Blue Devils reach another milestone. What we learned about Duke in its win over Hokies

Duke keeps on reaching milestones this football season, its first following the successful move from David Cutcliffe to Mike Elko as its head coach.

Duke’s 24-7 win over Virginia Tech on Saturday gave the Blue Devils their most ACC wins in a single season since 2015.

Duke (7-3, 4-2 ACC) also reached four games over .500 in a season for the first time since 2018, which is the last time the program played in a bowl game.

But simply looking at Elko and the job he’s done, Saturday’s win completed a trifecta of league wins over fellow first-year ACC head coaches. Virginia Tech fired Justin Fuente after last season, replacing him with Brent Pry. That’s despite the Hokies blasting Duke, 48-17, last Nov. 13.

Two other ACC Coastal Division teams also made coaching changes following last season, with Miami firing Manny Diaz and hiring Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal and Virginia replacing the retired Bronco Mendenhall with Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott.

Last season, when Duke went 0-8 in ACC play, it lost 48-0 at Virginia and 47-10 to Miami.

This season, in beating all three, Duke allowed 45 points. Total. The Blue Devils outscored them 107-45 after the composite score last season was 143-27 the opposite way.

It’s a stark turnaround that has the 45-year-old Elko in line to be the ACC’s coach of the year in his first season as a head coach at any level.

“He’s the best coach in the country, forget the conference,” Duke sophomore quarterback Riley Leonard said. “He just proves that every single week. I think we have the best game plan going into every single game. He deserves all the credit and obviously he’s flipped this program around.”

Here’s what else we learned from Duke’s third consecutive ACC win:

Defense finds its bite

With Elko’s background on defense, the Blue Devils were expected to be improved on that side of the ball this season.

Even after beating Temple, 30-0, in the season opener for the program’s first shutout of an FBS level foe since 1989, it has not been the smoothest ride on that side of the ball.

Duke has allowed 500 yards or more three times this season, two of them losses to Kansas and North Carolina.

But Saturday was something special against the struggling Hokies, who managed just 281 yards of total offense. That’s the fewest Duke has allowed in an ACC game since its 27-17 win over Miami on Nov. 30, 2019, when the Hurricanes finished with 259 yards.

The big difference Saturday was how Duke attacked Virginia Tech in key third-down situations. For the season, Duke’s opponents have been successful on 43% of third downs. That’s the worst in the ACC.

But the Hokies were only 4 of 12. In addition, they failed on two fourth-down conversions.

Elko credits the team’s increased use of blitzes, thanks to better execution, for that success.

“I think that’s been probably the biggest evolution of our defense as the year’s gone on is we’ve gotten a much better tempo and timing for how to blitz,” Elko said. “For whatever reason, that just came really hard in the beginning of the year, and it just was a struggle.”

The sneaky pass-rush weapon

Another key to that blitz? Sophomore safety Brandon Johnson’s ability to get to the quarterback and make plays.

Johnson had two sacks against Virginia Tech giving him a team-best 5.5 sacks for the season. He’s one sack ahead of defensive tackle DeWayne Carter’s 4.5 sacks.

That’s a lot of production from the 5-9, 180-pound Johnson on those blitzes.

“I think he’s gotten way more comfortable with it,” Elko said. “I think he understands it really well. He’s obviously very twitchy, and he has a low center of gravity, so it becomes hard to block.”

Johnson has logged 4.5 sacks over Duke’s last four games, all against ACC opponents.

Robertson making plays

Duke needed wide receiver Jontavis Robertson to become a more trusted part of the offense after senior receiver Eli Pancol’s season-ending injury last month.

Robertson, a junior, came through against Virginia Tech with five catches for 81 yards and a touchdown.

It hasn’t been a smooth season for Robertson. In seven of Duke’s first nine games, he caught one pass or fewer. That’s because he only had 13 passes thrown his way. He’s also been called for three penalties this season, including a personal foul for a late hit during Duke’s 23-20 overtime loss at Georgia Tech.

Leonard fired 10 passes toward senior receiver Jalon Calhoun, who had five receptions for 94 yards against Virginia Tech. All five of the passes he threw to Robertson became catches.

“You got a guy like Janta, who hadn’t had the year he wanted,” Leonard said. “He comes out there and has a great week of practice, you know, changes everything. He goes out there and makes incredible catches. He was locked in all game. Super, super proud of him.”

As Duke faces Pitt and Wake the next two Saturdays, seeking to win eight regular-season games for the first time since 2014, Robertson’s ability to be successful as the next man up will be crucial.