Duke Beats Virginia 19-16 on Nate Sheppard Trick-Play Touchdown Pass in Final Minutes

Duke had spent two straight weeks watching games slip away in the last four minutes. On Friday night in Charlottesville, the Blue Devils finally flipped the script, and they did it with a running back throwing the ball.

With 1:14 left and Duke down three, quarterback Walker Eget tossed a backward pass to Nate Sheppard, the ACC's leading rusher, who pulled up and found freshman Brody Keefe alone in the end zone for a 28-yard touchdown. Patrick Smith-Young picked off Beau Pribula on Virginia's last gasp, and Duke walked out of Scott Stadium with a 19-16 win in a rematch of last year's ACC Championship Game.

The Blue Devils move to 5-2 and 2-2 in the ACC and snap a two-game skid. Virginia falls to 4-4 and 2-3, losing at home for the first time this season and for the third time in four games overall.

A fast start, then a long drought

It looked easy for about two minutes. Duke took its first possession 78 yards in four plays, with Jonah Burton hauling in a 35-yard catch before Sheppard broke a 32-yard touchdown run with 10:59 left in the first quarter.

Then the night turned. Eget appeared to hurt his hand on that opening drive, and freshman Dan Mahan took over. Mahan went 2-of-5 for 17 yards, and Duke's final four possessions of the first half all ended in punts. For a team built around Sheppard, the offense suddenly looked like it was running on a dead battery.

Virginia took full advantage. The Cavaliers answered with an 80-yard drive capped by Jekail Middlebrook taking a direct snap and plunging in from the 1 on fourth-and-goal. Will Bettridge, the leading scorer in program history, added a 21-yard field goal to finish a 13-play drive, then drilled a 32-yarder on the final play of the half. Virginia led 13-7 at the break and had the ball for most of the night.

The defense keeps Duke breathing

Eget came back for the second half, and Duke immediately cut into the lead. CJ Campbell set the table with a season-long 33-yard kickoff return, and true freshman kicker Gavin Strange hit a 39-yarder, the longest of his career, to make it 13-10.

From there, the Duke defense took over the story. Will Felder Jr. forced a Pribula fumble at the Duke 30, and Tyshon Reed Jr. recovered it. Later in the third, with Virginia facing third-and-11 at the Duke 30, safety Ché Ojarikre came free for his first career sack. Bettridge missed from 47, and the Cavaliers walked away empty again.

Early in the fourth, Eget found tight end Jake Taylor for a career-long 43 yards, and Strange matched his own career best with another 39-yarder to tie it at 13 with 8:50 left.

Virginia's response was the kind of drive that usually wins games like this. Eleven plays, 62 yards, almost six minutes off the clock, and a first down at the Duke 11. But an intentional grounding call on Pribula at 3:47 pushed the Cavaliers back, and they settled for Bettridge's 30-yard field goal and a 16-13 lead with three minutes to go.

"That's potentially six more points on your scoreboard," Virginia coach Tony Elliott said of the drives that stalled short of the end zone.

The play Duke saved for last

Duke needed a touchdown or a field goal, and Eget gave it a chance at both. He went 4-for-5 for 45 yards to get the Blue Devils to the Virginia 30. Two snaps later, Duke ran the call it had apparently been sitting on all night.

Eget threw it backward to Sheppard, Virginia's defense crashed toward what looked like a standard lateral run, and Keefe slipped behind everybody. Sheppard's throw was on target, and the freshman, making the first start of his career, caught it in the end zone.

It was the first touchdown pass by a non-quarterback at Duke since 2020, and it was Duke's first touchdown of any kind since the opening drive. Strange missed the extra point, which left the door cracked for Virginia, but Smith-Young slammed it shut with his first interception as a Blue Devil with 36 seconds left.

Elliott gave credit where it was due. "It was well designed because they got their best player with the ball in his hands," he said.

Linebacker Kam Robinson, who had a sack and an interception of his own, took the loss hard. "I feel like we played great until that last snap when we gave up that busted play," he said.

The stars beyond the box score

Sheppard's rushing line looks ordinary, 55 yards on 15 carries, most of it on the first drive. That was 81 yards below his season average, and Virginia's plan was clear from the start. "We knew we had to stone the run," Robinson said.

But Sheppard still found a way to decide the game. He also crossed 2,000 career rushing yards, becoming the 10th Blue Devil to do it, and he did it in 21 games. He now has 13 total touchdowns this season, tied for third most in a single season in program history.

Keefe finished with three catches for a career-high 48 yards. Smith-Young added eight tackles to go with the game-sealing pick. And Eget, back after his first-half scare, went 14-of-25 for 211 yards with an interception.

On the other side, Middlebrook had the best night of his career, carrying 24 times for 117 yards and a touchdown. Tight end John Rogers set career highs with five catches for 65 yards, and Middlebrook was quick to share the credit, saying the tight ends "were making plays all day."

The numbers that tell the story

Virginia ran 77 plays to Duke's 50 and held the ball for 38:47. The Cavaliers ran it 53 times for 195 yards and outgained Duke 353-327. Duke went 2-of-10 on third down.

None of that mattered in the end, because Duke was more efficient when it counted, averaging 6.5 yards per play to Virginia's 4.6, and because Virginia kept finishing drives with field goals. Bettridge made three, and the Cavaliers scored just three points after halftime. Duke won the turnover battle 2-1. The full numbers are in Duke's official box score (opens in a new tab).

Virginia also did all this short-handed on defense. The Cavaliers were missing five key defenders, including Jason Hammond, Brandyn Hillman and Ethan Minter, and still held Duke to 71 rushing yards.

What it means

For Duke, this was a season saver. The win snapped a six-game losing streak in Charlottesville, where the Blue Devils had not won since 2013, and it keeps their hopes alive of returning to the ACC title game. Manny Diaz picked up his 23rd win at Duke, moving into seventh on the program's all-time list, and the Blue Devils are one win from bowl eligibility. Duke's own game recap (opens in a new tab) leans into the defense, and fairly so.

Next on the schedule for Duke was a Halloween home game against Boston College. Virginia had a trip to No. 17 Wake Forest the same day, and with three losses in four games, the questions in Charlottesville were getting louder. Miami still sits alone atop the ACC at 5-0, so neither team has any margin left.

The last word

Diaz summed it up in one sentence. "Where the last two weeks, these last four minutes have gone against us, tonight, our guys found a way to finish," he said.

Then he got even shorter. "Great to finish. We needed this."

Sometimes the answer to a stalled offense is not a new quarterback or a new scheme. Sometimes it is handing the ball to your best player and letting him throw it.

Sources: Duke Athletics recap, box score and postgame notes, The Associated Press via ESPN and CBS Sports, WDBJ7, Virginia Cavaliers On SI, EssentiallySports and FOX Sports. More college football coverage on Undrafted.

Photos: Duke Athletics.