Virginia Tech Football: 5 Biggest Takeaways From The Hokies Loss to Duke
1. Passing Game
Virginia Tech struggled with getting the passing game going this evening outside of wide receiver Ali Jennings, who had over 100 yards receiving for the first time this season. Quarterback Pop Watson played a tough game, throwing for 146 yards, with one interception, in his first game of consistent action after quarterback Collin Schlee left with an injury after a hard hit.
2. 3rd Down Efficiency
The Hokies struggled on third down this evening, completing under 40% of their third down attempts tonight. This has become a problem in certain games that the Hokies have lost, as they have dropped under 40% after starting this season being over the 40% mark.
3. Defense
The Hokie defense continues to struggle with pass-heavy teams tonight, as they gave up three first-half receiving touchdowns and struggled coming out of halftime, giving up 10 more points. This has become a consistent problem for the Hokie defense coming out of halftime the last few games and has cost them in certain games.
4. Bhayshul Tuten
Virginia Tech running back Bhayshul Tuten hadn't scored a touchdown since the Boston College game last month, and it looked like something to be concerned about. For this game, Tuten rushed for 84 yards, on 19 carries, and one touchdown.
5. Costly Mistakes
In this game, the Hokies found themselves making costly mistakes and it led to them missing out on opportunities to win this game. The first two drives of this game saw Duke have two big passing plays down the field for touchdowns of 86 and 77 yards respectively. For the game, the Hokies gave up eight sacks on offense, along with two fumbles, and an interception.
Additional Links:
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Kahlil McCuller joined the Sports Illustrated team in summer 2024 and is a Sports Media major at Virginia Tech. Covering College Baseball, College Basketball, and College Football for the Virginia Tech Hokies. Prior to this Kahlil worked pregame radio shows for Virginia Tech Basketball teams on 105.3 The Bear and started his own basketball podcast on Spotify called "Fleeky Hoops Podcast" and covered March Madness for the Hokies Women's Basketball team back in March 2024. My favorite sports teams are: Atlanta Hawks, Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Chargers, Virginia Tech Hokies and PSG for Soccer