Virginia continues to stumble, falls 38-17 at Duke

By Scott Ratcliffe

Duke sophomore quarterback Riley Leonard ran for a pair of touchdowns and threw for another, leading the Blue Devils to their first ACC victory in nearly two years, a 38-17 triumph over Virginia Saturday night in Durham.

Duke (4-1, 1-0 ACC) snapped a 13-game conference-game losing skid dating back to the 2020 season, with its last such victory coming on Oct. 10, 2020 against Syracuse.

Once again, the Cavaliers (2-3, 0-2) got off to sloppy start and fell into another early hole, beating themselves with dropped passes, tipped passes, special-teams miscues and untimely penalties, allowing Duke to build a comfortable advantage from the get-go.

Brennan Armstrong rushed for a fourth-quarter score, but had trouble producing in the passing game up until that point. The senior signal-caller completed 19 of his 37 attempts for 202 yards with a touchdown and a pick, rushing for 23 yards and a score on 8 carries.

FIRST QUARTER
The Wahoo defense came up with consecutive tackles for loss — one by Anthony Johnson for 2 yards, the next by Jaylon Baker for 4 more on third down — to force a Duke punt on the game’s opening possession.

UVA senior wideout Billy Kemp IV, who missed the last two games with a kidney issue, made his return to the lineup, picking up a 9-yard reception to jumpstart Virginia’s initial drive. A few plays later, however, Kemp was stopped for a loss and needed to be helped off the field and into the medical tent.

Armstrong couldn’t hook up with Keytaon Thompson on a third-down pass, and Duke took over from its own 13-yard line.

The Blue Devils advanced into UVA territory on the ensuing drive before back-to-back Cavalier 15-yard penalties on Aaron Faumui (unnecessary roughness) and Ben Smiley III (personal foul) gave Duke the ball in the red zone.

With 6:55 on the clock, Leonard found Jalen Calhoun for a 19-yard touchdown reception on the very next snap, and Virginia once again found itself in an early hole.

The Hoos couldn’t answer back, as Armstrong’s pass attempt was batted down on third down, and UVA’s ensuing punt was blocked at Duke’s 42-yard line with 3:45 on the clock.

As the Blue Devils moved back down the field, Jack Camper was called for roughing the passer, gifting Duke with another first down in the red zone. Three plays later, Leonard kept his legs churning and got into the end zone to double the lead to 14-0 with 13 seconds left in the opening quarter … but it wasn’t over just yet.

Demick Starling’s kickoff return went for 37 yards, but he coughed it up at the end of the play and Duke recovered at the UVA 40 as the clock expired on another forgettable first period for the Hoos. The Devils have now outscored their opponents 66-7 in the first 15 minutes this season.

SECOND QUARTER
It didn’t take long before the Duke fans were celebrating another touchdown, as Jordan Waters leapt over the pile and in from a yard out with 10:25 until halftime.

Virginia got the ball back with just under four minutes left and got into the red zone on a nice 24-yard catch-and-run by Dontayvion Wicks.

Lavel Davis Jr. then drew a Duke pass interference call, giving the Hoos a first-and-goal situation at the 4-yard line.

After Armstrong was dropped for a loss, his short toss to Perris Jones finally got Virginia on the board with 1:12 showing, 21-7, as Jones stretched for the pylon while diving out of bounds.

THIRD QUARTER
Virginia had a chance to draw closer coming out of the locker room, but the Hoos went three-and-out to start the half.

UVA got senior linebacker Nick Jackson — the team’s leading tackler — back after halftime, after having to sit out the first half for his targeting penalty against Syracuse.

The Devils marched 73 yards and scored again in 17 six plays, stretching their lead back to 21, 28-7, with still 11:13 left in the period.

Armstrong had three-consecutive pass attempts deflected by a Duke defender at the line of scrimmage before another incompletion led to another Daniel Sparks punt, this one returned 43 yards to the Virginia 25, and the home team was right back on the Hoos’ doorstep less than a minute later.

The Cavaliers got a gift of their own, as Duke bobbled the snap on a Charlie Ham field-goal attempt and turned the ball over on downs with a little over six minutes left in the quarter.

Facing a third-and-long, Armstrong connected with Thompson for a much-needed first down into Duke territory, and then Mike Hollins rumbled for another first down a few plays later inside the Devils’ 20-yard line.

The Hoos were again bailed out, this time by a Duke pass interference penalty on third down, and had a first-and-goal at the 4-yard line, but wasted another golden opportunity as Armstrong was sacked for a big loss.

With 1:08 on the clock, freshman Will Bettridge converted his first collegiate field-goal try from 34 yards out, but the Cavaliers still trailed by 18, 28-10.

FOURTH QUARTER
Duke put the game away with its next score, a 59-yard trip to the house by Jaquez Moore, making it 35-10 with 14:03 remaining.

Davis hauled in his first catch on Virginia’s next drive, a 34-yard strike down to the Devils’ 20, and then Armstrong did the rest with his legs on third-and-goal from 5 yards out, cutting it to 35-17 with 10:30 to play.

Ham tacked on a 34-yard field goal with 3:00 to go for the final result, after Duke ate up over seven minutes of clock in the process, and then Armstrong’s final pass attempt of the evening was intercepted with 1:28 left.

Game Stats

Scoring Summary
Virginia   0  7  3  7 — 17
Duke    14  7  7  10 — 38

First Quarter
Duke (6:55) — Jalon Calhoun 19-yd pass from Riley Leonard (Charlie Ham kick). Duke 7, Virginia 0.
Duke (0:13) — Riley Leonard 2-yd run (Ham kick). Duke 14, Virginia 0.

Second Quarter
Duke (10:25) — Jordan Waters 1-yd run (Ham kick). Duke 21, Virginia 0.
UVA (1:12) — Perris Jones 11-yd pass from Brennan Armstrong (Will Bettridge kick). Duke 21, Virginia 7.

Third Quarter
Duke (11:13) — Riley Leonard 1-yd run (Ham kick). Duke 28, Virginia 7.
UVA (1:08) — Will Bettridge 34-yd field goal. Duke 28, Virginia 10.

Fourth Quarter
Duke (14:03) — Jaquez Moore 59-yd run (Ham kick). Duke 35, Virginia 10.
UVA (10:30) — Brennan Armstrong 5-yd run (Bettridge kick). Duke 35, Virginia 17.
Duke (3:00) — Charlie Ham 34-yd field goal. Duke 38, Virginia 17.

Player Stats

Rushing
UVA — P. Jones 8-41; B. Armstrong 8-23; M. Hollins 3-14; K.Thompson 1-10; X. Brown 5-5. Total: 25-93; Duke — J. Coleman 19-97; J. Moore 3-67; R. Leonard 9-59; J. Waters 13-33; T.Moore 2-6; TEAM 1-(-2); J.Hubbard 1-(-12). Total: 48-248.

Receiving
UVA — K. Thompson 6-61; D. Wicks 4-51; L. Davis Jr. 1-34; P.Jones 2-20; G. Misch 3-19; S.Wood Jr. 1-9; B.Kemp IV 2-8. Total: 19-202. Duke: J.Calhoun 6-65; N.Dalmolin 3-36; J.Moore 2-19; J.Waters 1-6; D.Harding Jr. 1-5; J.Robertson 1-3; S.Hagans 2-1; E.Pancol 2-(-6). Total: 18-129.

Passing
UVA — B. Armstrong 19-37-202-1-1. Total: 19-37-202-1-1. Duke: R.Leonard 18-24-129-1-0. Total: 18-24-129-1-0.

Team Notes

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

• Virginia snapped a seven-game win streak against Duke and suffered its first loss against the Blue Devils since 2014 in Durham (20-13).
• The Cavaliers own a 40-34 advantage in the all-time series and drop to 17-23 all-time in Durham.
• With a 2-3 record through the first three games, UVA is below the .500 mark for the first time since the 2020 season and only the second time since the beginning of the 2018 season.
• Seven different Cavaliers caught a pass in the contest, matching a season-high (Richmond).
• Virginia went 83 yards on 11 plays to score its first touchdown of the game, tied for the longest touchdown scoring drive (yards) of the season. The second touchdown of the season against Richmond went 14 plays for 83 yards.

Player Notes

• Brennan Armstrong tied Shawn Moore (1987-90) for second all-time on UVA’s career passing touchdown list with his 55th on a 11-yard pass to Perris Jones in the final two minutes of the first half. Armstrong is one touchdown shy of matching Matt Schaub’s career mark of 56.
• Armstrong scored UVA’s second touchdown on a five-yard rush in the fourth quarter. It was his 16th career rushing TD, the fifth most by a quarterback in UVA history.
• Armstrong threw for 202 yards to record the 21st 200-yard passing game in his career. That makes him UVA’s all-time leader for that category.
• Perris Jones notched his team-best, fourth touchdown of the season to put UVA on the board with 1:12 remaining in the second quarter. It was his second receiving touchdown, both his touchdown receptions this season have gone for 11 yards.
• Keytaon Thompson led the Cavaliers for the fourth-straight game with six catches and accumulated 61 receiving yards. He’s caught a pass in 19-straight games and has five or more receptions in nine of his last 10 games.
• Despite sitting out the first half due to a targeting penalty in UVA’s previous game against Syracuse, Nick Jackson registered 10 tackles and went over the 300-tackle mark for his career. He has 301 career tackles and Saturday marked the 17th double-digit tackle effort of his career (all in the last three years). Jackson’s 27-game start streak ended due to the suspension.
• Jonas Sanker finished with a team-best and career-high, 11 tackles.
• Tight end Grant Misch caught three passes for 19 yards and has a reception in all five games this season.
• Jestus Johnson started at center for the Cavaliers, his first career start.
• First career reception for Sackett Wood was a nine-yard reception on third down in the second quarter.
• First year Will Bettridge was successful on his first career field goal attempt, drilling a 34-yard attempt in the third quarter.

UP NEXT
The Hoos return to Scott Stadium next Saturday to host Louisville at Noon (ACC Network).