DURHAM, N.C. — Duke quarterback Maalik Murphy threw it deep early and often, torching a helpless Virginia Tech secondary to the tune of 332 yards in a 31-28 win at Wallace Wade Stadium on Saturday.
Murphy and receiver Eli Pancol connected three times for touchdowns, giving the Blue Devils (8-3, 4-3) their third straight eight-win season.
The loss leaves the Hokies (5-6, 3-4) teetering on missing out on a bowl game for the second time in Brent Pry’s three years as head coach.
Virginia Tech will need to beat Virginia in next Saturday’s regular season finale in Lane Stadium (8 p.m. ET, ACC Network) to qualify for the postseason. It’s the sixth time since 2012 a sub-.500 Hokies team has needed to beat UVa to either qualify for a bowl game or keep its bowl hopes alive.
Murphy and Pancol connected on touchdown passes of 86 and 77 yards in the first seven minutes. Pancol finished with a career-high 188 yards on five catches.
Virginia Tech, meanwhile, had to dig deeper into its quarterback room. Kyron Drones did not dress, ruled out before kickoff due to a right knee injury. Collin Schlee started and completed a 65-yard touchdown pass to Ali Jennings, but he got knocked out on a run late in the first quarter.
Third-stringer Pop Watson played the rest of the way, handling himself well but facing constant pressure. He went 12-for-25 for 146 yards, guiding two touchdown drives, but he was sacked eight times.
After trailing by 14 late, the Hokies got within three. John Love made a 38-yard field goal and Bhayshul Tuten scored on a 29-yard run with 9:19 to play, with Watson converting the two-point conversion to make it 31-28.
Tuten went over 1,000 yards on the season during the drive, making him the fourth Hokies tailback since 2010 to surpass the mark. He joins David Wilson (2011), Travon McMillian (2015) and Khalil Herbert (2020).
Duke looked like it might put the game away after Star Thomas broke a 33-yard run after the two-minute warning, but he coughed it up on the next play. Keonta Jenkins forced a fumble that Cole Nelson jumped on at the Hokies’ 33.
Virginia Tech couldn’t do anything with it, though. Under constant pressure, Watson threw two incompletions and was sacked, bringing up a fourth-and-13. Watson’s fourth-down pass to Tuten in the flat only got six yards, turning it over on downs.
Duke punted it back to the Hokies at their 13-yard line with 10 seconds left. A desperation lateral play didn’t work, sending Tech to another tight loss. Pry fell to 1-12 in one-score games as the Hokies’ big whistle.
The game featured fireworks early. After forcing a punt, the Blue Devils dialed up a deep ball, with Murphy hitting Pancol in stride for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage that covered 86 yards, making it 7-0 just over two minutes in.
Murphy and Pancol connected again on the second play of the next drive, this time for a 77-yard score up the Hokies sideline after the wideout cleared space from cornerback Dante Lovett, reeled in the catch and out-raced Mansoor Delane to the end zone, making it 14-0.
The Hokies struck back with a big play of their own, with Schlee finding Jennings on a crossing route. The wideout did the rest, weaving through the Blue Devils defense and powering into the end zone for a touchdown that cut the lead to 14-7.
Tech got down to its third quarterback after Schlee had to go to the medical tent between the first and second quarters after getting popped at the end of a keeper.
No matter. Watson, the team’s third-stringer, led the Hokies on a six-play, 64-yard drive that hit paydirt when Ayden Greene took a pitch from Jaylin Lane on a reverse and sped past the Duke defense up the sideline for a 21-yard touchdown, knotting the game at 14.
A second interception by Dorian Strong — the second two-pick game of his career, along with last year’s Boston College contest — set up a 24-yard field goal by Love that gave Tech its first lead of the game at 17-14 with 7:55 left in the half.
Then Duke hit another big play when Lovett slipped on a third-down play, leaving Jordan Moore wide open up the sideline for a 58-yard reception, all the way down to the Hokies 7-yard line. Pancol scored his third touchdown on the next play, beating Delane near the goal line when he boxed the cornerback out. That made it 21-17 Blue Devils.
Tech had two chances before halftime in Duke territory but couldn’t score. Watson lost a fumble on a blitz off the edge when the Hokies were in field goal range at the Blue Devils’ 25-yard line. After a Caleb Woodson interception with seven seconds left, Duke buried Watson with an all-out blitz on what was going to be a Hail Mary from the 43, the Blue Devils’ fourth sack of the half.
Duke picked up right where it left off in the third quarter, marching down the field thanks to completions of 38, 18 and 15 yards to go over 300 yards in the game. Star Thomas punched it in from two yards out to give the Blue Devils a 28-17 lead.
After Watson threw an interception to Joshua Pickett on a fourth-down play, Duke’s Todd Pelino made a 42-yard field goal to put the Blue Devils up 31-17.
Box Score: Duke 31, Virginia Tech 28
