Duke needed a late trick play to pry loose a road win at Virginia, and the Blue Devils got just enough from Nate Sheppard’s arm to escape Scott Stadium with a 19-16 victory Friday night.
With 1:14 left, Duke lined up with Walker Eget throwing a backward pass to Sheppard in the right flat. Freshman wideout Brody Keefe had slipped free down the right sideline, and Sheppard delivered a 28-yard touchdown strike to put Duke in front. Gavin Strange missed the extra point, leaving the Blue Devils up three.
That was still enough. On Virginia’s final push, Patrick Smith-Young intercepted Beau Pribula with 36 seconds remaining to seal Duke’s second ACC win and snap its two-game skid.
Duke improved to 5-2 overall and 2-2 in conference play, while Virginia fell to 4-4 and 2-3.
The finish came after a game that spent most of the night grinding along and never gave either offense much room to breathe. Virginia had nudged ahead 16-13 on Will Bettridge’s 30-yard field goal with three minutes to play, but Duke answered in a hurry. Eget, who had injured his passing hand early, hit Jaivon Solomon for 13 yards, Jonah Burton for 12 and Sheppard for 13 before Sheppard finished the job with the touchdown toss.
That late burst masked a messy middle stretch for Duke, especially after a promising opening. The Blue Devils started fast when Sheppard broke loose off the right side for a 32-yard touchdown run, and the defense followed with a quick stop.
But Eget hurt his throwing hand on the next possession and headed to the blue medical tent after his right hand struck Kam Robinson on a release. Redshirt freshman Dan Mahan handled quarterback duties for the rest of the first half, while Eget sat out, taped up and threw on the sideline before returning after halftime.
Without Eget, Duke’s offense lost its rhythm. Virginia crowded the line, focused on Sheppard and shut down the short game. The Blue Devils managed only one first down the rest of the half.
Sheppard, who came in leading FBS in all-purpose yards and had drawn comparisons from ESPN to Christian McCaffery’s Stanford days, was largely bottled up in that stretch. He finished with 55 rushing yards and two catches for 11 yards, but Virginia’s defense kept him from becoming the easy answer Duke often leans on.
Eget completed 14 of 25 passes for 211 yards and had one interception, picked off by linebacker Kam Robinson in the third quarter.
The Duke offense never fully settled in, and head coach Diaz was clearly frustrated with the line play as he headed to the locker room at halftime. He said a few angry words to the Duke radio network, with his comments aimed at the offensive front rather than the officials or Mahan.
The Blue Devils were also without injured center Matt Craycraft for a second straight game. The senior captain’s absence showed up in the way Virginia was able to attack the line and disrupt Duke’s flow.
Penalties also kept helping Virginia find leverage. On the Cavaliers’ opening touchdown march, Duke was flagged for a facemask and pass interference as Virginia covered 80 yards to tie the game.
Later, another pass interference call on DaShawn Stone set up a short Bettridge field goal that gave Virginia a 10-7 edge. In the second half, a Duke sack was erased when linebacker Bradley Gompers was ruled unable to get off the field before the snap, resulting in an illegal substitution penalty.
The kicking game was busy too, and Duke had to patch it together on the fly. Sophomore Andrew Pellicciotta was out after getting hurt against UNC, so KD Cotton took over as punt returner.
Cotton gave Duke a lift with returns of 22 and 27 yards. C.J.
Campbell Jr. added a 33-yard kickoff return in the second half, helping set up Strange’s first field goal.
Strange, a freshman, handled placekicking with Cosme Salas out for the season and again showed why Duke is trusting him. He drilled two 39-yard field goals and was steady throughout the night, even if the PAT miss after the go-ahead touchdown left the Blue Devils sweating late.
Punter Kade Reynoldson also worked through a heavy brace on his left leg, getting his punts off while noticeably favoring the limb as he moved on and off the field.
Duke also had cornerback Kimari Robinson available after his status had been uncertain leading up to kickoff. Robinson was involved in an incident with a female Duke assistant trainer during the UNC game last Saturday, later apologized on social media and was discussed by Diaz on Monday, who said the player did not meet the school’s “high standards” and that the matter was being handled internally. Robinson dressed and played Friday before leaving in the third quarter with an injury.
Virginia, which had won nine of the previous 11 in the series, entered off a 10-point road loss to SMU. Duke came in after consecutive one-possession defeats to Georgia Tech and North Carolina, and on a short week for both teams, the Blue Devils finally found a way to make one more play than the other side.
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