UVA took advantage of five Duke turnovers and a questionable fourth-down try in a 48-14 demolition of Duke in front of 52,847 fans at Scott Stadium on Saturday.
The ‘Hoos (5-2, 3-1 ACC) rebounded nicely from back-to-back defeats at Notre Dame and at Miami.
After a scoreless first quarter, got on the board early in the second quarter, on a Bryce Perkins 1-yard TD run that capped a nine-play, 78-yard drive, making it 7-0 Virginia.
Brenton Nelson intercepted a Quentin Harris pass to set up a 30-yard Brian Delaney field goal, and then a failed fourth-down conversion try at the Duke 35 led to another short-field score, another Perkins 1-yard run, that took it to the half with UVA up 17-0.
A Duke fumble on the first play after the break led to another Delaney field goal, from 33 yards, and after the Virginia defense got a stop, the Cavaliers drove 70 yards in eight plays, getting into the end zone on a 3-yard Wayne Taulapapa TD, making it 27-0 Virginia.
Duke made its first incursion into UVA territory on its next drive, aided by a pair of fourth-down runs by punter Austin Parker, the first after he picked up a dropped snap, the second on a designed fake punt.
A Harris-to-Scott Bracey 36-yard TD pass got Duke on the board with 4:57 left in the third quarter.
Any notion that a Duke team that rallied from a 26-3 third-quarter deficit to take the lead late in a loss to Pitt wouldn’t linger in the air for long.
Joe Reed took the Duke kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown to make it 34-7.
Another Duke turnover, a strip sack of Harris by Jordan Mack, led to another score, a 3-yard Perkins TD run, his third of the day, and the rout was on.
A Joey Blount interception set up another Taulapapa score, a 9-yard TD run, that made it 48-7 one play into the fourth quarter.
Perkins was 13-for-26 passing for 141 yards and one INT, and ran 22 times for 62 yards.
Taulapapa ran for 77 yards and two touchdowns.
Story by Chris Graham
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