1. Passing game

Virginia Tech struggled to get the passing game going tonight outside of wide receiver Ali Jennings, who had over 100 receiving yards for the first time this season. Quarterback Pop Watson had a tough game, throwing for 146 yards, with one interception, in his first game of consistent action after quarterback Collin Schlee was injured after a hard hit.

2. 3rd efficiency down

The Hokies struggled on third down tonight, completing less than 40% of their third down attempts tonight. This has become a problem in some games the Hokies have lost, as they have fallen below 40% after starting this season above the 40% mark.

3. Defense

The Hokie defense continues to struggle with passing-heavy teams tonight, as they gave up three receiving touchdowns in the first half and struggled out of the half, giving up 10 extra points. This has become a constant problem for the Hokie defense coming out of halftime in recent games and has cost them dearly in some games.

4. Bhayshul Tuten

Virginia Tech running back Bhayshul Tuten hadn’t scored a touchdown since the Boston College game last month, and that seemed like something to worry about. For this game, Tuten rushed for 84 yards, on 19 carries and a touchdown.

5. Costly mistakes

In this game, the Hokies found themselves making some costly mistakes and that led them to miss opportunities to win this game. The first two drives of this game saw Duke make two big passing plays down the field for touchdowns of 86 and 77 yards respectively. For the game, the Hokies allowed eight sacks on offense, along with two fumbles and an interception.

Additional links:

Virginia Tech Basketball: Takeaways from Hokies’ loss to Jacksonville

Virginia Tech Football: Hokies DC mentioned as potential candidate for NFL job

Virginia Tech women’s basketball: Takeaways from Hokies’ win over Elon