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.”

The Devils’ couldn’t move the ball while gaining just 139 total yards but the Duke defense had its own big problem in this one. Even when the Devils had the Hokies on the run, the Hokies made plays. That happened on Glennon’s 60-yard toss on the first play of the game. Duke defensive end Casey Camero chased Glennon one way, just missed him, then chased him the other before Glennon got the pass off.

With 39 seconds left in the first quarter, Hokie punt returner Eddie Royal took a kick in the first quarter and saw that he was shut down going to the left side. Royal reversed field and beat the Duke coverage down the right side for a 58-yard return touchdown.

“We were almost there and we’ve got them wrapped up and we’ve got them in our reach, and we don’t make the play,” Duke linebacker Michael Tauiliili said. “Those are the things that determine a game. Any time you have an opportunity, you’ve got to take it and seize the moment. If you let opportunities like that slip, sooner or later it’s going to pass you by.”

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GOING DEEP WITH DUKE

The N&O is taking a different approach to covering Duke football in 2006. Read weekly theme stories about a beleaguered program working to evolve and improve. Dip into ACC Now blog updates during the week and pre- and post-game analysis and stories on the weekend.

WEEK 3: Virginia Tech 36, Duke 0

WHAT HAPPENED

Duke’s 36-0 loss to No. 14 Virginia Tech started badly when Hokie receiver David Clowney hauled in a 60-yard reception on the first play of the ACC game at Lane Stadium. Then it got worse when Duke starting quarterback Thaddeus Lewis was forced out of the game with a concussion.

Asked what hurt most after the Hokies sacked Lewis and replacement Marcus Jones eight times, Jones said, “Our pride.”

Hokie quarterback Sean Glennon was well on his way to ripping through the Duke secondary for 301 yards and two touchdowns when Virginia Tech (3-0, 2-0 ACC) led 13-0 in the first quarter.

With 9:52 left in the second quarter, Lewis threw a quick pass to tight end Nick Stefanow. Then Virginia Tech safety Aaron Rouse, who was two steps away when Lewis released the ball, did not stop and laid down a late, helmet-to-helmet hit that caught Lewis under the chin.

It was Rouse’s second roughing the passer call in the game. Duke coach Ted Roof said Rouse apologized after the game and that Lewis would be fine.

Lewis was walking on the Duke sideline in street clothes at game’s end. Jones replaced Lewis but the Devils still couldn’t move the ball and gained just 139 yards total.

Duke (0-3, 0-2) has a bye on Sept. 23. The Devils host Virginia on Sept. 30.

BATTLES WON

Eight punts, no blocks: The Hokies, who had blocked two punts in their first two games, kept trying to score the big play. Duke punter Alex Feinberg held fast and got off all of his punts. Feinberg averaged 42.1 yards per punt and put one down inside the Hokies’ 20.

BATTLES LOST

Shutting down airspace: Duke corner John Talley intercepted a possible touchdown in the second quarter but Duke’s secondary gave up 316 yards total. Clowney beat Deonto McCormick for 60 yards and Talley missed a tackle that turned into a 41-yard gain for Eddie Royal. Both led to touchdowns. The Devils pressured Glennon often but Glennon hung in and his receivers tacked on plenty of yardage after the catch.

Healthy quarterback: The Hokies weren’t playing patty-cake out there. Lewis was shaken up on the first play of the game and saw three roughing the passer penalties called on the Hokies before he was knocked out for good.

COACHSPEAK

Duke coach Ted Roof on Rouse’s hit on Lewis — “ It’s an unfortunate part of the game. It was a shame that he got knocked out, but sometimes that happens in football. ... That’s not why we lost the football game.”

Roof on whether he would press the issue with the ACC — “I don’t want to go there. I just want to go back to work. We’ve got to find a way to protect him better.”

Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer on Rouse’s hit — “I hate that, you know ... And Aaron, I don’t think he meant to do that. ... He’s apologetic. It’s one of those things, if you’re going to take two steps, you’ve got to pull off. ... They’ve got a couple of athletic quarterbacks there [at Duke] and they’re doing the right things.”

BIRDS’ EYE VIEW

Virginia Tech safety Aaron Rouse on his hit on Lewis —“I felt like he was going to run the ball. He started running toward me and I ran toward him and he just let it go. Once I was committed it was tough to pull off.”

Duke quarterback Marcus Jones on how physical the game was — “They are a fast team. I’m lucky to come out in one piece. ... The roughing of the passer, the late hits, they were coming for us. ... I knew they would be coming for me too. So I was ready to go. ”

WEEK 3 GOAL IN REVIEW

The Devils held the Hokies to 102 yards rushing but failed to move the ball themselves. The Hokies were the second team to shut out Duke this season. It’s the first time since 1990 Duke has been shut out twice in a season.

Progress? The backwards kind.