CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Duke heads north Friday night needing a win to stop a slide, and it will have to do it in a stadium where the Blue Devils have not won in more than a decade.
Duke (4-2, 1-2 ACC) plays Virginia (4-3, 2-2) at Scott Stadium, with a 7 p.m. kickoff and the Cavaliers favored by two points. It is a rematch of last season’s ACC Championship Game, which Duke won 27-20 in overtime for its first league title since 1989, after Virginia had won the regular-season meeting 34-17.
The Blue Devils have dropped two straight, each time after taking a late lead, falling to Georgia Tech and then 24-20 at home to North Carolina. Coach Manny Diaz said at his Monday news conference that the fine margins have gone against his team and that the fixes are within its control. Duke has not lost three in a row since 2021 and had won all six previous games it entered on a two-game skid since then.
History in Charlottesville is not on Duke’s side. The Blue Devils have lost six straight at Scott Stadium, last winning there in 2013, and Virginia is 4-0 at home this season. Virginia comes off a 23-13 loss at SMU.
Duke running back Nate Sheppard leads the ACC with 820 rushing yards and eight touchdowns, and the Blue Devils average 209.5 rushing yards per game. Virginia allows 152 rushing yards a game and has lost both games in which it gave up more than 200. Cavaliers quarterback Beau Pribula, who overlapped with Diaz at Penn State, has 13 touchdown passes against one interception.
Injuries are piling up for Duke. Matt Craycraft at center and Evan Smith at corner miss a second straight game, while Andrew Pellicciotta at safety and David Anderson on the defensive line went down last weekend. Virginia lists safety Brandyn Hillman, its interceptions leader, as questionable.
Section: More Raleigh NC sports news
Raleigh sports business profiles
Filed under: Raleigh NC Sports News
