12/07/25 01:00:00
Printable Page
12/07 00:59 CST Duke beats No. 16 Virginia 27-20 in overtime for first outright
ACC championship since 1962
Duke beats No. 16 Virginia 27-20 in overtime for first outright ACC
championship since 1962
By STEVE REED
AP Sports Writer
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) --- Duke has its first outright Atlantic Coast Conference
football championship since 1962.
Now it wants a little more.
Blue Devils coach Manny Diaz wasted little time Saturday night advocating for
his team to make the 12-team College Football Playoff after Duke beat No. 16
Virginia 27-20 in overtime on Saturday night.
"The ACC champion should go to the College Football Playoff this year and every
year," Diaz said.
Duke threw the CFP selection process into chaos when Darian Mensah connected
with Jeremiah Hasley for a 1-yard touchdown on a fourth-down play in overtime
and Luke Mergott sealed the game with an interception.
But winning the first overtime game in ACC championship history isn't expected
to be enough to get Duke and its 8-5 record into the CFP. The Blue Devils'
victory opens the door for a second Group of Five team --- likely James Madison
--- to make it.
Diaz doesn't get it.
He pointed out Duke's superior strength of schedule, with seven wins over
power-conference teams --- all ACC foes --- while James Madison lost to its
only Power Four opponent, Louisville.
"You can't compare going through the Sun Belt this year --- it has been a
really good conference in years past --- but most of their top teams are just
having down years," Diaz said. "So they (James Madison) probably are not
challenged they way the would going through a normal Sun Belt season."
Duke last won a share of the ACC regular-season title in 1989, sharing it with
Virginia in Steve Spurrier's final season as the Blue Devils' coach. The
conference championship game was created in 2005, and Duke got there this year
by winning a five-way tiebreaker.
Virginia (10-3), the ACC regular-season champion, would have reached the CFP
for the first time in school history with a victory but fell short when
Chandler Morris was intercepted by Mergott on the Cavaliers' first offensive
play of OT.
Coach Tony Elliott described his team as having "the heart of a champion."
"Obviously disappointed, and it hurts," Elliott said. "There is nothing I can
say to them to take away the pain. But I also told the guys how proud I am of
the team that was picked to finish 14th out of 17 teams and earned the right to
be here. ... When you're trying to climb that mountain, the air is thin and the
margin for error is very, very small."
Mensah threw for 196 yards and two scores --- both to Hasley --- while Nate
Sheppard ran for 97 yards and a score for Duke.
Virginia trailed by 10 with 5:02 left in regulation, but got a field goal from
Will Bettridge before Morris capped a 10-play, 96-yard drive with an 18-yard
strike to Eli Wood in the left corner of the end zone with 22 seconds left to
tie it at 20-all.
In the extra period, Sheppard got the Blue Devils to the Virginia 2 with three
runs. Duke was stuffed on two straight plays before Mensah rolled out and found
Hasley for the go-ahead score. Virginia was flagged for roughing passer on the
throw, meaning it had to start its overtime possession at the 40 instead of the
25.
Elliott said that put his team in position to try to get a "chunk play."
It didn't work. Morris took a throwback pass from a running back, fired
downfield and was picked off by Mergott, setting off a raucous Duke celebration.
"To bring a championship to this school, which is primarily known for
basketball, is a statement that me and the seniors on this team have been
trying to make," Mensah said.
Morris, who finished 21 of 40 for 216 yards with two TDs and two interceptions,
was in tears after the game. J'Mari Taylor, the ACC's leading rusher, was
limited to 65 yards on 15 carries and scored on an 11-yard reception.
Duke established control of the line of scrimmage early.
The Blue Devils controlled the clock in the first half, putting together the
two longest drives in ACC championship game history --- 9:38 and 8:02 ---
culminating with a 12-yard touchdown catch by Hasley and a 16-yard run by
Sheppard to take a 14-7 lead into halftime.
Diaz, who ran a fake field goal that led to the Blue Devils' dramatic win over
rival North Carolina, called a fake punt on Duke's go-ahead drive in the second
quarter. It worked, with Kevin O'Connor taking the direct snap and running up
the middle for 6 yards.
The takeaway
Duke: The Blue Devils' punt team was big. Along with the fake punt, Duke pulled
Virginia offsides on a hard count on fourth-and-7, and then Diaz sent the
offense back on the field to get the first down on fourth-and-2. Duke punter
Kade Reynoldson also pinned Virginia at the 1, leading to Morris' interception
three plays later.
Virginia: Taylor fumbled on the Virginia's first play from scrimmage --- it was
negated by a penalty --- and could never get on track against the Duke defense,
which played its best game in recent weeks.
___
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up
here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football:
https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and
https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
|
