Chase Brice Discusses Duke's Loss to Virginia Tech

Blue Devils switched to up-tempo offense

Duke’s offense began clicking late in the Blue Devils’ 38-31 loss to Virginia Tech on Saturday. The team moved to an up-tempo offense, which seemed to help spark a unit that has struggled in the first three and a half games.

“I felt our tempo was really good at times,” quarterback Chase Brice said. “We really wore on them. Other times, they got the best of us.”

The team had only one turnover, after getting 12 in the last two games, but Duke struggled with pass protection and untimely penalties.

“Too many self-inflicted wounds that stopped some drives’ momentum, that we have to clean up,” Brice said. “Not turning the ball over as much gives you a greater opportunity to compete and win in a closer game like that. I had my pick early on. We got past that. It was a high ball over the middle. I’ve got to keep it lower and give my guy a better opportunity to catch the ball. Other than that, it was pretty clean, other than those crucial penalties.”

Brice seemed more comfortable running the offense, which he attributed to it being his fourth game. It took awhile for him to find his bearings, due to the lack of live action in the pandemic-shortened preseason.

“This is our fifth real live competition,” he said. “We had one scrimmage, and we’re now four games into the season. It’s later on (than usual), but now we’re starting to click a little bit better. I understand our personnel.”

The major problem at this point is pass protection. Brice was sacked seven times, but he didn’t place blame on his line.

“Good coverage on the back end,” he said. “Also them getting penetration. When you’re in empty (backfield, with five receivers spread out) that kind of tends to happen, when you don’t have your back to help out (with blocking). They got to me a few times.”


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Shawn Krest
SHAWN KREST

Shawn Krest has covered Duke for the last decade. His work has appeared in The Sporting News, USA Today, CBSSports.com, ESPN.com and dozens of other national and regional outlets. Shawn's work has won awards from the USBWA, PFWA, BWAA and NC Press Association.