Before Duke (0-4, 0-2 in the ACC) took the field against Virginia (3-1, 2-0) Saturday, a computer-animated cartoon was played on Scott Stadium's jumbo-tron.
An absurdly angular and dashing Cavalier rode throughout the streets of Charlottesville before encountering a fuzzier and impotent-looking Blue Devil on the steps of the rotunda. The Blue Devil struck first, shooting a laser from his trident and de-swording the Cavalier. Unfazed, the Cavalier jump-kicked the Blue Devil in the solar plexus, vanquishing the Duke mascot in a massive explosion. Then, the Cavalier rode into the stadium amidst deafening cheers from the Homecoming crowd.
In the game that followed, Duke seemed to de-sword the Cavaliers, holding their chief weapon, wide receiver Billy McMullen more or less under wraps early. But then the Cavaliers delivered the jump-kick to the solar plexus, a pass more pristine than the immaculate reception, when the ball bounced off the hand of a diving Duke defensive back and into the hands of Virginia receiver Tavon Mason, who went 64 yards for a touchdown, giving Virginia a 17-0 lead. But unlike earlier games when a blow such as Mason's reception would have caused a Duke implosion, the Blue Devils held on and kept the game close until the fourth quarter, when Virginia added a pair of touchdowns to make the final 31-10.
Virginia scored its jump-kick on third-and-eight from its own 36 early in the second quarter. Virginia led 10-0, but Duke had been playing good defense. Virginia quarterback Bryson Spinner dropped back and fired a pass ahead of McMullen, who dove but could not reach the ball. Duke defensive back Alex Green dove behind him, and the ball deflected off of his hand
"The ball hit off the ground," Green said. "After it hit the ground, it short-hopped off my cast--off the right hand--it just short-hopped right back into the air.
"The refs... well, you've got to call what you see. It was a big play."
In the first quarter, Virginia opened the scoring when Spinner lofted a third-and-goal pass into the back corner of the endzone and McMullen outjumped Kenneth Stanford and pulled the ball out of the hands of the shorter Duke defensive back.
Duke had a good deal of success limiting McMullen despite that touchdown. The ACC's leading receiver ended the game with just five catches for 53 yards--but two touchdowns.
"We were able to frustrate him a little bit, [especially] towards the end of the second quarter and third quarter," said Ronnie Hamilton, the cornerback who spent most of the day on McMullen. "I think they made some adjustments and were able to get him the ball and spring him open a little later in the game."
Between the first two Virginia touchdowns, Duke made a defensive stand from its own 5, which forced a David Greene field goal. On the ensuing possession, Duke drove to the Virginia 14 yard line, before a delay-of-game penalty pushed Duke back and Brent Garber hooked a 38-yard field goal wide left.
After Mason's touchdown and an unsuccessful Duke drive that broke the 50 but ended up back in Duke territory after an offensive pass-interference penalty, Duke's leading tackler for the game, Jamyon Small, intercepted
Bryant completed two passes to get Duke down to the UVa 29. Chris Douglas then ran twice, gaining a first down on the second carry. Duke, however, did not stop the clock, and after the next play--a five-yard pass to Alex Wade--finally called a timeout with five seconds remaining. Garber connected on the second-down field-goal attempt from 27 yards out.
The third quarter was scoreless as Duke's defense did a good job holding Virginia, while the offense continued to drive but not finish. After Duke's initial drive of the game ended three-and-out, the next five drives all reached Virginia territory. Through a combination of penalties, missed field goals and poor execution, however, Duke was only able to muster three points.
"We would have a nice drive," Douglas said. "We would have a 10-, 15-play drive and then we'd go in there and we wouldn't finish. That's one of the things we have to work on as an offense."
Douglas, who finished the game with 104 yards, scored Duke's only touchdown in the fourth quarter on a short run in response to Arlen Harris' previous rushing touchdown for Virginia.
On the ensuing kickoff, Garber botched an onsides kick, sending it only two yards downfield so that Duke players were ineligible to receive it. Virginia scored a few plays later when McMullen caught another third-down pass, this time from Matt Schaub.
"We've got to do three things," Duke coach Carl Franks said. "We've got to get where we can tackle better, we've got to get where we can score more points when we get the ball on the other side of the 50, and we've got to play smarter than we played."
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