Virginia quarterback Chandler Morris threw two touchdown passes a week after exiting with an injury and the No. 19 Cavaliers did most of their best work on defense to beat Duke 34-17 on Saturday in a game with significant Atlantic Coast Conference championship implications in Durham, N.C.
J’Mari Taylor rushed for 133 yards and two touchdowns in a huge bounce-back performance for Virginia (9-2, 6-1 ACC) after its home loss to Wake Forest, keeping the Cavaliers in the thick of the conference race.
Duke (5-5, 4-2) lost its second straight game since winning at Clemson, likely dropping out of the race for a spot in the ACC title game.
Morris was unable to finish last Saturday’s game against Wake Forest and was placed into concussion protocol, with his status for the Duke game uncertain until game day. He finished 23-for-35 for 316 yards, the two scores and two interceptions.
Duke quarterback Darian Mensah, who was averaging 310.4 passing yards per game entering the week, completed 18 of 35 passes for 213 yards with a touchdown.
Duke had just four first downs through the midway mark of the third quarter, trailing 24-3 by then.
Virginia led 31-3 before Duke’s first touchdown with 10:23 remaining. Then Blue Devils linebacker Tre Freeman returned a Morris interception 18 yards for a touchdown with 9:30 to play.
The Cavaliers responded with Will Bettridge’s 42-yard field goal.
Earlier, Virginia scored 10 points in the final 1:39 of the first half to build a 17-3 lead. Morris threw 12 yards to Sage Ennis to complete a 75-yard drive that ate up almost four minutes.
After a Duke punt, the Cavaliers used a 56-yard pass play from Morris to Trell Harris to move into scoring range, then Bettridge’s 44-yard field goal ended the half.
Virginia outgained Duke 308-50 in the first half. The Cavaliers had the lone turnover prior to the break.
Virginia, which didn’t score a touchdown a week earlier vs. Wake Forest, drove 75 yards on 14 plays on its first possession against Duke, scoring on Taylor’s 5-yard run. The march included a fourth-down conversion.
The Cavaliers had a 128-16 advantage in first-quarter yardage, with Duke going three-and-out three times.
But after the Blue Devils made a fourth-down stop, they moved into Virginia territory and got on the scoreboard on Todd Pelino’s 49-yard field goal.
–Field Level Media
