Halftime: Virginia 28, Duke 13

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.—Duke began Saturday's contest against Virginia eager to rebound from last weekend's 31-13 loss to Pittsburgh and snap its three-game losing streak. But after a slow start, the Blue Devils have plenty of work to do if they hope to right the ship in Charlottesville.

The Cavaliers hold a 28-13 lead at the break at Scott Stadium, fueled by a series of big plays with a trick-play wrinkle thrown in. Virginia jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter as they dug the Blue Devils a big hole from which Duke will spend the rest of the game trying to escape.

Duke received the ball first after the Cavaliers won the coin toss and opted to defer to the second half. The Blue Devils’ opening drive was marked by multiple successful third down conversions, but slowed to a halt just as Duke was entering Cavalier territory.

After reaching the Virginia 46 yard line, Blue Devil quarterback Thomas Sirk overthrew a wide-open Max McCaffrey who had a clear path to the end zone after sprinting past two Cavaliers on a flea-flicker. Duke was only able to manage four yard in the following two downs, forcing punter Will Monday to take the field.

On the ensuing Virginia possession, the Cavaliers seized the early advantage on the type of explosive play opportunity that the Blue Devils squandered. On the fourth play of the drive, Virginia quarterback Matt Johns connected with running back Daniel Hamm on a short route and the Wytheville, Va., native used his legs to break past the Duke line and extend the play for 46 yards.

With the ball placed on the Blue Devils’ 13-yard-line, Virginia got a bit tricky. After having a touchdown run called back due to a holding penalty, Johns passed the ball backward to freshman wide receiver Evan Butts standing just feet from the sideline. The Duke defense shifted to corner Butts against the sideline, but the Newtown Square, Pa., native instead tossed the ball over their heads and into the hand of sophomore tight end Daniel Hamm in the end zone for a touchdown on the double pass.

The touchdown was the beginning of a woeful series of events for the Blue Devils. On the next Duke possession, Sirk led the offense back into Virginia territory and the Blue Devils again tried for the deep pass—this time on third down. The ball found a target in the end zone, but it was not the intended one as Cavalier cornerback Darious Latimore wrestled control away from redshirt freshman Chris Taylor for an interception and touchback.

Virginia then used an explosive 45-yard pass to jump into Duke territory and extended its lead to 14 with a 26-yard touchdown run from senior T.J Thorpe. When the Blue Devils got the ball back, Parker Boehme fumbled it away, handing the Cavaliers excellent field position.

Here are some observations from the first half:

• The Blue Devils came out sluggish in their second consecutive trip to Charlottesville. Duke fell behind 22-0 in 2013 before scoring 35 unanswered points.
• Sirk was back under center Saturday after a one-game absence due to an upper body injury. The redshirt junior is 17-of-26 for 165 yards in the first half.
• Duke has not had an answer for Johns all afternoon. The Virginia quarterback is 14-of-17 for 230 yards with a touchdown.
• Sophomore running back Shaun Wilson also returned to the Duke lineup after a leg injury forced him to the sidelines for the past two games. The speedster received just one carry for one yard in the first 30 minutes.
• Martin's second field goal gave the Solon, Ohio, native 21 on the season, tying the program single-season record.
• Virginia has done a good job containing Duke's rushing attack, which had been gaining steam in recent weeks. The Blue Devils have 14 carries for 33 yards at the half.