Virginia led Duke by 22 points again, but this time the Cavs were able to hold off a late Blue Devils rally to hold on for a 42-34 win on Saturday in ACC action.
UVA (4-7, 3-4 ACC) ended a three-game losing streak to Duke (6-5, 3-4 ACC), which has now lost four in a row in 2015 after streaking to a 6-1 start.
The ‘Hoos will host in-state ACC rival Virginia Tech (5-6, 3-4 ACC) next week in what could be legendary Hokies coach Frank Beamer’s last game.
Two years ago in Charlottesville, Duke rallied from an early 22-0 deficit to stun the Cavs, 35-22. History seemed to be on the verge of repeating itself Saturday. After being down 42-20 entering the fourth quarter, Duke had two chances in the closing minutes to put a potential tying score on the board, but the Virginia D stiffened both times on fourth-down plays.
The first came on a drive that saw backup quarterback Parker Boehme drive the Blue Devils from their own 13 to the UVA 36, where the drive stalled.
The Duke defense forced a three-and-out from the ‘Hoos, though, and the Blue Devils were able to take over at their own 37 with 54 seconds left after a catch-interference penalty on Virginia on the punt.
Boehme connected with Anthony Nash on a 49-yard pass play on the first play of the ensuing series to get the ball to the Virginia 14.
After a first-down pass fell incomplete, Boehmer completed a pass to Jela Duncan for eight yards to bring up a third-and-two. Without a timeout, Boehmer spiked the ball to kill the clock with eight seconds left to bring up a fourth-and-two.
Nash was unable to bring in a Boehme pass at the goal line on the fourth-down play, with Duke players and coaches apparently confused on the down, thinking they still had one more play left.
UVA had jumped out early, with touchdowns on their first three drives on a 15-yard TD pass from Matt Johns to Evan Butts and touchdown runs by Taquan Mizzell and T.J. Thorpe.
Duke got on the board on a 94-yard kickoff return TD by DeVon Edwards that made it 21-7 Virginia at the end of the first quarter.
It was 28-13 at the half on a Johns-to-Mizzell 36-yard TD pass and a pair of field goals by Duke placekicker Ross Martin.
Virginia scored a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter, on a 10-yard run by Mizzell and a 50-yard pass from Johns to freshman wideout Olamide Zaccheaus, sandwiched around a Braxton Deaver TD reception, that made it 42-20 heading into the fourth.
Duke put a scare into the home crowd in the fourth, cutting the margin to 42-27 with 9:20 to go on a 12-yard TD catch by T.J. Rahming, then making it a one-score game with 7:24 to go on a 1-yard run by Boehme.
Virginia outgained Duke 502-485, with Johns putting up big numbers through the air, going 24-for-33 passing for 333 yards and two touchdowns with one interception, and a passer rating of 174.2.
The running game gained 143 yards on 39 carries, with Mizzell gaining 61 yards on 17 rushes.
Mizzell had five catches for 43 yards, and T.J. Thorpe had five catches for 58 yards for Virginia.
Duke starting quarterback Thomas Sirk was 22-for-39 passing for 207 yards, a touchdown and an INT, for a passer rating of 119.7. Boehme threw for 178 yards on 8-of-19 passing and a touchdown, with a 138.2 passer rating, in relief.
The Blue Devils ran for 100 yards on 31 attempts.
– Story by Chris Graham
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