Tre Hornbuckle: "Big-time moment against a big-time team"

Duke defensive lineman Tre Hornbuckle was a key to the Blue Devils’ ability to stop the run in Friday’s 45-10 win over Virginia Tech.

Hornbuckle got five tackles, all on run plays, including two solo stops. He helped Duke hold the Hokies to 139 yards on the ground, an average of just 3.2 yards per carry.

Like most of his teammates, Hornbuckle thought the fumble recovered by Koby Quansah early in the second half was a key play.

“It gave us a lot of momentum that we needed at that point in the game,” he said. “It was a really tough game. Credit to VT. They have a tough squad, an explosive squad.”

Despite the big win, Hornbuckle was making sure the team didn’t get too high on itself.

“We’ve got to keep on going to work,” he said. “This was a tough V-Tech team we just played. Now we’ve got to get ready to get back to work on Sunday. … There’s always things we can improve on.”

The Hokies started back-to-back drives on Duke’s side of the field early in the game, but the defense kept them from the end one.

“Just do whatever it takes to keep hope alive,” Hornbuckle said.

Duke kept pressure on the quarterbacks, despite only getting one sack and two tackles for loss.

“That’s always the game plan,” Hornbuckle said, “to get into the backfield.”

Hornbuckle wasn’t on the field for the fourth-and-one play where the Hokies were stopped, giving Duke the ball on Tech’s side of the field. The play, and the Duke touchdown on the next play, ended any realistic comeback hopes for the Hokies.

“We just stopped them,” he said. “We bowed up. It was a big-time moment against a big-time team. It was another momentum swing for us.”

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