DURHAM, N.C. — Duke came closer than it has in a long time to upsetting a nationally ranked opponent. Close isn’t good enough anymore for the Blue Devils.
Duke shut out No. 12 Virginia Tech in the second half but couldn’t come up with enough plays down the stretch in a 14-10 loss to the Hokies on Saturday.
“We know how good we are. Not many people may see it, but we know how good this team is, and we know that we can hang with anybody in this league,” Duke receiver Conner Vernon said. “We proved it out there today. ... It’s tough.Losses like these aren’t easy to get over.”
Sean Renfree was 17 of 35 for 204 yards, but was intercepted 3 times for the Blue Devils (3-5, 1-3). They couldn’t overcome four turnovers and lost their third consecutive overall and 44th in a row against nationally ranked teams. Duke hasn’t beaten a top 25 team since 1994.
Unlike so many of the losses during that streak, this one was competitive throughout. Duke had a golden opportunity to take the lead late after Jamison Crowder returned a punt to the Virginia Tech 34 with just under seven minutes left.
“I was just saying, ‘They better not win this game. We better not lose this game,’ ” Virginia Tech running back David Wilson said.
The Blue Devils marched into the red zone in five plays, but on fourth-and-2 from the 15, Renfree rolled right on a bootleg and was dropped by Kyle Fuller for a loss of 3 yards with 4:37 remaining. Coach David Cutcliffe said running back Juwan Thompson was the primary receiver on that play but he slipped.
“They bit the run like we thought,” Cutcliffe said. “We just tried to avoid them, and Sean just got stuck.”
Duke forced a punt and got the ball back with 1:43 left, but Barquell Rivers intercepted Renfree’s fourth-down pass with 55 seconds left.
Wilson rushed for 148 yards, and Logan Thomas was 17 of 28 for 190 yards with 2 interceptions and a 2-yard touchdown pass to Eric Martin. Josh Oglesby added a 1-yard scoring run for the Coastal Division-leading Hokies (8-1, 4-1).
Entering as 15-point favorites, they were sluggish and inefficient throughout, yet came up with enough plays to claim their fourth consecutive victory. Virginia Tech rolled up 433 yards while allowing 326 to Duke.
“Every week’s not going to be just magnificent, and this week certainly wasn’t magnificent for us,” Coach Frank Beamer said. “But sometimes when you can get through a game when it wasn’t so good and get a win, that’s big in the big picture.”
The Hokies remain unbeaten in 14 matchups against ACC teams in North Carolina as members of the conference. They also broke the league record of 10 consecutive road victories set in 2000 by Florida State and matched six years later by Virginia Tech.
Wilson, the ACC’s leading rusher, had his sixth consecutive 100-yard game and has topped 100 eight times this season for Virginia Tech. He accused the Blue Devils of “doing dirty stuff” at the bottoms of piles - specifically “pinching, punching, reaching through the face mask” and grabbing at his groin, he said.
In other games involving Atlantic Coast Conference teams, host Florida State (5-3, 3-2) rolled up 444 yards of total offense and 23 first downs in a 34-0 victory over North Carolina State (4-4, 1-3). Florida State quarterback EJ Manuel completed 25 of 34 passes for 321 yards and 2 touchdowns. ... Rolandan Finch ran for 243 yards and 2 touchdowns to help visiting Boston College (2-6, 1-4) earn its first conference victory of the season, 28-17 over Maryland (2-6, 1-4). ... Giovani Bernard ran for 154 yards and 2 touchdowns on 27 carries to help host North Carolina (6-3, 2-3) beat Wake Forest (5-3, 4-2) 49-24.
CONFERENCE USA Tulsa tops SMU
TULSA - Willie Carter set career highs with 13 receptions for 173 yards, including a 40-yard touchdown, as Tulsa drilled Southern Methodist 38-7 Saturday.
Tulsa (5-3, 4-0) limited SMU to 265 yards.
Alex Singleton rushed for three short-yardage touchdowns and Milton Howell had three first-half interceptions as the Hurricane moved to 4-0 in Conference USA play to keep pace with unbeaten and nationally ranked Houston.
Carter exceeded his career highs he set the previous week when he caught nine balls for 160 yards against Rice.
SMU (5-3, 3-2) sputtered offensively. Zach Line, the conference’s leading rusher, ran for 118 yards on 22 carries, including a 17-yard run for SMU’s only score. Quarterback J.J. McDermott completed 17 of 37 passes for 180 yards with four interceptions.
G. J. Kinne completed 24 of 36 passes for 274 yards and ran for 39 yards including a 2-yard touchdown.
In other games involving Conference USA teams, quarterback Jeff Godfrey rushed for one touchdown and threw for another to break out of a recent slump to lead host Central Florida (4-4, 2-2) to a 41-0 victory over Memphis (2-7, 1-4). ... A.J. Graham completed 19 of 27 passes for 239 yards and threw 4 of his 5 touchdown passes in the first half to lead host Marshall (4-5, 3-2) to a 59-14 victory over Alabama-Birmingham (1-7, 1-4). ... Quarterback Dominique Davis ran for two touchdowns and passed for another to lead East Carolina (4-4, 3-1) to a 34-13 victory over Tulane (2-7, 1-4). ... Jamal Woodyard ran for 134 yards and a touchdown to lead Southern Miss (7-1, 3-1) to a 31-13 victory over Texas-El Paso (4-4, 1-3).
Sports, Pages 40 on 10/30/2011