Ryan Willis Shines as Virginia Tech Rolls Past No. 22 Duke

(Image via foxsports.com)

Game Recap

After suffering a loss to 0-3 ODU, Virginia Tech (3-1, 2-0 ACC) came into Saturdays game and dominated Duke on all sides of the ball. On offense, their backup QB Ryan Willis stepped up big for the Hokies. Willis, who threw 17 interceptions at Kansas, was making good, smart throws all game long. Virginia Tech recorded 4 touchdowns on the night (3 passing 1 rushing); 27 yard pass to Damon Hazelton, 67 yard pass to Dalton Keene, 6 yard run from Steven Peoples and a 10 yard pass to Phil Patterson.

On defense, Bud Foster regrouped the Hokies well. After giving up 632 total yards to ODU, the Hokies gave up nearly half that allowing 327 total yards to Duke. Virginia Tech also forced a fumble which was recovered by the Hokies and intercepted a tipped pass from Daniel Jones.

It seemed Duke (4-1, 0-1 ACC) couldn’t finish their drives. The managed to total 327 yards of offense, but only scored 14 points. The Blue Devils 2 touchdowns came off a 23 yard pass from Daniel Jones to the TE Noah Gray and a 1 yard leaping-run from RB Neon Jackson.

Players of the Game

Offense: Ryan Willis

Ryan Willis played a great game in the place of injured QB Josh Jackson. Willis went 17/27 for 332 yards and 3 touchdowns. He played cool and under control and didn’t make any mistakes or bad throws.

Defense: Houshun Gains

With the Hokies losing their star DE Trevon Hill, Houshun stepped up and played great in his absence. He had 3 total tackles, 2 solo tackles, 2 tackles for a loss and 2.5 sacks.

Next Up

Virginia Tech will return home to face #8 Notre Dame. Notre Dame is coming off a big win vs #7 Stanford.

Duke returns home for a bye week.