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Virginia Tech edges Duke
'Simultaneous catch' gives Hokies key first-half touchdown in 34-26 win
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Published: October 4, 2009
DURHAM
Cornerback Leon Wright of Duke knows that the highlight will be played over and over on television, but that doesn't mean he's going to watch it.
Wright appeared to intercept a pass in the end zone intended for wide receiver Jarrett Boykin of Virginia Tech yesterday at Wallace Wade Stadium. But the pass was ruled a touchdown, and the sixth-ranked Hokies went on to win 34-26 in front 26,211.
"It's going to hurt to watch, so I'll probably just change the channel," Wright said after describing the play that took place with 6:14 left in the first half.
Wright appeared to have the advantage as he and Boykin jumped for the pass thrown by quarterback Tyrod Taylor from 28 yards out. But when Boykin and Wright came down together, Boykin pulled the ball away and the official ruled a touchdown.
After a long review, the play was not overturned and the Hokies took a 17-7 lead.
"I played the ball well, grabbed it and came down and he actually had his arm on the inside and when we rolled over he somehow ended up with the ball," Wright said. "I came down with the ball, but he was out of bounds, and I was in bounds so it should have been an interception."
Doug Rhoads, the ACC coordinator of officials, released a statement about the play saying: "The ruling was a simultaneous catch in the end zone and hence a touchdown. Replay reviewed the catch and it stands as called."
Coach David Cutcliffe, whose Blue Devils fell to 2-3 and lost their ACC opener, said he only saw the replay once on the big scoreboard. He said he was told it was a simultaneous catch, but took a timeout after the ruling in hopes that the replay officials would look again.
While the play was a big one, the biggest problem for the Blue Devils was their pass defense.
Taylor had plenty of time to pass all day, finishing 17 of 22 for 327 yards and two touchdowns, including a 36-yard touchdown pass to Danny Coale in the first quarter.
The Blue Devils slowed the Hokies (4-1, 2-0) on the ground until the fourth quarter, when running back Ryan Williams got going. Williams finished with 83 yards on 24 carries, but Josh Oglesby scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to secure the win for the Hokies, who have beaten the Blue Devils nine straight times.
Coach Frank Beamer of the Hokies watched his team roll up 477 yards, but it also had 12 penalties for a season-high 105 yards. Beamer gave a lot of credit to the Blue Devils, saying that they will likely end up in a bowl game.
"We knew they would take the run away," Beamer said, "so you have to be able to throw the ball…. I thought for the most part we did a good job of that today."
Quarterback Thaddeus Lewis, who didn't play in last year's 14-3 loss to the Hokies in Blacksburg, Va., was 22 of 40 passing for 359 yards and two touchdowns. But he was sacked three times and was pushed out of the pocket on several occasions.
Cutcliffe refuses to talk about moral victories in his second season, and his players feel the same way.
"We do want to say this is a step forward in our program, but at the same time there are no moral victories around here," Lewis said. "It's no longer OK to be close or go toe to toe with a team, we'd rather come out with a victory…. We know what we can do and we competed like we were supposed to do."
Lewis got the Blue Devils off on the right foot with a 48-yard touchdown pass to tight end Brandon King, who got free on the outside. The Hokies, who play eight and sometimes nine players in the box, were fooled on a fake handoff and King was wide open.
The Hokies came right back when Taylor hit Coale for a 36-yard touchdown to tie the score at 7. Mall Waldron of the Hokies made a 40-yard field goal for a 10-7, but later in the second quarter came the pivotal touchdown by Boykin, who had six catches for 144 yards.
Thanks to field-goal kicker Will Synderwine, who made a career-best four field goals, the Blue Devils trailed 17-13 when another lapse in the secondary cost them. On a third-and-34, Taylor heaved a prayer to Boykin, who beat Matt Daniels and Chris Rwabukamba for a 62-yard gain.
Waldron later made a 33-yard field goal for a 20-13 lead with 8:33 left in the third.
Daniels said that the disputed touchdown was a big play, but so was giving up the deep ball on a crucial third-down play.
"I gave up a third-and-34 on a deep pass and that was a big momentum change as well," Daniels said. "We came out and competed for four quarters, and they are sixth in the country and you expect big plays from them as well so my hats off to them."
The Blue Devils cut the lead to 20-16 early in the fourth quarter on another Synderwine field goal, but then Williams took over, plowing through the Blue Devils on six straight plays. Once Oglesby scored from 12 yards out with 9:37 left, the Hokies had a commanding 27-16 lead.
"When you think about moral victories, those days are over," Daniels said. "Coming into the game we were expecting to win."
jdell@wsjournal.com.
727-4081
Virginia Tech 7 10 3 14 -- 34
Duke 7 3 3 13 -- 26
First Quarter
Duke--B.King 48 pass from Lewis (Snyderwine kick), 2:48.
VT--Coale 36 pass from T.Taylor (Waldron kick), :49.
Second Quarter
VT--FG Waldron 40, 10:41.
VT--Boykin 28 pass from T.Taylor (Waldron kick), 6:14.
Duke--FG Snyderwine 29, :07.
Third Quarter
Duke--FG Snyderwine 25, 12:43.
VT--FG Waldron 33, 8:33.
Fourth Quarter
Duke--FG Snyderwine 47, 13:51.
VT--Oglesby 12 run (Waldron kick), 9:37.
Duke--FG Snyderwine 43, 7:08.
VT--Oglesby 19 run (Waldron kick), 2:28.
Duke--Kelly 4 pass from Lewis (Snyderwine kick), :25.
A--26,211.
TEAM STATISTICS
VT Duke
First downs 21 17
Rushes-yards 39-150 31-38
Passing 327 359
Comp-Att-Int 17-22-0 22-40-0
Return Yards 7 16
Punts-Avg. 2-43.0 4-40.5
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 1-0
Penalties-Yards 12-105 7-44
Time of Possession 29:25 30:35
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Virginia Tech, R.Williams 24-83, Oglesby 6-59, Roberts 2-6, Coale 1-3, T.Taylor 5-1, Team 1-(minus 2). Duke, D.Scott 7-34, B.King 2-7, Boyette 10-4, Kurunwune 4-2, Lewis 7-1, Team 1-(minus 10).
PASSING--Virginia Tech, T.Taylor 17-22-0-327. Duke, Lewis 22-40-0-359.
RECEIVING--Virginia Tech, Boykin 6-144, Roberts 4-38, Coale 3-94, Boone 2-25, Smith 1-17, Boyce 1-9. Duke, Kelly 6-43, Vernon 4-128, Varner 4-87, B.King 3-58, D.Scott 1-26, Williams 1-11, Kurunwune 1-7, Huffman 1-3.
, Boyette 1-(minus 4).
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