For the fourth time in a row, Virginia football emerged victorious from a clash with Duke. This time, it was a 28-14 win that gave the Cavaliers (5-2, 3-1 ACC) the advantage over the Blue Devils (5-2, 1-2 ACC).
“I’m obviously really excited and proud of our team,” Coach Bronco Mendenhall said. “We’re coming off of the Miami win last week and that presented a significant challenge. It was considered and labeled a lot of different things by folks as signature, breakthrough ... Once that is out there, that really makes every game after more challenging, especially the next one. So our team showed the maturity and resiliency to come on the road and start fast.”
The Cavaliers certainly got off to a fast start, scoring a touchdown on their opening drive. Junior quarterback Bryce Perkins rushed for 23-yards to find Duke’s end zone and get Virginia on the scoreboard. In the second quarter, Perkins added to Virginia’s lead with a three-yard touchdown run. The Cavaliers held on to the 14-0 lead going into half-time.
Duke got the scoring started in the second-half after Blue Devils’ junior quarterback Daniel Jones found senior wide receiver Chris Taylor for a 46-yard touchdown. Later in the quarter, sophomore kicker Brian Delaney added three points to Virginia’s lead with a 37-yard field goal. Shortly after, Delaney hit another field goal, this time from 42-yards out.
In the final 15 minutes of play, Duke cut into the Cavaliers’ lead with a touchdown with a little under 11 minutes to go in the game. However, Virginia had a response in store, as Perkins found senior tight-end Evan Butts with a 16-yard touchdown pass. Perkins then found senior half-back Olamide Zaccheaus for a two-point conversation to give Virginia a 28-14 win.
Overall, Virginia’s offense finished with 376 yards. Perkins had 189 passing yards and a team-high 61 rushing yards. Zaccheaus led the way in receiving yards, with 66 yards on 10 receptions, making him the second Cavalier all-time to reach 200 career receptions.
“The last two weeks with Miami and Duke — teams that are good on defense — it’s starting to sound better and look better,” Mendenhall said of Virginia’s offense. “The results are becoming more positive which allows the clock to run and the momentum to shift. The defense stays fresher and they play faster on third down. The complementary nature of the game with Bryce [Perkins] doing his thing in between, that’s starting to become our identity.”
Defensively, the Cavaliers held Duke to 320 yards, making the Blue Devils the sixth team this season that the Cavaliers have held to under 400 yards. Junior corner Bryce Hall had five tackles and one interception, senior linebacker Chris Peace had seven tackles and 2.5 sacks, while senior safety Juan Thornhill had eight tackles and one interception. This was Thornhill’s fourth interception of the season and the 11th of his career, making him tied for 10th all-time in the program’s record books for career interceptions.
“It’s just time together,” Mendenhall said of the team’s mindset. “The principles that we have are guiding principles. It’s real. Guys adhere, believe and support those things. Those things frame our culture and within the culture is how they work. Time working increases execution, and when increase your execution under duress like that when you play an opponent, the outcome usually starts to shift over time.”
The Cavaliers are back in action next week when they host North Carolina on Saturday, Oct. 27. The ACC matchup is scheduled for a 12:20 p.m. kickoff from Scott Stadium.
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