By BRYAN STRICKLAND

bstrickland@heraldsun.com; 419-6671

DURHAM -- Duke cornerback Leon Wright's choice of words to describe Virginia Tech's passing game were inadvertently amusing.

"The quarterback put the ball where it needed to be, and their receivers made the plays," Wright said. "You can't take anything away from their receivers."

Wright appeared to take the ball away from a Virginia Tech receiver, but the officials on the field instead credited Hokies wide receiver Jarrett Boykin with a touchdown, and the replay booth didn't change the call after a lengthy delay.

The touchdown gave Virginia Tech a 17-7 lead midway through the second quarter of its 34-26 win.

"I saw the quarterback throw it, and I played the ball well and grabbed it and came down," Wright said. "He had his arm inside, and when we came down we kind of rolled over, and somehow he ended up with the ball.

"But I came down with the ball, and he was out of bounds and I was inbounds, so I thought it should have been an interception."

Replays appeared to show that Boykin stepped out of bounds before claiming any control of the ball and that he was out of bounds by the time when he finally wrestled it away from Wright.

The play was reviewed for nearly five minutes, and the ruling on the field was upheld.

"On the field, the ruling was a simultaneous catch in the end zone and hence a touchdown," ACC coordinator of officials Doug Rhoads said in a statement. "Replay reviewed the catch, and it stands as called."

Duke coach David Cutcliffe couldn't believe the ruling, so he called a timeout to ask referee Walt Davenport whether he could throw the red challenge flag for a second review.

"They wouldn't let me do that," Cutcliffe said. "I figured I was wasting the timeout, but I didn't mind wasting it there. I wasn't ready to play the next play just yet. ...

"I knew what I thought I had seen, but they've got about eight angles on it. I still wanted to argue for the sake of arguing. I wasn't happy, but it's just a part of the game."

Cutcliffe said the call wasn't the deciding factor in the game, and he credited his team for letting it go shortly after he did. Duke came right back with a six-minute drive that ended with one of Will Sndyerwine's four field goals seven seconds before halftime.

"After that call, we knew we just had to go back out there and play," said Duke defensive tackle Vince Oghobaase, who led the Blue Devils with two tackles for loss after missing two games with a knee injury. "We can't leave the game in the referees' hands."

Wright knows the play likely will be part of television highlight shows.

"I'll probably change the channel," Wright said.