Duke Week, Volume 9 (Devil in the Details edition) ...

Boy, these Hokies sure are good at surprises. That they had a little let-down against Duke doesn’t really blow my mind. It happens. HOW they slipped, WHERE they slipped, though, was the stunner.

After a stellar, stifling performance against Miami’s high-octane attack last week, Tech’s defense was downright terrible at times Saturday. Yes, they held the Blue Devils to mostly field goals (yet again), but they gave up some more BIG plays.

Meanwhile, the offense, which stepped up against the Hurricanes (but wouldn’t have surprised anyone if they laid an egg this week) ... was pretty fantastic. When Duke committed to stuffing the run, QB Tyrod Taylor and his coordinator, Bryan Stinespring (dare I call him a genius?) attacked the Devils deep.

Taylor had the best passing day of his life, completing 17 of 22 passes for 327 yards and two touchdowns. Tech’s young receivers stepped up in a big, big way, getting open often and winning almost every in-air battle for the ball.

Here are a few highlights of the big plays that went for and against the Hokies:

DEFENSE

* Tech bit on a play-action pass, left a tight end completely alone behind the defense, and he walked in for a 48-yard touchdown catch.

* With Duke facing third-an-16 from its own 14-yard line, the Hokies give up a 26-yard pass, prolonging a drive that led to a field goal.

* Later, with the Devils in third-and-11, Tech whiffs on a sack opportunity and instead lets Duke get behind them deep for a 55-yard completion that led to a field goal.

* On a third-and-24, Devils QB Thaddeus Lewis scrambled for a 7-yard gain and then slid to the turf ... at which point LB Jake Johnson speared him and was flagged for a 15-yard penalty. Automatic first down, extending a ridiculous 17-play drive that led to a field goal.

OFFENSE

* Taylor slung a strike down the middle to WR Danny Coale for a 36-yard touchdown. Coale fought off the corner in the air to come down with his first career TD.

* WR Jarrett Boykin had the catch of the year on a 28-yard touchdown, another one-on-one play with the corner, another well-placed ball by Taylor. Boykin went up and on the way down wrestled the ball away from the defender. Dude is good.

* Looks like Taylor is good on third-and-30-plus. Remember the 38-yard scramble on third-and-31 against FSU? Yeah, well, he topped that with a 62-yard strike today on third-and-34. He fired a dart deep to Boykin, hitting him in stride, between two defenders. Nasty.

* Taylor helped seal the game on a third-and-11, stepping up in the pocket to hit Coale, who was again one-on-one with the corner and made a leaping, 38-yard grab to prolong a touchdown drive. Coale finished with three catches for 94 yards. Boykin grabbed a career-best six passes for 144 yards.

* P.S. How about Josh Oglesby. The guy has absolutely MAXIMIZED his playing time this season. Today, he had six carries ... and scored two touchdowns, 12- and 19-yard runs that sealed the win. He finished with 59 yards. He now has 190 yards on 31 carries this season (6.1 ypc). But kudos, too, to starter Ryan Williams. He was bottled up for 28 yards on 14 carries in the first three quarters. When Tech needed it, however, he ran for 55 yards on 10 carries in the fourth.

OK, that’s enough from me. Here’s the post-game reaction ...

RB RYAN WILLIAMS

ON STRUGGLING IN THE FIRST HALF: “The plays that were being called, they were stopping them. Can’t really do anything about that. When you stack a lot of people in the box, their main game plan was to stop the run. They did that effectively, and we were able to pass the ball effectively off it. It was good. I played a good decoy today. Whether I’m running the ball or playing decoy, we still won, so I’m feeling good.”

ON GETTING IT GOING LATE IN THE GAME: “We changed up the play-calling and we ran some outside powers instead of some inside powers (that they ran in the first half). We felt like that would work better ... so we changed up the game plan in the second half and we ran the ball effectively. It was great.”

ON HOW DANGEROUS THE OFFENSE CAN BE BY HAVING A POTENT PASSING GAME, TOO: “Very dangerous. We have threats all over the field. You just haven’t seen it yet because its’ been a lot of mainly me and Tyrod or Dyrell Roberts. But everybody played a heckuva game today. It was cool.”

ON THE BENEFIT OF HAVING JOSH OGLESBY’S FRESH LEGS LATE IN THE GAME: “It feels a lot better. I honestly think the plays that were called in the second half, we could’ve called those in the first half. We had a lot of outside powers that were more effective than the inside runs in the second half. That’s why we were able to run the ball more effectively. With Josh getting those two touchdowns, it feels great. It feels great to not feel so much pressure. If you’re tired, you can take yourself out.”

ON WHETHER HE TOOK HIMSELF OUT ON OGLESBY’S TOUCHDOWN RUNS: “I did it both times. I told Josh to come in. I was happy for him. I don’t think Josh gets enough credit. He’s a heckuva back. For him to be able to run the ball and score two touchdowns, it’s great. It’s great for me to know that I’m not the only back that can make things happen in the backfield. It took a lot of pressure off my shoulders today, because I was tired.”

OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR BRYAN STINESPRING

ON DUKE DARING TECH TO THROW THE BALL: “In the mornings before our games, Coach Beamer, Coach Foster and myself get together and go through our game plans, scenarios we’re anticipating and what we’re attempting to do. Part of our discussion this morning was we felt like the box was going to get crowded. ... We understood there was going to be the potential (for Duke) to stop the run first and make it difficult. I thought we did a nice job of adjusting our players in terms of how we wanted to attack as the game unfolded. We said this morning that we’re going to be prepared on first down and second down to play-action and throw the ball down the field ... to drop back and spread the field in early downs. Our quarterback did a fantastic job of find the receivers, understanding where the coverages were ... getting rid of the ball and putting it in a place where I receivers were able to go get the ball. We understood going in ... there was potential they would do their best to defend the run. We did a better job as the game went on of getting the ball outside, instead of between the tackle boxes. We worked it off-tackle and worked it outside. We were able to adjust and throw the ball.”

ON RUNNING MORE OUTSIDE THAN INSIDE LATE IN THE GAME: “Late first quarter, we started to get in the gun and run outside zones, as opposed to inside zones. ... Most of our runs occurred that way. We also threw some motions and options and got the ball pitched a couple times. We wanted to expand the running lane ... make them defend it from sideline to sideline, as opposed to playing in a phone both. That certainly was an emphasis for us in the second half. Then all the sudden, to finish off a couple drives, we were able to get the ball back up inside and split some runs. There were a lot of adjustments going on out there. Credit goes to those players. They did a fantastic job.”

ON CONVERTING A TON OF THIRD DOWNS, INCLUDING THIRD-AND-34: “That’s been an emphasis for us. We gradually have gotten better from the first game and the second game ... we’ve been getting closer to where we want to be on third down. Today it really paid off. It was a big difference in the game, to keep the ball, keep the chains moving, and finish some drives. For us to be 8 of 12 on third downs, there’s been a lot of emphasis on that the last couple weeks. That was important.”

ON HOW MUCH A THREAT IT IS NOW FOR OTHER TEAMS THAT TAYLOR CAN THROW EFFECTIVELY: “Negative aspect of the day: We didn’t run it as well as we wanted to. Negative aspect of the day: We had too many penalties. Positive aspect of the day: We showed a willingness and a capability to drop back and throw it and to play-action and throw it with a large measure of success. Putting a positive spin on it, I think it bodes well for us as an offense that teams have to respect both aspects of the game.”

DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR BUD FOSTER

ON POSITIVES FROM A ROUGH DEFENSIVE DAY: “A key series was when we turned the ball over and we held them out of the end zone. Until the end, for the most part we played pretty solid. We’re just giving up too many big plays, and that’s out of character for us.”

ON SAYING HE NOTICED A LITTLE LACK OF ENTHUSIASM FROM HIS PLAYERS IN PRACTICE THIS WEEK: “You just kind of see their emotions, their focus. Eventually, though, you’d like some senior leadership to take over. I know it’s my job. I know this: I get tired of doing it every week. I’d like to see the seniors take charge a little bit. But that’s my job, too. Hey, it was a heckuva win. After the environment we just played in the first four weeks, then to come down here and win our first true road game of the season, I’m proud of the way our kids hung in there and fought. Nobody said we were going to go walk through this league and go undefeated. They’ve got 85 scholarships, too, and they’ve got good people. So I’m real pleased with the win.”

ON WHAT, EXACTLY, HE SAW FROM HIS GUYS THIS WEEK: “A lack of focus. That’s human nature some, too. Especially coming off four games like we did, having three of the top programs in the country, in the history of college football ... that’s human nature. We guarded against it, trust me. We created some crisis (in practice) and tried to do things to make sure ... but you know what? This will be a lesson learned, that anybody can beat anybody this day and age in college football. You’ve got to stay focused. I think you guys have visions of grandeur, too, or a lack of reality if you think you’re going to come down here and just beat the pants off a I-A football team week in and week out. Duke is well-coached and they’ve got some talent ... so it was a good win for us.”

RB JOSH OGLESBY

ON HIS TWO TOUCHDOWNS: “Coach Hite could’ve ran those in there, but I feel good.”

ON GETTING A CHANCE TO PICK UP THE LOAD IN THE RUNNING GAME AND HELP PUT THIS ONE AWAY: “It felt great. After the two runs I had in the first half, I felt like I could run the ball on them. Those were different plays than the ones Ryan had been getting. The second half, we went a little bit more to that. They were worn down, so I felt like I could get in the zone.”

ON THE BENEFIT OF HIM HAVING FRESH LEGS AT THE END OF A GAME LIKE THIS: “It’s definitely a good benefit. It’s going to help us out down the road. I try not to get down, just know that when I’m called I need to get in there and do what I need to do. That’s my mindset.”

ON HIS PATIENCE PAYING OFF TODAY: “I’m a patient guy. It’s good to see everybody excel. We’re winning. I just felt like I got to do my part today. Those were my first touchdowns, so it definitely felt good. Seems like every time I’m in, we get a penalty or I get taken out. It felt good to go ahead and stick it in before something happened.”

QB TYROD TAYLOR

ON WHY THE PASSING GAME WAS SO EFFECTIVE TODAY: “I think them loading the box up opened a lot of lanes in the passing game, and we took advantage of that.”

ON THE PENALTIES: “That’s one thing that can hurt a team real bad. You never want to hurt yourself, but we bounced back and made the best of what we had.”

ON THE THIRD-AND-34 PASS FOR 62 YARDS BEING THE BEST HE’S EVER THROWN: “One of them. Coach actually told me before the play – I don’t know if I should tell you this – ‘Get the ball down the field and if the guy intercepts it, make sure you tell your wide receiver to make the tackle.’ Jarrett kept the play alive, I found him down the field and he made a great catch.”

ON THE STAFF TAKING THE APPROACH THERE THAT EVEN AN INTERCEPTION THERE, IF THROWN DEEP ENOUGH, WAS AS GOOD AS A PUNT: “Yes, sir.”

ON HAVING THE BIG DAY: “It builds confidence in the passing game.”

ON WHETHER IT SURPRISED HIM: “No, I never surprise myself. I just go out there and play the game. I look forward to games like this.”

ON HOW BIG THIS GAME WAS FOR DEFENSES TO SEE TECH CAN THROW IT, TOO: “I think it’s always huge to have a balanced offense. If you stop the run, we can beat you in the air. That’s what we had a chance to do today, and we did a good job of it.”

ON MAKING SOME GOOD THROWS UNDER PRESSURE: “They line blocked well today, gave me enough time to find a receiver.”

ON SEEING THE CHANCE FOR ONE-ON-ONE THROWS THIS WEEK LOOKING AT FILM: “We talked about that last week during practice. And we did a good job. I was very excited. I know we have a very good receiving corps and they can make big plays.”

ON WHAT WAS DIFFERENT TODAY FOR HIM: “Just growing up, being more comfortable in the pocket and just trusting your guys.”

ON THAT TRUST BUILDING BETWEEN HIM AND THE WIDEOUTS: “I just think we’ve come along way in the trust between both of us: Me trusting them and them trusting me. It’s gotten very close, and I think it can be very special for us this year.”

ON THE TROUBLE RUNNING THE BALL: “They had a great plan for stopping the run, making us try to beat them with the pass.”

ON COALE’S FIRST CAREER TOUCHDOWN: “I just told him, ‘Great catch.’ And he made a great catch at the end of the game.”

ON WORRYING ABOUT THE TD PASS TO BOYKIN, WHEN IT LOOKED LIKE THE DEFENDER MIGHT STEAL IT: “If you’ve seen Jarrett’s hands, you wouldn’t be worried. I knew he was going to come up with it when they rolled over. There’s nothing you can do to take the ball from his hands.”

ON THE LONG PASS TO COALE LATE IN THE GAME TO CONVERT A THIRD-AND-LONG: “Actually, we drew that play up at halftime. I told the coaches some of the things I’d seen. We got a chance to go out there and make that play. It was the second time we ran it, and we executed the second time. ... The first time, I scrambled.”

ON HOW OFTEN PLAYS GET DRAWN UP AT HALFTIME: “(Regularly) The coaches come in and ask us what we see, ask the receivers what type of leverage are they getting out there and ask me if there’s anything I think we can go out there and run. I gave my input and we changed some things around and made a big play at the end of the game.”

ON WHAT HAPPENED ON THAT PLAY: “It’s basically read (Coale) and the tight end. Boone has a 10-yard stick route that breaks out. Danny had a post in the backside. It’s something we really don’t run as much, but he did a great job. The corner actually had inside leverage, but he broke the post over top of him.”

ON WHY HE THOUGHT THAT WOULD WORK: “The safety was sitting (on) his feet, playing the tight end more and was leaving the corner in a one-on-one situation.”

ON HOW THAT PLAY EMERGED: “Coach Stinespring and Coach O’Cain and Coach Sherman kind of collaborated on it.”

ON THE OFFENSE BEING ABLE TO SAY THEY WENT OUT AND WON A GAME FOR THIS TEAM: “Yes, and we don’t take anything from the defense. They played hard. Just some things went well for Duke. Of course we take pride in the offense and our performance every week. We just had a chance to make a big impact on the game this week.”

DT DEMETRIUS TAYLOR

ON D-TACKLES RARELY FILLING UP STAT SHEETS AND THE JOY OF RECORDING A SACK: “It’s always special as a defensive tackle when you can get in the backfield. A lot of time, you’re just filling up gaps. It was my first sack. It was a really long wait, but it felt great.”

ON THIS SEASON BEING EXCITING FOR HIM, TO FINALLY BE A MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR: “It’s been incredible. I’ve been waiting five years for this. All I’ve wanted was an opportunity to actually feel like I’m a part of the team. This year, I definitely feel like that.”

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