Duke Football: 3 takeaways from blowout win over Virginia Tech

1. Duke won with a balanced rushing effort

While Quentin Harris led the way both rushing and passing for the Blue Devils, Duke benefitted as well from a balanced rushing effort further down the stat sheet. As a team the visitors finished with two fewer carries than Virginia Tech, but they managed to do far more with those carries.

Duke finished the night with 234 total yards of rushing offense. Three different Blue Devils ran for rushing touchdowns, including Harris. But where the Hokies struggled, Duke seemed to have no trouble moving the ball.

Deon Jackson finished with 55 yards on his nine handoffs, including a 32-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Jackson also chipped in with five catches for 45 yards, including a 25-yard catch and run for a receiving score on a trick play thrown by wide receiver Jalon Calhoun.

Backup quarterback Chris Katrenick also got in on the action, running for a nine-yard touchdown with 3:37 remaining in the contest.

In the end, Duke came to Blacksburg motivated to play. It was hard to say the same thing about Virginia Tech, which struggled in all phases in front of their home fans. Now the Blue Devils can look ahead to next week’s home game against Pitt, while the Hokies are left to dust themselves off and hope for a better result on the road against Miami to kick off October play.