BLACKSBURG, Va. — The No. 14 Virginia Tech Hokies dished out plenty of bruises while shutting out the Duke Blue Devils 36-0 in the ACC game at Lane Stadium on Saturday.

The Hokies (3-0, 2-0) have outscored Duke 122-17, and shut them out the past two seasons, in their three ACC meetings.

The Hokies beat down on the Devils by dominating the airspace above Worsham Field with 316 passing yards and pressuring Duke quarterbacks Thaddeus Lewis and Marcus Jones to the tune of eight sacks.

The Hokies also sent Lewis, a true freshman making his second collegiate start, out of the game.

With 9:52 left in the second quarter, Virginia Tech safety Aaron Rouse wrapped Lewis up with a late, helmet-to-helmet hit that caught Lewis under the chin. Lewis suffered a concussion and did not return.

Duke (0-3, 0-2) again played solid run defense, holding Virginia Tech to 102 rushing yards. Also cornerback John Talley hauled in his first interception of the year, preventing a touchdown on Virginia Tech’s second drive.

But Hokies quarterback Sean Glennon countered by throwing for 301 yards on 15-for-25 passing with two touchdowns and an interception.

Asked after the game what hurt most, Jones, Duke’s backup quarterback, said, “[Our] pride.”

Virginia Tech came out hard and physical and shook Lewis up on Duke’s first play from scrimmage. Trying to keep the ball on what looked like a botched handoff, Lewis was tackled by two Hokies and had his head twisted around in the pileup.

Lewis left the field and Jones replaced him for two plays. Lewis came back in but didn’t show the accuracy he had while throwing 305 yards against Wake Forest last week.

The Hokies appeared to be subletting space in the Blue Devils backfield, chasing first Lewis, then Jones, at will. The Hokies also got into Lewis’ head early when they were twice called for roughing the passer in the first quarter.

That was the backstory when, with 9:52 left in the half, Lewis stepped away from some pressure, up into the pocket, and tossed a quick pass to Duke tight end Nick Stefanow.

Rouse was a couple of steps away when Lewis’ released the ball but didn’t stop. He caught Lewis going full speed with a late, helmet-to-helmet hit. Rouse was called for his second roughing-the-passer penalty of the game.

After several minutes lying on the field, Lewis left under his own power. He did not return to the game though he was on the Duke sideline, dressed in street clothes, after the game.

Rouse offered an apology to Lewis through Duke coach Ted Roof afterwards.

“When the game was over and I went over there to express my feelings for his player and let him know it wasn’t intentionally and I was just out there playing,” Rouse said. “And I spoke to Coach [Frank] Beamer after the game and I said the same thing to him.”

Rouse also said he didn’t feel like he had done anything wrong. He said he felt he was called for the penalty because the hit was “so ferocious.”

“You have to play within the rules of the game, but at the same time you can’t be confined by the rules,” Rouse said. “So with that being said I really hope that player is OK. And fortunately the call didn’t go my way.”

Asked if he would ask the ACC to review Rouse’s hit on Lewis, Roof said no. That wasn’t the reason why Duke lost.

“I don’t want to go there,” the Duke coach said. “I just want to go back to work. We’ve got to find a way to protect [the quarterback] better.”

Did Jones think the Hokies were playing dirty?

“I wouldn’t say dirty, they were playing hard,” said Jones, who was scheduled to take snaps at wide receiver before Lewis’ injury. “We have to fight back.”

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