Game Notes: Virginia Tech

DURHAM – Duke heads to Blacksburg, Va., for its final regular season road test against Virginia Tech at Lane Stadium.

Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast live on ACC Network.

Virginia Tech leads the all-time series between the two schools, 18-10. In the last meeting on Oct. 3, 2020, the Blue Devils dropped a 38-31 decision to the Hokies at Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium. Duke's last win over Virginia Tech came on Sept. 27, 2019, when it scored 31 straight points to defeat Virginia Tech, 45-10, in its ACC opener at Lane Stadium.

Saturday's ACCN broadcast will feature Chris Cotter, Mark Herzlich, and Jalyn Johnson on the call. The game can also be heard on the Blue Devil Sports Network from LEARFIELD through the Varsity app or goduke.com.

HOW TO FOLLOW
Duke (3-6, 0-5 ACC) vs. Virginia Tech (4-5, 2-3 ACC)
Saturday, November 13, 2021 • 3:30 PM
Blacksburg, Va. • Lane Stadium

TELEVISION • ACCN
RADIO • Blue Devils Sports Network from LEARFIELD
GAME NOTES • Duke Notes (PDF) • Virginia Tech Notes
LIVE STATS • HokieSports.com
TWITTER • @DukeFOOTBALL

GAME NOTES
After nine games, senior running back Mataeo Durant finds himself atop the league charts in numerous categories. Most notably, he ranks first in rushing attempts (210), second in rushing yards (1,062) and third in both total touchdowns by a running back (9) and all-purpose yards per game (142.67).

Durant continues to climb up the Blue Devils' all-time season and career rushing chart. Thanks to his 89 yards against Pittsburgh, Durant became just the fifth Blue Devil to register 1,000-plus rushing yards in a season. The is the first since Chris Douglas achieved the mark in 2003 (1,138). He is currently sits fourth on Duke's single-season chart with 1,062 and is 174 yards away from matching Steve Jones' program record. On Duke's all-time career list, Durant is sixth with 2,383 yards and is 58 away from breaking into the top five.

Redshirt junior linebacker Shaka Heyward currently sits tied for fifth in the ACC with 75 tackles. He has two double-digit tackle games this year and has finished as one of Duke's top two tacklers in seven of nine games this season.

FACING VIRGINIA TECH IN NOVEMBER
Saturday's contest will mark the fourth time the Blue Devils and Hokies have battled in the month of November under head coach David Cutcliffe. Of the other 10 meetings, two were played in September and eight in October. As a program, Duke has faced off against Virginia Tech seven times in September, 16 times in October and five times in November.

DYNAMIC DUO
Duke is one of three ACC schools with multiple players with 600-plus receiving yards. Jake Bobo (628) and Jalon Calhoun (609) join Virginia's Dontayvion Wicks (972) and Keytaon Thompson (663) as well as Wake Forest's Jaquarii Roberson (848) and A.T. Perry (845). The pair become the 13th duo to achieve 600-plus receiving yards in the same season. They are the first twosome since T.J. Rahming (811) and Johnathan Lloyd (604) did so in 2018.

LEADER OF THE RUN GAME
Senior Mataeo Durant has accumulated 1,062 rushing yards on 210 attempts with nine touchdowns in Duke's nine games. Nationally, the Plum Branch, S.C., native is second in rushing attempts, fifth in rushing yards per game (118.00), sixth in rushing yards, and tied for 22nd in rushing touchdowns.

CAREER ACCOLADES
Senior Mataeo Durant has rushed for 50-plus yards in 19 career games, topped the 100-yard plateau on the ground 10 times and has 22 rushing attempts of 20-plus yards, including a career-long 64-yard TD jaunt versus Florida State in 2020. He sits sixth on Duke's career rushing chart with 2,383 yards. He has recorded back-to-back seasons with 800-plus plus yards to become the second Blue Devil all-time to rush for 800-plus yards in consecutive seasons, joining Steve Jones (1970- 854, 1971- 861, 1972-1,236).

During Duke's last outing, Durant surpassed the 1,000-yard rushing mark on the season to become the fifth Blue Devil to achieve that mark and first since Chris Douglas did so in 2003 (1,138). Durant currently has 1,063 rushing yards on the year, which places him fourth in program history for a single-season.

ACC LEADERS AMONG TACKLES
Duke is one of five schools in the ACC with multiple players with 60-plus tackles on the year, joining Georgia Tech (four), Virginia Tech (three), Virginia (two) and N.C. State (two). Redshirt junior linebacker Shaka Heyward is tied for fifth in the conference with 75 tackles on the year, while redshirt senior safety Lummie Young IV sits tied for 16th with 60.

YOUNG IV SETTLING IN
Redshirt senior Lummie Young IV sits second on the team in tackles with 60. The Anderson, S.C., native has led the Blue Devils in tackles on three different occasions in 2021, including a season-best 10-tackle performance at Charlotte and Virginia.

TAKING DOWN THE QB
Duke has 20 sacks on the year, coming from 11 different players -- sophomores Dorian Mausi, Aeneas Peebles, Michael Reese and Gary Smith III, redshirt sophomores DeWayne Carter, R.J. Oben and Caleb Oppan, redshirt junior Shaka Heyward and Nate Thompson, redshirt senior Lummie Young IV and graduate student Ben Frye.

Carter (4.5), Oben (4.0), Heyward (3.0), Frye (2.0), Peebles (2.0) and all have multiple sacks on the year and six players have double-digit sack yardage on the season.

THE RETURN GAME
Duke has seen graduate students Josh Blackwell and Scott Boylan both return punts during its nine games of 2021. Blackwell has returned six punts 51 yards for an average of 8.50 per return. Boylan, a transfer from Brown, has tallied eight returns on the year for 73 yards for an average of 9.13.

Sophomore Jaylen Stinson has recorded 26-of-31 kickoff returns for Duke on the year. He's earned 556 yards on those 26 returns for an average of 21.38. His kick returns and kick return average have him first in the ACC (min. 17 returns).

His seven returns and 195 return yards against Pittsburgh were the most in the league this season. He also became one of three players to return a kickoff for a touchdown this year, joining Travis Levy of Boston College and Ja'Sir Taylor of Wake Forest. For his efforts against the Panthers, Stinson was tabbed the ACC Specialist of the Week on Monday.

#GoDuke

Players Mentioned

Josh Blackwell

Jake Bobo

Scott Boylan

Jalon Calhoun

DeWayne Carter

Mataeo Durant

Ben Frye

Shaka Heyward

Dorian Mausi

R.J. Oben

Caleb Oppan

Aeneas Peebles

Michael Reese

Gary Smith III

Jaylen Stinson

Nate Thompson

Lummie Young IV

Duke information