DURHAM, N.C. (AP) – Marcus Vick threw three touchdown passes and No. 7 Virginia Tech turned in a dominating defensive performance Saturday to beat Duke 45-0.
Roland Minor returned an interception for a touchdown for the Hokies (2-0, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who remained unbeaten on the road in the league since joining last season.
The Hokies were coming off a 20-16 victory at North Carolina State, where they tallied just 232 total yards. But the Hokies had no trouble in their second trip to the Tar Heel state, overwhelming the Blue Devils (0-2, 0-1) from the start.
Duke finished with 35 total yards on 53 plays, a woeful total made worse by the Blue Devils’ nine penalties for 68 yards. Virginia Tech’s defenders spent plenty of time in the Duke backfield, tallying 10 tackles-for-loss and holding Duke to just 13 yards rushing on 35 attempts.
That made things very easy on Vick and the Hokies’ offense, which was trying to improve from last week’s tough outing.
Vick, coming off a mistake-free performance in his first collegiate start, looked sharp against the Blue Devils. He completed 12 of 19 passes for 172 yards – though his receivers dropped three easy throws in the first half – with one interception.
On Virginia Tech’s second drive, he connected with Jeff King in the back right corner of the end zone for a 7-yard score midway through the first quarter. He later connected with Josh Morgan for a 37-yard score down the left sideline in the second period, and added a perfectly thrown 35-yard pass over the middle to David Clowney for a 28-0 lead early in the third.
Last week, Vick – the younger brother of former Hokies star Michael Vick – finished 10-for-21 for 108 yards and a touchdown to go with 31 yards rushing with no turnovers.
His only mistake Saturday came when Duke’s John Talley jumped in front of his quick pass to Eddie Royal on the left side in the second quarter – though it hardly mattered considering the way the Hokies’ defense was playing.
The defense even helped out with the scoring when Minor cut off Curt Dukes’ floating pass for Marcus Jones and returned it 23 yards, giving Virginia Tech a 14-0 lead with 1:54 left in the opening period.
Dukes rushed for 20 yards to lead the Blue Devils.
AP-ES-09-10-05 1525EDT
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