Virginia Tech loses seventh-straight game in underwhelming performance against Duke, 24-7

By Jack Brizendine

Staff Writer

November 12, 2022

DURHAM, N.C. — Following the program’s seventh-straight loss with no bowl game to work towards, it’s easy to wonder how first-year head coach Brent Pry keeps his players engaged heading into the final two weeks of the season.

His answer? Earning respect.

“This thing is about respect,” Pry told reporters after the game. “There’s no bowl game in our future, so for this group, for this team it’s about earning respect and tasting victory.”

In Virginia Tech’s (2-8, 1-6 Atlantic Coast) underwhelming 24-7 loss to Duke (7-3, 4-2 ACC) on Saturday, the Hokies didn’t do themselves any favors towards that goal.

After an impressive back shoulder catch from Da’Wain Lofton on VT’s first drive of the day to grab an early 7-0 advantage, the Hokies were outscored 24-0 for the remainder of the game.

It was the fourth game in a row where Tech’s offense only found the endzone in one of four quarters.

“I think everybody on the staff believed we had a good plan going into [the game] and we just didn’t get it done,” Pry said. “We’ve got to be able to move the ball more effectively and we’ve got to look at what we’re doing. I think we’ve tried to do some different things [on offense] and at the same time, you try something new and how good at it can you really be?”

The Hokies struggled to finish drives against a formidable Blue Devil defense, scoring only once in six trips into Duke territory. Two of those drives ended in a turnover, one being a pick thrown by quarterback Grant Wells on Tech’s second to last drive on the day.

“Turnovers are turnovers,” Wells said after the game. “[They] can’t happen. It doesn’t really matter what happens after the ball is in the air. They’re inexcusable and you can’t have them.”

Tech’s defense didn’t catch any breaks either, allowing Duke to convert on two of three fourth down attempts on the afternoon. VT allowed the Blue Devils to move the chains on a 4th-and-7 in the first half and a fourth and five in the second half.

“[We] as a defense have to stand tall [on fourth downs],” safety Keonta Jenkins said.

Duke quarterback Riley Leonard gashed the Tech defense for 262 yards and a touchdown through the air, in addition to 48 yards and a score on the ground.

“The patience of the quarterback,” Jenkins said about the difficulty of containing Leonard. “Him making the right reads, the aggressive running, the fighting for extra yards. We just have to come up as a defense and stop that and make a stop.”

Cleaning up errors on both sides of the ball will be precedent as the Hokies look to finish the year strong against in-state opponents Liberty (Nov. 19) and Virginia (Nov. 26).

“We’ll reboot the thing and get focused on trying to be 2-0,” Pry said. “It’s an opportunity for us to play a complete game, play complementary ball and do the things that we’ve done in moments, do it collectively and let’s see what this looks like.”