RALEIGH — The Blue Devils went into Carter-Finley Stadium Saturday with the odds stacked against them. N.C. State had beaten them 11 times in a row. They hadn’t won in Raleigh since 1984. They hadn’t beaten a Big Four opponent since 2003, which was also the last time they won an ACC game on the road.
That all changed when senior quarterback Thaddeus Lewis put together his best game in a Duke uniform—and indeed, one of the best performances in school history.
In leading Duke to a 49-28 win over N.C. State, Lewis finished 40-of-50 in the air for a career-high 459 yards. He threw for five touchdowns and ran for one, tying a school record for total touchdowns, and his 40 completions also broke a Duke mark. In the process, he also shattered the school record for career touchdowns.
He was, in short, brilliant.
“I will say this, and I’ll probably upset a couple of my former quarterbacks, but I believe that was the finest game I’ve had a quarterback have in college,” said head coach David Cutcliffe, who famously coached the Manning brothers. “You talk about being in a zone—he was in a zone.”
“I’m not sure what I can say about Thad,” said senior wide receiver Austin Kelly, who caught a touchdown. “Forty-of-50? We do that in practice against the air. I wouldn’t say that was a shock. That’s what we expect from him, but it really opens your eyes.”
The way the game started, Lewis and the Blue Devils (3-3, 1-1 in the ACC) needed to be that efficient to keep up with N.C. State and its explosive quarterback, Russell Wilson.
Duke scored on its first three possessions, in which Lewis started 17-of-22 for 173 yards, two passing touchdowns and one rushing. Operating out of the shotgun formation for most of the game, Lewis picked apart the porous Wolfpack secondary with quick passes, mixing in deep balls every now and then. Wilson and the Wolfpack kept up with Lewis and the Blue Devils, who converted 9-of-13 third downs on the day. Coming into the game, they had converted just 31 percent of third downs.
With four minutes left in the half and the scored tied at 21, Lewis marched the Blue Devils down to the 13-yard line, ready to score again. Senior running back Re’quan Boyette got the call and ran to the N.C. State 9-yard line, but then fumbled and the Wolfpack (3-2, 0-2) recovered. The Duke defense made a stand and forced a punt—the first all game—and the teams went into the locker room all tied up.
The break didn’t slow down Lewis in the slightest. After N.C. State was forced to punt again on the first drive of the second half, Lewis orchestrated a masterful 97-yard touchdown drive, complete with a 48-yard pass to Donovan Varner—who had 154 yards receiving on the game—and a six-yard toss to tight end Danny Parker in the end zone.
In what had become a trend, though, Duke couldn’t hold the lead for long. On the ensuing kickoff, T.J. Graham burned down the left side of the field, taking it to the house to tie the game at 28. After another long drive by Lewis—this one went for 72 yards on 10 plays—the Blue Devils were up by a touchdown again. The small but rabid section of Duke fans in blue braced themselves for the subsequent N.C. State touchdown, but it never surfaced.
Instead, it was Duke’s special teams this time that came up with a game-changing play. A Kevin Jones punt at the beginning of the fourth quarter sailed through the air and hit an N.C. State returner. He fumbled the ball, Tony Foster recovered and suddenly the Blue Devils had possession at the 11-yard line in prime position to score and go up two touchdowns for the first time all afternoon. Lewis capitalized on the opportunity with a 5-yard pass to Conner Vernon.
The dagger was the final passing touchdown for Lewis, who was named the National Offensive Player of the Week by the Walter Camp Foundation Sunday—an honor that figures to be the first of many this week. But when he was asked whether he had just completed the game of his life, Lewis wasn’t so sure.
“No, because I have six more games to go,” he said with a smile.
Finally, though, he admitted that it was a “memorable” game. It was for Cutcliffe, as well, and he said he would likely place a game ball from the win in his office to commemorate the occasion. It will join mementos only from Duke’s wins over James Madison and Virginia last year.
“That’s it at this point in time,” he said. “Since JMU was the first one, and Virginia was the first conference win in a long, long time.”
This one was no less remarkable, and after the contest was over and the team was done celebrating, the Blue Devils strutted triumphantly to their bus idling in the cavernous underbelly of Carter-Finley. First Kelly, then Lewis, then Cutcliffe—all making their slow march as cheers echoed around.
For the remaining Duke fans present, it was a keepsake of their own.
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