Powered by its defense, UVa pulls ahead and hangs on for 28-21 win
CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Clinging to a one-score lead with 3:14 left to play, Virginia needed its defense to make one more stand. The Blue Devils had the ball and one more timeout left and they needed to go 80 yards to tie it.
On a day when the Cavaliers had been able to get to Daniel Jones only once, two key Virginia sacks on the drive, the first from Chris Peace and the second, on a crucial 3rd and 6 from the 30-yard line, by first-year Charles Snowden proved to be the difference.
Jones, who finished the day a paltry 14-for-42 passing for just 124 yards, saw his final attempt fall harmlessly to the turf, as UVa took over on downs and went into the victory formation to lock up a 28-21 win.
At 4-1 (1-0 ACC), the Wahoos have their best start since 2007. And on this day, it came because their defense made enough plays to give the offense time to wake up and stretch the lead.
The first came on Duke's first possession, when Jones was intercepted by Quin Blanding. The senior safety returned it 58 yards for the TD, the first of his storied career in orange and blue and the fifth longest in the ACC this season. Duke (4-2, 0-2) would tie things up near the end of the first quarter with a pick-6 of its own, this time as Jeremy McDuffie took a Kurt Benkert INT 42 yards to the house.
The offensive highlights of that first half weren't exactly plentiful for either side, though. In fact, by the end of the first period UVa had a 20-17 advantage in total offense as both teams had a pair of 1st downs and two turnovers to show for their efforts.
In the second quarter, the Devils took their first (and only) lead on a Jones touchdown pass to tight end David Koppenhaver that capped a 15-play, 88-yard drive that took 6:56 off the clock. It was in essence Duke's lone sustained drive of the day, as the Hoos limited the Blue Devils to just 255 total yards and 5-for-18 on 3rd and 4th downs.
In what could best be described as the right drive at the absolute right time, the Hoos tied things up just before intermission thanks to a six-play, 69-yard drive that ended with Benkert's first TD pass of the day, an 11-yard toss to Oladmide Zaccheaus.
The next two from Benkert, first a 5-yard pass to Doni Dowling with 10:30 left in the third quarter then a 17 yarder to Dowling with 7:08 left to play, made the score 28-14. And that margin should've been enough, but Dowling was hit with a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after leaping into the end zone. After the yardage was enforced on the kickoff, Shaun Wilson returned it 76 yards and Duke scored three plays later with 6:14 left.
From there, it was again a defensive struggle. UVa went three-and-out only to force Duke to do the same. The Cavaliers ran about a minute and a half off the clock before being forced to punt again, setting up Duke's final drive. A raucous Scott Stadium crowd roared when Snowden, on his first snap of the day from scrimmage, got to Jones and dropped him for a loss of 10. With no way to stop the clock and needing to hurry, Duke's last-gasp pass had no chance.
Benkert finished 24-for-43 passing for 182 yards and three TDs, his third straight game with at least three touchdown passes and the eighth time in his 16 games as a Hoo where he did so. Though the offense ran for just 128 yards, Jordan Ellis finished with a career-high 96 yards on the ground.
The defense, which has forced Jones into seven interceptions over the past two seasons, was led by Micah Kiser and Jordan Mack, who each had 10 tackles on the day. Blanding added eight tackles to go along with his pick-6, UVa's first since 2014 (Max Valles against Pitt). Juan Thornhill, who had Virginia's other INT, finished with four tackles and four PBUs the last coming on the final play of Duke's final drive.
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