Down 17-12 with less than four minutes remaining, senior quarterback Thaddeus Lewis dropped back on second down and let fly. Darting past his defender with his hands stretched out just far enough to get control of the ball, Conner Vernon made the catch and took it 42 yards, all the way to the endzone, to give Duke both the lead and the game’s momentum.
On the following Virginia offensive possession, defensive end Ayanga Okpokowuruk forced a fumble on the Cavaliers’ 7-yard line that tackle Charlie Hatcher scooped up for a score. Though the touchdown put the Blue Devils (5-3, 3-1 in the ACC) up by just one possession, it proved to be the game’s dagger. Scott Stadium went absolutely silent.
After making another defensive stand, junior kicker Will Snyderwine’s field goal on the next Duke drive sealed the 28-17 victory Saturday afternoon over Virginia (3-5, 2-2).
“Our defense played a complete football game,” Cutcliffe said. “They had a lot of big hits, did a tremendous job of stopping the run and a tremendous job of competing and challenging every pass. Our kicking game, five field goals, wow, what can you say, it was huge.... I could not be more proud of a group of people.”
As Cutcliffe talked to reporters after the game, a loud celebration in the locker room was audible for more than a half-hour. The coach’s address gave his quarterback high praise. And it was well-deserved—with 343 yards passing on the day, Lewis became the seventh player in the history of the ACC to throw for 9,000 yards. The senior threw the ball well despite the pressure of an aggressive Virginia line that sacked him six times.
“Our guy, if you look what he has done over the past four weeks, tell me a quarterback that has played better,” Cutcliffe said. “The guy we have never gets mentioned, and that is OK if that is what you want to do, but show me [a quarterback] playing better.”
Although Lewis threw for 343 yards Saturday, the pass that gave Duke its lead late in the fourth was the team’s only offensive touchdown. As the Blue Devils would get closer to the Cavaliers’ endzone and the field essentially became smaller, Virginia’s physical, powerful secondary kept Duke from converting opportunities into touchdowns during the first three quarters.
The Blue Devils seemed to have no trouble getting the ball deep into the Cavaliers’ zone during the first half, but their lack of efficiency in the red zone forced Duke to kick field goals. Fortunately for Duke, Snyderwine kept the the team in the game. The former walk-on had three field goals in the first half—including one for 44 yards on the Blue Devils’ first drive—and added another successful kick early in the fourth quarter to retake the lead 12-10. After Vernon’s catch and Hatcher’s fumble recovery, Snyderwine fittingly sealed the game with a 43-yard field goal. His 5-for-5 total set a career high.
“I was pretty busy in the first quarter, but [I’ll do] anything I can do to help,” said Synderwine, who has now made 11 consecutive field goal attempts. “I’m excited we got the win in the end. I’m pretty happy.”
With the win, the Blue Devils have now won three ACC games in a row, a feat that they haven’t achieved since 1989. And perhaps more importantly, the win over Virginia keeps a bowl game berth within realistic reach. With four games remaining in the regular season, the Blue Devils need two wins to become bowl-eligible. Duke faces North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Miami and Wake Forest in the upcoming four weeks.
For many of the Blue Devils’ more experienced players, talk of a bowl game is quite an unfamiliar topic of conversation. Of course, while Lewis insists that Duke will continue to focus on its next opponent each week, it’s hard to not take a minute to enjoy being a part of a competitive football team. It’s the sort of thing that Ayanga Okpokowuruk, a senior, hoped for when he committed in high school to join the Blue Devils.
“We are enjoying every minute of it,” Okpokowuruk said. “This is why we came here— to turn [the program] around. It feels great.”