three games by at least two touchdowns. Duke, however, played tough against Virginia last weekend in Charlottesville, leading in the fourth quarter before the Cavaliers used a 21-point outburst to pull away.
A big part of Duke's issues this season have been turnovers. The Blue Devils lost two fumbles against Notre Dame, turned it over five times against Boston College, and turned it over a whopping seven times against Virginia. They've committed the most turnovers in the country so far this season, and not surprisingly, lost each of those games.
"I know Duke has not started the way they wanted to start, but I've seen them play three games and their defense is playing an extremely high level," Tech coach Justin Fuente said. "They've had a few issues turning the ball over. They've put their defense in some difficult situations. They've got a bunch of guys that have played a bunch of snaps on the defensive side of the ball, and David Cutcliffe is a heckuva offensive coach and head coach. I know they're in the midst of getting those things ironed out offensively. So we have to be ready."
With that said, here are some things to watch during Saturday afternoon's game:
• More on Duke's turnover woes – Duke quarterback Chase Brice has struggled in the first three games, completing just 51% of his passes and throwing six interceptions compared to just two touchdown passes.
Cutcliffe played three quarterbacks in the loss to Virginia last Saturday, with Gunnar Holmberg and Chris Katrenick seeing time late in the game. Most expect Cutcliffe to stick with Brice, but can he get Brice, a 6-foot-3, 235-pounder who transferred from Clemson, fixed before Saturday afternoon's game? Tech fans certainly hope not.
"Coach Cutcliffe will certainly make adjustments to what they've struggled with," Fuente said. "They have turned the ball over in their first three games. That's probably their biggest thing. They've got points they've left on the field. I know he'll get those things fixed and get Chase back playing at high level. I think he's a talented, big, strong-armed kid that can really deliver the ball all over the place. I haven't seen a throw the guy can't make.
"It's going to be a tremendous challenge … He's got lots of talent, and it's only a matter of time before he finds his stride. I think he'll settle down and eventually have a good season."
Fuente hopes that doesn't start Saturday. Certainly, Brice and the Blue Devils face an interesting challenge against an experienced Tech defense that played well against NC State last Saturday. The Hokies made things excruciatingly difficult for Wolfpack quarterback Bailey Hockman. They intercepted him twice and held him to an under 50% completion percentage, and interesting, they forced NC State to change its play-calling. The Wolfpack ran the ball 42 times and only threw it 33 times despite trailing 17-0 after the first quarter. The staff apparently lacked confidence in its quarterback against Tech's defense.
Throughout the years, Tech has feasted on inexperienced quarterbacks and quarterbacks who aren't big threats to run the ball – Duke's quarterbacks have combined to rush for minus-18 yards this season. It hopes that trend continues Saturday.
• Who plays? – This was something to watch last weekend and is again. Tech beat NC State without 23 of its players and four coaches, including quarterback Hendon Hooker and coordinator Justin Hamilton. The Hokies also played without starting cornerback Jermaine Waller, one of the ACC's best at his position.
Fuente was non-committal on the status specifically of those three at Monday's news conference, though Hooker practiced this week and appears to be available to play.
It will have been two weeks since the COVID-induced forced postponement of Tech's game against Virginia, and the Hokies continue to work around roster attrition. One just never knows with the coronavirus, and Fuente admitted that he himself needed to guard against viewing the situation as conquered.
"We're still dealing with all of these issues," he said. "We're still in the middle of a pandemic. That weight is certainly not off of us, and we cannot let up. We're still working on it on literally a day-to-day basis and trying to do our best to patch it together and try to get ready for traveling to Duke."
• Tech's ground game – The Hokies averaged an astonishing 8.53 yards per play against the Wolfpack – their most since a 2003 bowl loss to Cal. Most of their yardage came from a powerful rushing attack that finished with 314 yards, which marked their third-most ever in an ACC game.
Tech unveiled a pair of explosive tailbacks in graduate transfer Khalil Herbert and transfer Raheem Blackshear, who add some explosiveness to the position that the Hokies have lacked the past few seasons. Those two also get to run behind a big, experienced offensive line that owned the line of scrimmage against the Wolfpack.
That said, Duke's defense – led by ends Victor Dimukeje, Chris Rumph II, and Drew Jordan – is the program's strength, and Tech expects to face a much stiffer test Saturday.
"I'm telling you, they are really good," Fuente said. "They pressure, they plan man coverage, they play some quarters, they mix in in their looks, they have some guys that have played a tremendous amount of snaps and absolutely understand their scheme, and they have played – and I know you guys can talk about their record – but I'm telling you they've played at a high level in all three games … It's going to be all we can handle. It's not just the ends. It's the inside guys that are good players, the linebackers. We're going to have to do a good job trying to mitigate their pressure and trying to run the football. I'm going to tell you, it's not going to look like last week."
• Tech's quarterback play – Both Braxton Burmeister and Quincy Patterson II played well against NC State, combining to complete 11 of 17 pass attempts for 181 yards and two touchdowns, and most importantly, no interceptions. They made good decisions and certainly benefited from a depleted NC State secondary missing two starters with injuries. And they also benefited from Tech's rushing attack, which kept the Wolfpack on their heels.
Now, Burmeister, Patterson and Hooker – whoever plays – faces a different challenge. In addition to being stout up front, Duke returns a veteran secondary with a combined 84 career starts and more than 7,000 career snaps. Three of their starting defensive backs already have interceptions this season, and Duke's four interceptions rank tied for fourth nationally.
So the Hokies need to be careful with the ball – a lesson they learned painfully in 2019 when they turned the ball over 14 times in their five losses compared to just seven for their opponents in those games.
In closing: the game kicks off at 4 p.m. and can be seen on the ACC Network.
