After having its School Soccer Playoff goals crushed final yr, Virginia received its probability at redemption Friday night time within the long-anticipated rematch of the ACC Championship Recreation. The final time these groups met, in Charlotte in December, Duke received 27-20 in additional time after a Virginia trick play was intercepted, giving the Blue Devils their first league title since 1962. This time the ‘Hoos have been at residence, the place they’d received 5 straight and regarded like a unique crew. They opened and closed as 2.5-point favorites. This was despite the truth that they have been nonetheless shorthanded, with out receivers Kameron Courtney and Rico Flores Jr. and safeties Brandyn Hillman, Ethan Minter and Corey Costner.
For a half, it regarded like the gang would get its revenge. Duke went 78 yards in 4 performs for a landing on its opening drive, however quarterback Walker Eget damage his hand on the primary huge throw of that drive and didn’t return till halftime. Virginia answered with a Jekail Middlebrook direct-snap landing, added two Will Bettridge area objectives and took a 13-7 lead into the locker room after holding the ball for greater than 20 minutes of the primary half.
Eget got here again for the second half, and Duke methodically chipped away with two Gavin Unusual area objectives. Bettridge’s 30-yarder put Virginia again in entrance 16-13 with three minutes left, however Duke went 75 yards in seven performs and received it on a double move, with working again Nate Sheppard throwing 28 yards to a wide-open Brody Keefe with 1:14 to play. Unusual missed the additional level, and it didn’t matter. Beau Pribula’s final desperation heave was intercepted, dropping Virginia to 4-4 (2-3 ACC), with its first residence lack of the season and its first back-to-back losses because the finish of 2024.
Listed here are my 5 takeaways from the loss.
Virginia’s conservative teaching selections got here again to chunk it
Virginia outgained Duke 353-327, received the first-down battle 22-16 and held the ball for 38:47 to Duke’s 21:13. Nevertheless, Virginia merely refused to ship the ending blow.
The primary probability to bury Duke got here whereas Eget was sidelined. Redshirt freshman Dan Mahan performed the remainder of the primary half, and Duke’s 4 drives with him at quarterback went 15 performs for 36 yards and 4 punts. Virginia scored 13 factors over that stretch, however solely seven of them got here ultimately zone. On its second scoring drive, the ‘Hoos received contained in the Duke 10, then needed to burn a timeout to keep away from a delay-of-game penalty on third-and-goal from in regards to the 6, a timeout that might have come in useful on the finish of the half. What got here out of the timeout was a run up the center for 2 yards and a 21-yard area objective, a name that even left the announcers confused. It was the primary of a number of conservative calls that drew questions from the published.
The tip of the half was worse. With 37 seconds left, a timeout in hand and third-and-3 in field-goal vary, Tony Elliott performed for the kick. The group booed, and it had motive to. Duke had a backup quarterback, a banged-up secondary and no momentum, and Virginia let it go into the locker room down solely six. It was as if Elliott hadn’t even thought-about the chance that Eget may not be carried out for the sport and that this sport might be received by merely not turning the ball over.
The identical warning confirmed up as soon as once more within the fourth quarter. Main 13-10 and pinned at its personal 5, Virginia ran on first down, rolled Pribula out with about two receivers within the sample for a throwaway, and handed the ball to Xay Davis for a loss on third down. The boos got here once more. The predictability of the Virginia offense has nearly turn out to be its calling card.
To play satan’s advocate, in a uncommon second of creativity from the offense within the third quarter, Virginia referred to as a double move that received Middlebrook large open, however the ball by no means got here out, which is all of the extra ironic figuring out how the sport was finally received. Just a few performs later, Pribula was sacked and Bettridge’s 47-yard strive sailed large proper. Duke ran its personal double move on the ultimate drive, however this time Sheppard linked with a wide-open receiver for the game-winning rating. For the second straight assembly, the distinction was a trick play, and for the second straight assembly it went Duke’s manner.
The protection did all it may, led by Maddox Marcellus and a well-known Kam Robinson
Sheppard got here in main the ACC and rating third nationally at 136.7 speeding yards per sport. He completed with 55 on 15 carries, and 32 of these got here on one run on the opening drive. His different 14 carries went for 23 yards. Duke ran for 71 yards as a crew, went 2-for-10 on third down and punted six instances.
Marcellus was Virginia’s greatest participant. He had 4 tackles, all solo, two of them for loss, and a move breakup. He dropped Sheppard behind the road on the primary play of Duke’s second drive, and on Duke’s opening drive of the second half, after a 31-yard one-handed catch by Jared Richardson that survived a overview, Marcellus broke up a throw into the top zone after which swallowed a Sheppard display screen. Duke settled for a area objective. Montino Williams had a robust night time too, with 5 tackles, a move breakup, a wonderfully timed delayed blitz on that very same drive and a cease on a third-down draw two yards in need of the sticks within the first quarter.
Then there’s Kam Robinson, who lastly regarded just like the outdated Kam Robinson. Spying Mahan on third-and-6 within the second quarter, he ran him down for his first sack of the season. Within the third quarter, he received his arms on a ball that regarded prefer it was going to be caught, batted it into the air and caught it himself for his first interception of the season. Each performs ended Duke drives. It was his first interception since his pick-six at California on Nov. 1, 2025, two weeks earlier than he tore his ACL at Duke.
It wasn’t excellent. Eget threw for 211 yards in exactly greater than a half of soccer, and 4 completions of 28 yards or extra (35 to Jonah Burton, 31 to Richardson, 43 to Jake Taylor and the 28-yard landing to Keefe) accounted for 137 of Duke’s 256 passing yards. With the sport on the road, Duke went 75 yards in 1:46. However a protection lacking three safeties held a crew averaging 31.7 factors per sport to 19.
Jekail Middlebrook set a profession excessive, and the direct snap retains working
I’ve referred to as UVA out previously for going away from Middlebrook seemingly for no motive when issues have been working. On Friday, Middlebrook ran 24 instances for 117 yards and a landing. Each numbers have been season highs by a large margin (his earlier bests have been 17 carries and 95 yards in opposition to Syracuse), and the 117 yards topped his earlier profession excessive of 109, set at Center Tennessee in opposition to Kennesaw State final season. It was his first 100-yard sport in a Virginia uniform.
It got here in opposition to a Duke run protection that entered 18th nationally, permitting 92.5 yards per sport and three.2 yards per carry, and had given up solely 11 runs of 10 yards or extra all season. Middlebrook had a 20-yard toss that opened Virginia’s landing drive and a 21-yard run up the center late within the second quarter. With Duke enjoying plenty of man protection, there was room to run. After abandoning the run within the second half at SMU, offensive coordinator Des Kitchings caught with it for 60 minutes this time.
The direct snap stays Virginia’s most dependable short-yardage play for the second straight yr. After a second-down direct snap left Middlebrook simply in need of the objective line and a quarterback sneak was stuffed, Virginia introduced in heavy personnel and snapped it to him once more on fourth-and-goal for the landing, Virginia’s solely one of many sport. Within the second quarter, going through fourth down close to its personal 36, Virginia went again to it, and Middlebrook pushed the pile for about 10 yards. That’s three direct-snap touchdowns within the final two residence video games.
The one caveat is the end. Middlebrook hit 100 yards on his sixteenth carry within the third quarter. His final eight went for about 17, and a late direct snap within the purple zone gained one yard.
John Rogers is a brilliant spot, however the passing sport nonetheless can’t create chunk performs
There have been a number of positives, particularly from the tight finish room. John Rogers led Virginia with 5 catches for 65 yards, together with a 27-yarder down the best facet that arrange the primary landing. He caught a bootleg move within the flat, the identical play I’ve talked about for weeks that appears to all the time be open for 5, and on the go-ahead drive he leaked out on play motion for a primary down. Rogers additionally gave Virginia a scare when he got here up grabbing his proper knee after a catch down the seam, however he walked off and returned. Dakota Twitty had Virginia’s greatest catch of the night time, a 25-yard ball up the seam on 4 verticals that Pribula match right into a window so tight it appeared to shock Twitty.
However Virginia’s longest completion was simply 27 yards. Pribula went 15-of-24 for 158 yards, no touchdowns and an interception. On his greatest deep look of the night time, a first-down shot within the second quarter to a receiver who had gotten large open for a would-be landing, he was late on the learn and missed. Virginia was bailed out by a move interference name.
This can be a season-long drawback in opposition to convention opponents. Coming into Friday, Virginia averaged 143.3 passing yards per sport in ACC play, 128th of 136 FBS groups and behind each Energy 4 program, in line with cfbstats. It was changing 25% of its third downs in convention video games, final within the ACC, and went 5-for-17 on Friday. Pribula threw 11 landing passes within the first 4 video games and has thrown two within the 4 since.
This merely isn’t acceptable, and questions must be requested about why modifications aren’t being thought-about.
When Duke went forward with 1:14 left, I had no perception that Virginia may drive into vary for a game-tying area objective, not to mention a landing. It didn’t.
Pribula was higher as a runner, however he appears misplaced within the pocket
The field rating credit Pribula with 66 speeding yards on 21 carries, and that’s after 5 sacks have been subtracted. It was the primary time since August that he ran for greater than 35 yards. He scrambled for 16 when nothing was open downfield, reduce a bootleg upfield for seven on the go-ahead drive and opened the ultimate drive with a 13-yard run.
His greatest throws got here the identical manner: fast reads, rollouts and play motion. The slant to Da’Shawn Martin in opposition to zone, the bootlegs to Rogers and the play-action leak have been all on schedule. Any time he needed to sit within the pocket and undergo his progressions, it felt nearly assured to finish in a sack. He was sacked 5 instances, with cornerback Che Ojarikre getting two, and Virginia has now allowed 26 sacks this season. Despite the fact that the offensive line hasn’t lived as much as its lofty preseason billing, Pribula is doing them zero favors by holding the ball for thus lengthy.
He was late on reads to Isaiah Robinson and Martin, had a move batted down on the line, a problem all yr, and took an intentional grounding penalty on second down within the purple zone that turned a landing probability into third-and-17 and a area objective. Within the third quarter, he had the ball knocked out whereas scrambling, and Duke recovered, his second straight sport with a misplaced fumble.
The ultimate drive summed it up. After the 13-yard run, Pribula took a sack that compelled a timeout, sailed a throw to an open Martin with no stress on him and, on fourth down, threw it as much as no person. In opposition to Energy 4 opponents this season, he’s now 83-of-141 for 934 yards and 6 touchdowns, 6.6 yards per try. Eli Holstein has not tried a move because the Delaware sport, one thing I consider is malpractice.
Bonus: Daniel Sparks continues to be wonderful
Sparks entered the night time second within the nation at 50.3 yards per punt. He punted 5 instances for 281 yards, a 56.2-yard common, half a yard off the varsity document of 56.7 he set at Florida State three weeks in the past. His lengthy was 66, and two landed contained in the 20.
Sadly, he’s nearly doing too effectively, because the punt protection nonetheless isn’t matching him. KD Cotton returned two punts for 49 yards, together with one Sparks boomed 15 yards over his head inside the ten that Cotton introduced again out to the 30. On the opposite facet, Virginia’s return sport did not make the most of a hobbled Kade Reynoldson, who was persistently hitting low “floor balls” that dribbled alongside the sphere for lengthy Duke rolls.
Bonus: The followers confirmed up
There have been discussions about fan assist, particularly following the sport in Charlotte in opposition to West Virginia. No such discussions will be had about Friday.
By my eye, Friday’s crowd was the second-best of the season behind the sold-out opener in opposition to NC State, with a robust pupil turnout underneath the lights, and it let the teaching workers hear it on each conservative calls. Virginia additionally regarded like a unique crew at residence once more. Its three losses away from Scott Stadium got here by a mixed 52 factors. Friday it managed the ball for practically 39 minutes and led for a lot of the night time. It nonetheless misplaced, ending a five-game residence profitable streak, however there isn’t any doubt that this crew performs its greatest ball at residence.
What’s subsequent
Virginia will get eight days earlier than visiting No. 17 Wake Forest on Saturday, Oct. 31, then has a bye earlier than closing with California, North Carolina and at Virginia Tech. At 4-4, the ‘Hoos want two wins in these 4 video games to achieve a bowl, and they’re nonetheless winless away from Scott Stadium. The protection and Middlebrook gave them a components Friday. The query is whether or not the teaching workers will be capable of make the required changes to get them out of their offensive rut and be aggressive sufficient to capitalize on their opponents’ errors.