The Play: Help from above (and from George Welsh)

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - There were no mascots on the field, no tuba players knocked over in the endzone and no Joe Montana-to-Dwight Clark connections.

That's about all that was missing from Duke's own version of The Play, a trick play gone so horribly wrong that it actually turned out right. It was a moment that none of the 43,600 spectators at Scott Stadium will ever forget, an ESPY-worthy performance that gave Carl Franks a long-awaited first victory as a head coach.

And it never should have happened.

That's right, Duke should not have beaten Virginia 24-17, should not have snapped an 18-year losing streak in Charlottesville, and should not have come away with its first victory in five tries under Franks.

None of this would have happened if Cavaliers' coach George Welsh-who after 17 seasons at Virginia ought to know better-had simply sat on the ball. As simple as it sounds, all Virginia had to do to avoid an embarrassing loss to 17-point underdog Duke was absolutely nothing.

Tied 10-10 with just 1:30 to play, Virginia had the game by the throat with a first-and-goal at the Duke three-yard line. The Blue Devils had used two of their three timeouts, and Virginia could have run almost all 90 seconds off the clock, setting up an easy game-winning field goal for Todd Braverman.

Instead, Welsh went to his workhorse, running back Thomas Jones, who had already rushed 30 times for 182 yards. Jones punched the ball in from the Duke three, giving UVa the 17-10 lead with 1:24 to play.

But Jones' run also gave Duke a last chance it probably did not deserve. And to their immense credit, the Blue Devils took advantage.

"If you had said to me Scottie Montgomery would throw a ball, let alone a touchdown pass, I might have laughed at you," defensive back Eric Jones said. "He can't throw a ball. I love him to death, but he cannot throw a ball."

But the Blue Devils, who used the same double tight end formation for most of the second half and overtime, had no other options. Caught in a hurry-up offense, they had no choice but to put the ball in Montgomery's hands.

Of course, getting it there was easier said than done. Tailback Letavious Wilks took the toss sweep left from Romine and immediately ran into a pair of defenders, causing him to fumble the ball wildly in Montgomery's direction.

"Letavious came over to the sideline afterwards and said to me, 'Coach, am I supposed to eat that ball?'" Franks said. "I said, 'Not now you aren't.'"

That's because Montgomery, who earlier in the game had made a touchdown-saving tackle after an interception by Maurice Anderson, showed his versatility again. In one motion, Montgomery swooped in, snared the loose ball and fired a tight spiral back across the field.

"I said to myself, no matter what, I was going to throw the ball," Montgomery said. "I wasn't going to wake up tomorrow and say, 'Damn, I wish I had thrown it.'"

Somehow Montgomery's blind pass found Flowers, who stumbled into the endzone behind a block from Romine. Lost in the confusion was the fact that Flowers, supposedly a decoy on the play, ran the wrong route and stole a pass intended for Romine.

"It was just a miscommunication," Flowers said without a hint of remorse. "It was just a case where I saw an opportunity and went for it."

Jones had another name for it.

"On defense, we call that 'DI,' as in divine intervention," Jones said. "God looked down and said, 'Y'all need to win a game.'"