Duke Football: Halftime Report between the Blue Devils and Hokies
We have reached the halfway wait point between Duke Football and the Virginia Tech Hokies and it’s time to see how both teams performed in the first half.
It hasn’t been the best half for the Duke Blue Devils despite the return of starting quarterback Daniel Jones as Virginia Tech takes a 17-7 lead over the Blue Devils at halftime.
The Blue Devils were very sloppy on offense and it was not due to quarterback Daniel Jones’ return.
More from Ball Durham
- Duke basketball: The architect behind digital dominance
- Duke basketball prioritizing frontcourt prospects in 2025
- Duke basketball: Unmasking the hate for the Blue Devils
- Duke basketball: Countdown to Craziness lands another huge visitor
- Duke basketball fills final open scholarship
The Duke signal caller completed 13 of his 22 pass attempts for 142 yards and a touchdown while throwing his first interception of the season.
Jones had three dropped touchdowns two were of 50+ yards by Chris Taylor.
Duke didn’t get much production out of their running game either in the first half as Brittain Brown only took the ball nine times for 26 yards as the Blue Devils leading rusher, followed by Jones who racked up 15 yards.
Taylor ended up being the Duke leading receiver reeling in four passes for 45 yards, while Noah Gray was Jones’ target on the lone Duke touchdown of the first half.
Gray caught two passes for 38 yards in the first two quarters.
As for the Duke defense, they have looked overmatched especially in the passing game. Virginia Tech and new starting quarterback Ryan Willis have moved the ball at will in the first half and should have more than their 17 points.
As the second half gets underway shortly, Duke will need to flip the script and play lights out defense like they have for the first four weeks of the season, creating turnovers and getting the offense back on the field quickly.
Jones will have to settle in and frankly the Duke skill position players will also needs to start to make some plays in order for the Blue Devils to get back into this game.
Can they do it? Absolutely.
Will they do it? That remains to be seen.
Stay tuned to Ball Durham for complete postgame coverage on Duke vs. Virginia Tech right here at balldurham.com or at our Twitter page @Ball_Durham.