Hokies Put Together Complete Performance In 48-17 Beatdown of Duke

Carter Hill

Staff Writer

November 13, 2021

BLACKSBURG — Just a little over a week ago, Virginia Tech had one of its worst offensive outings the program had seen in recent memory. Just a little over under a month ago, the Hokies (5-5, 3-3 ACC) had their worst offensive showing in the Justin Fuente era.

But on Saturday afternoon in their 48-17 victory over Duke (3-7, 0-6 ACC), things clicked, the light had finally turned on. Tech had statistically its best offensive performance in three seasons, putting up 573 total yards, and amassing the 500-yard mark for the first time since the infamous 49-35 loss to Old Dominion in 2018.

It was a day to remember for this Virginia Tech offense. Not only did both Kaleb Smith and Keshawn King tally their first touchdowns of the season, but it was a career day for quarterback Braxton Burmeister, who has continued to battle injuries throughout the 2021 campaign.

The La Jolla, Calif. native didn’t miss a beat in his return after leaving last week’s 17-3 loss to Boston College with a rib injury. As the Oregon transfer went a plausible 9-for-15, totaling 215 yards, and a career-high three touchdowns in what likely was his best display in a Tech uniform.

“I thought early on he put some balls in some pretty good spots to give our guys a chance to go catch it,” Fuente said. “I just felt like he was pretty accurate today in terms of getting the ball out and giving our guys a chance to make some plays.”

One of those guys was Tayvion Robinson, who was the Hokies’ leading receiver after putting up 78 yards on just four catches.

“It just shows that he cares a lot, about this program, this team, and these guys,” Robinson said when talking about the toughness of his starting quarterback. “We see it, it just makes us want to play hard for him.”

Burmeister’s understudy Knox Kadum shared similar thoughts.

“I have a lot of respect for him for that,” Kadum said about the starter’s toughness. “I know what kind of pain he’s dealing with, what he’s going through, and what he’s doing to get ready physically every week. I have a lot of respect for him going through what he’s been going through.”

The Rome, Ga. native was called on for the second straight contest when Burmeister was temporarily forced to leave the game in the second quarter. Making the Hokies’ numbers offensively that much more impressive with the lack of ability the Kadum-lead offense showed last weekend in the Boston suburbs.

Five-hundred-seventy-three total yards. Two-hundred-ninety-seven on the ground. Two-hundred-seventy-six in the air. A pretty balanced offensive dynamic.

“It’s definitely exciting, it kind of keeps (the opposing team’s) defense guessing,” Robinson explained. “They don’t know if we’re going to run it or pass it. When we run the ball well, it tends to open up (a lot).”

The defensive side of the ball did their job as well, as Justin Hamilton’s bunch held star back Mateo Durant to just 33 yards on the ground, quite an accomplishment to subdue the ACC’s second-leading rusher.

“Mateo Durant is a great football player,” Fuente said when talking about Duke’s leading rusher. “To be able to limit him to 33 yards I think was a pretty remarkable performance. You don’t do that without winning the line of scrimmage.”

“We knew what he was coming into the game,” said defensive end TyJuan Garbutt. “He runs really hard. He’s a really good dude. We just made it a mission to not let anybody come here and think they can hand the ball off to one guy 40 times and control and dictate the pace of the game that way.

We wanted to make sure we were going to take it out of his hands, if they were going to beat us they were going to do it a different way.”

“We did our thing,” agreed Norell Pollard.

Pollard and Garbutt combined for the biggest defensive play of the game. Leading 34-17, the Apopka, Floria native stripped quarterback Jordan Moore, and Garbutt picked up the pigskin, streaking into the endzone to put the Blue Devils away early in the fourth quarter.

“I saw the ball come loose, but there were so many bodies, so I was just trying to look for it,” Garbutt said regarding the fumble. “Then when it just squirted, I saw the ball go to the other side of the field, so I just tried to get it before anyone else could get it. The end zone is only like seven, eight yards away. I’m not falling on it, I’m going to pick it up and go score it.”

For the home finale of the 2021 season, Fuente and company couldn’t have scripted it any better.

It was the first true complete performance from Virginia Tech all season long. The offense was stout, the defense was menacing, and special teams were solid albeit a few unconventional penalties on kickoffs.

What more could you ask for on senior day?

“It was a special day for those seniors,” said the sixth-year head coach. “I was happy to send them out of their last home game on a positive note. Just proud of our kids and our perseverance...I have a lot of fun being around them, it’s a great group of kids.”

“This was all something we wanted to do for these seniors on senior day,” Kadum said when talking about Saturday’s performance. “This week was for them and for the guys in the locker room that have given everything in their time here. I think as a whole team we’re really proud of them and proud to be their teammates and get this win for them.”

It’s a day full of emotion. It’s a day of reflection. And it’s a day to celebrate the completion of a career suiting up for a school that’ll forever be a part of a graduate’s DNA.

Safety Tae Daley’s favorite part of the day though?

“Probably seeing everybody’s smiling faces after the game. We work hard, we put in a lot of work. Just to reap the benefits, it felt good.”