Duke’s Blue Devils came away from their first six games this season believing they were a play or two away from being 6-0.
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After back-to-back losses, the Devils were determined Friday to make enough plays just to get back to winning again. Duke did that, coming from behind late in the game for a gutsy 19-16 road victory over Virginia at Scott Stadium
The Blue Devils (5-2 overall, 2-2 ACC) turned to a trick play to take the lead with 1:14 to play, using the passing arm of running back Nate Sheppard.
Quarterback Walker Eget threw a backward pass to Sheppard in the right flat while freshman wide receiver Brody Keefe ran uncovered down the right side to the end zone. Sheppard got the ball to Keefe with a well-thrown 28-yard pass and Duke had the lead, although placekicker Gavin Strange missed the point-after and it was 19-16.
In losses to Georgia Tech and North Carolina, the Duke defense was unable to make a last stop after the Devils had taken fourth-down leads. But Duke’s Patrick Smith-Young picked off Beau Pribula’s fourth-down pass with 36 seconds left, and Duke had denied the Cavaliers (4-4, 2-3).
Duke trailed 16-13 after Will Bettridge pushed the Cavaliers ahead with a 30-yard field goal with three minutes remaining.
But Eget, who had injured his passing hand early in the game, responded with passes of 13 yards to Jaivon Solomon, 12 to Jonah Burton and 13 to Sheppard. Then, Sheppard had the TD pass, on a play the Blue Devils call “Buddy.”
“I’ve been waiting to throw the ball for a while now,” Sheppard said, smiling. “That one felt good.”
Eget’s reaction?
“What can Nate not do, to be honest,” he said. “He can run, he can throw, he can catch. Even when you think you can stop him for the night, you still can’t stop him. He can do everything.”
The two teams last played in Charlotte last December with much more at stake: the ACC championship. Duke took a 27-20 overtime victory for its first outright ACC title since 1962.
The Wahoos, who had won nine of the last 11 in the series, were coming off a 10-point road loss to SMU and the Devils a 24-20 loss to UNC. It was a short week for both teams. Both had significant injuries.
“Tonight, our guys found a way to finish,” Duke coach Manny Diaz said. “When Virginia goes down and kicks the field goal, it would be easy to say, ‘Oh, here it is again.’ For our offense to go 75 yards for a touchdown and then our defense to go out and seal it with an interception is just the definition of great team ball.
“Great to finish. Needed this. Big for our confidence going forward. Everybody we play, it’s probably going to be like this, too. It’s just the way of life in our conference, and I’m just glad our guys found a way to finish tonight.”
With a double pass?
“Great call at a great time,” Diaz said. “Sometimes, you need things like that in those type situations because Virginia, their defense is outstanding. They make it hard on you for so many reasons.”
Duke, which had lost its last six games at Scott Stadium, got just the start it wanted as Sheppard shot off the right side for a 32-yard scoring run. But Eget injured his throwing hand during the possession and was held out the rest of the first half as redshirt freshman Dan Mahan took over at QB.
Virginia quickly tied it with an 80-yard scoring drive helped along by two Duke penalties. Jekail Middlebrook scored on fourth down from a yard for a 7-7 tie, and the game would be mostly a low-scoring slog the rest of the way — Virginia led 13-7 at halftime and 13-10 after three quarters.
Sheppard came into the game leading FBS in all-purpose yards and drew a comparison from the ESPN types to Christian McCaffrey’s All-American play at Stanford before going to the NFL.
The Virginia defense swarmed around Sheppard and defused that threat, overloading the line of scrimmage and taking away the run and the short check-down throws to Sheppard. The sophomore, named a midseason All-America by the AP, rushed for 55 yards on 15 carries and had two grabs for 11 yards in the game.
Eget, who returned in the third quarter and played with fingers taped on his right had, closed 14-of-25 for 211 yards. He had a pass intercepted in the third quarter by linebacker Kam Robinson, who also had caused Eget’s hand injury on a pass rush.
Observations from the ACC game:
The Duke defense made a quick stop and Diaz was jumping around and clapping as the players trotted out the field. The offense then got two big chunk plays – a 35-yard pass from Eget to Jonah Burton, who made a tumbling sideline catch, and then Sheppard’s 32-yard TD run.
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When the offensive players left the field, Eget went straight to the blue medical tent. On the pass to Burton, his right hand hit the hand of Virginia’s Robinson on the release.
“There wasn’t anything structurally wrong with the finger but it was more his ability to grip the football,” Diaz said.
Eget did not return in the first half as Mahan took over at QB. Eget had fingers taped and took some throws on the sideline. He put on his helmet, as if ready to go. But Mahan continued to play and finished out the half.
“I thought Dan did a heckuva job when he was in there and showed a lot of toughness,” Diaz said. “But Walker was ripping it coming out of halftime, and that kid has been through so much that the idea he was not going to get back on the field and give it the ol’ college try wasn’t going to happen.”
Diaz was hot when he left the field at halftime, but not at the referees or frustrated by Mahan’s inability to get the offense moving.
Instead, Diaz was miffed about the play of his offensive line, saying a few angry words to the Duke radio network as he headed to the locker room.
Late in the half, Duke had a third-and-2 play and Sheppard got the ball. And was dropped for a 6-yard loss as Virginia defenders streamed in and gang-tackled.
Duke again played without injured center Matt Craycraft, who missed his second straight game. Craycraft is a senior and team captain, the communicator along the O line.
Duke defensive penalties were problematic at times Friday.
On Virginia’s first-half touchdown drive, Duke was called for a facemask penalty and then pass interference as the Cavs went 80 yards to tie the score.
Virginia took a 10-7 lead on a short Bettridge field goal after a pass interference call against Duke’s DaShawn Stone after he collided with Da’Shawn Martin as a scrambling Pribula unloaded a deep pass that sailed over their heads.
Early in the second half a Duke sack was nullified when it was ruled linebacker Bradley Gompers was unable to get off the field before the snap – an illegal substitution penalty.
But the Blue Devils limited the Cavs to three-second half points. They had five sacks and eight tackles for losses in the game, and go the job done on third down — Virginia was 2-10 on conversions.
The Devils’ kicking game had to patch some things up for the Virginia game.
Sophomore Andrew Pellicciotta was injured against UNC and was out Friday, with KD Cotton taking over as Duke’s punt returner – Diaz likes to call it the “pass catcher.”
Cotton had a 22-yard punt return in the opening half and a 27-yarder in the third quarter. C.J. Campbell Jr., ran the second-half kickoff back 33 yards to jumpstart a drive that ended with Strange’s first field goal.
Strange, a freshman, again was the starting placekicker with Cosme Salas out for the season with an injury. Strange kicked two 39-yard field goals, showing a strong, accurate leg.
Punter Kade Reynoldson played with a heavy brace on his left leg. He got off his punts but favored his injured leg as he jogged on and off the field. His six punts averaged 42.2 yards.
Duke cornerback Kimari Robinson did play for the Devils on Friday.
Robinson was involved in an incident with a female Duke assistant trainer during the UNC game last Saturday. As she tried to move Robinson aside to assist with an injured Stone, Robinson swatted her hand away.
Robinson later issued a public apology on social media and Diaz said Monday the player did not adhere to the school’s “high standards” with his behavior. Diaz said the matter was being handled internally.
Robinson’s playing status remained in doubt until game time, when he was in uniform and set to play. He left the game in the third quarter after an injury.
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This story was originally published October 23, 2026 at 10:29 PM.