Author’s note: Happy Thanksgiving, y’all. Fair warning, though—reading this article probably will not make you much happier.
Over the last few weeks, the Tech defense had been trending upward. The Virginia game was a hiccup, but all in all, things were moving in the right direction with respect to both on-field play and coaching.
That all seems like a distant memory now. Duke, which entered the weekend third-to-last in the ACC in points per game, ran up 43 points and moved the ball with ease against a defense that looked sluggish and unprepared.
Let the record show that the defense had chances to set the tone—starting with the opening drive, which could have ended in a turnover three separate times but instead ended with a field goal.