1) Again, early plays in this game set the tone as the Hokies had the ball on 3rd and 10 from the Duke 15 yard line on their opening series. They had intercepted Duke QB Sean Renfree and an early score here would have been just the type of play to knock the belief out of the Blue Devils. Unfortunately WR Marcus Davis, who has been alternatively spectacular and lazy, chose Saturday's game to be lazy. He didn't run his route on this play and Duke safety Matt Daniels who has stood out this season and was particularly phenomenal in this game, was all too happy to step up and intercept the ball on the 2 yd-line returning it 40 yards and ending the Hokie threat. If the Hokies come out this flat against Georgia Tech in two weeks, they will get crushed.
2) The Hokies were protecting a 14-10 lead but Duke had the ball and a 3rd and 5 from the Hokies' 13 yd-line with 12:45 left in the game. Duke found their TE Cooper Helfet out in the flat with an easy path to the first down and maybe more. CB Kyle Fuller came flying up and got low on Helfet, making an huge open field tackle and stopping the Devils 3 yds short of the first down. Duke settled for a 29-yd FG attempt which K Will Snyderwine missed, making Fuller's stop even more huge. It wasn't his best play of the game, however.
3) You guessed it - 4:45 left in the game, Duke down 14-10 has a 4th and 2 from the Hokies 15 yd-line. QB Sean Renfree rolled out on a run-pass option (something I wish Tech would do more on offense), but Kyle Fuller made one of the best plays of the season. He saw the RB was headed to the flat to be the pass option, so he hit him at the line of scrimmage and the back fell down. Fuller was knocked back by the contact but kept his balance and then ran down Renfree and made another huge open field tackle to prevent Renfree from making the first down and essentially preserving the win.
5 comments:
I feel compelled to add that while you are justified in your selections, both TDs were phenomenal plays by our offense. The touch LT showed on the little jump pass to Eric Martin was outstanding, and that play can be a real addition to LT's arsenal since defenders always break on LT when he starts moving because he's such a beast to bring down. And Josh Oglesby should have been down about four times before he finally broke the plane. Considering we needed both of those plays to actually escape Durham with a win, they were (also, in addition to your picks) pretty damn key.
The TD's were obviously big plays, but the point of 3 Key Plays is to find those sometimes overlooked momentum-changers. It usually goes without saying that points are key. Although in a game where the score is also a huge play, it gets its due in 3 Key Plays. I also LOVED Oglesby's run. Determination personified. And Logan just impresses me more every week. That deep strike to Boykin on a post was an NFL-right-now kind of ball.
Can someone explain to me just YTH we almost ALWAYS play down to the level of our competition!?!? It's somethng that has been pissing me off for some time (& one of the reasons Beamer has been pissing me off lately).
Sure, the Hokies played poorly. But I think Duke actually played well and is overall a better team than they are given credit for. They have the ability to win games like this. They just failed to finish.
Doesn't matter. However "good" Puke is, we're 100x better. There's NO beating around this bush. Our team SEVERELY underperformed and played down to the opponents' level this past weekend. No moral victory this weekend.
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