A pass, a miracle, a win

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - It took a little bit of trickery, a lot of luck and two overtime periods, but Carl Franks finally has his first win.

A bungled play-turned-touchdown strike from wide receiver Scottie Montgomery to wide receiver Richmond Flowers with six seconds to play sent the game to overtime and a go-ahead strike from Spencer Romine to tight end Ben Watson in the second overtime gave Duke a 24-17 victory over Virginia Saturday in Charlottesville, the first of the season for the Blue Devils and the first of the head coaching career of Franks.

"When asked my most memorable win as a head coach, I have one to tell about," Franks said. "It was amazing."

And amazing may be a conservative word.

Yet the Blue Devils (1-4, 1-1 in the ACC) came within 1:24 of dropping their ninth straight road contest with the Cavaliers (3-3, 2-2), a streak that dated back to 1981, and turning "amazing" into the more familiar "disappointing."

After Duke tied the game at 10 on a 31-yard Sims Lenhardt field goal with 6:50 to play, the Cavaliers launched a methodical drive from their own 20-yard line. Virginia rushed the ball on nine of the drive's 11 plays, killing the clock and putting the game squarely on the legs of Heisman candidate Thomas Jones.

With 1:35 remaining, Jones, whose 185 yards on the day were the most allowed by the Blue Devils this season, waltzed three yards through the right side of the Duke defensive line for his second touchdown of the day.

Todd Braverman's extra point put the Cavaliers up 17-10 and sent a host of Virginia fans toward the exits, all but assured of a Cavalier victory.

The play was designed for tailback Letavious Wilks to take the pitch and hand the ball off to Montgomery, who would throw the ball back across the field to the quarterback Romine.

But the best-laid plans of a first year head coach suddenly went awry.

"We screwed that one up about every way you could screw it up," Franks said, "but somehow one, two, three, four wrongs made up a right."

And somehow, three players made up a touchdown.

As intended, Romine pitched the ball to Wilks, who darted to the left side of the Duke formation, but before he could hand the ball off to Montgomery, the junior fumbled the ball away in desperation after being enveloped by a pair of Cavaliers. However, the ball bounced right into the hands of Montgomery, who heaved the ball across the field to Romine just before being sent to the turf.

But it was Flowers, who Montgomery would later say he didn't even see, who caught the ball, not Romine. The quarterback instead sprung a block on a would-be Virginia tackler and Flowers broke a tackle of his own at the three-yard line before stumbling into the endzone for the tying score.

"It wasn't pretty, but damn if they didn't get the job done," senior defensive tackle and Virginia native Chris Combs said. "It was awesome."

Neither team managed to score in the first overtime series, as both kickers misfired on field goal attempts. Braverman, who booted a 50-yarder to beat North Carolina on Sept. 4, missed from 42 yards and Sims Lenhardt, who was a perfect 10-of-10 before the game, misfired on a potential game-winning, 35-yard attempt.

In the second overtime, Romine took the burden off the foot of his kicker, hitting Watson on a quick slant route that proved to be the game-winner.

Still, the winless Blue Devils nearly conspired to remain that way, as Cavalier quarterback Dan Ellis seemed to complete a 25-yard touchdown strike to Ahmad Hawkins on Virginia's first play of the ensuing possession. But side judge Watts Key ruled that Hawkins came down out-of-bounds.

"It looked to me like he was in, watching the replay," Welsh said.

Two plays later, Duke cornerback Lamar Grant sealed the 24-17 victory with his first interception of the year.

"I'm so proud of our guys," a beaming Franks said. "I mean, you're 0-4 and you're struggling and everybody's telling you you're not playing well and you know you're not playing very well but you know you can, you've seen signs of it and then to come to Virginia, a place where [we haven't] won since 1981, that's a lot of stuff against you.

"So for those guys to hang in there and come from behind like that just shows so much about their character and their heart, and I'm very proud of them."

And Franks got an unforgettable first victory. He had known all along that it would come, 'We just have to wait,' he'd say, 'It'll come.' Little did he know he was waiting on a dramatic entrance.