This year the Blue Zone will be running a series looking back on important moments in the Duke football team’s history. Today, we take you back to November 6, 2010.
The Blue Devils go into their final open week of the season bowl eligible for the second straight season after grinding out a 13-10 win against No. 16 Virginia Tech last Saturday in Blacksburg. Duke’s next game will be Nov. 9 against North Carolina State at Wallace Wade Stadium. This week, we will go back to week 10 of the 2010 campaign, when the Blue Devils beat Virginia in a 55-48 shootout, giving David Cutcliffe his first ever win in November as Duke’s head coach.
After starting the season with a 1-6 record, the Blue Devils were determined to salvage the season. They entered the game coming fresh off of a 34-31 win against Navy for their second victory of the season, and hoped to roll their momentum into the matchup with the Cavaliers. Virginia, was also entering the game after a huge win over No. 22 Miami, setting the stage for a fierce battle on the gridiron at Wallace Wade Stadium.
Duke got off to a hot offensive start, scoring on its first three drives of the game. Freshman quarterback Brandon Connette rushed for two touchdowns out of the wildcat formation, from two and 20 yards out. Defensive back Ross Cockrell made his first of two interceptions on the day, setting up the Connette two-yard touchdown.
The Blue Devils seemed to be in control at the end of the first quarter, holding on to a commanding 21-7 lead.
But the Cavaliers would storm back, scoring two second quarter touchdowns, including one that came on a fake field goal when kicker Robert Randolph ran the ball into the end zone on the trick play. By halftime, the Duke lead was narrowed to just three points.
In the second half, Virginia continued to put together impressive offensive drives, with quarterback Marc Verica leading a drive of nine plays and 96 yards that ended in a 19-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Chris Byrd to give the Cavaliers their first lead of the day. Verica would finish with a school-record 417 passing yards and four touchdowns, while his favorite receiver, Dontrelle Inman, had 10 receptions for a whopping 239 yards.
Although the Blue Devil defense gave up a season-high 643 yards of total offense to Virginia, a pair of second half interceptions would prevent the Cavaliers from taking control of the game. Cockrell recorded his second interception of the day in the third quarter, while safety Walt Canty made another crucial interception early in the fourth quarter.
Quarterback Sean Renfree’s two rushing touchdowns midway through the fourth quarter gave Duke a 47-35, but Verica and the Virginia offense responded with a 10 yard touchdown pass to Inman.
Holding onto a one touchdown league, the Blue Devil offense began to milk the clock with a series of runs by running back Desmond Scott, who rushed for 97 yard that afternoon. But Scott fumbled the ball deep in Duke territory after falling victim to a vicious hit.
With a short field, the Cavaliers quickly scored a touchdown that gave them a 48-47 lead. With 2:19 to play in the game, Renfree and the offense trotted back onto the field for the Blue Devils’ final drive.
After back-back sacks put Duke in a third and long situation, Renfree could not find any open receivers, throwing incomplete to set up fourth down and 19. On fourth Renfree dropped back and fired the ball to a wide-open Donovan Varner on a deep slant route for a first down that kept the drive alive.
Two plays later, Duke found the end zone with just 40 seconds left in the game. Working out of the shotgun, Renfree pitched the ball to Scott, who got a huge block from left tackle Kyle Hill, and tip-toed down the sideline before lunging past a Virginia defender for the go-ahead touchdown.
The Cavaliers did not find the end zone on their final drive and Duke won its third and final game of the season.
Despite, a sub-par 3-9 performance by the Blue Devils in the 2010 season, the win against Virginia was a triumphant moment that gave fans something to cheer about. Scott’s touchdown run would be one of the biggest plays of the season and was one of the defining moments of his career.
This season, the Blue Devils are ready head back to a bowl game after starting out 6-2, but Duke players have the opportunity to surpass the six-win mark for the first time since 1994. To do that, the Blue Devils will need to overcome their inability to win games in November—they're just 1-20 since 2008—and emerge victorious in tough ACC games to become one of the best squads in the program’s long history.
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