Virginia struggles against Duke and falls to 2-3 on the season (10-1-22)
By: Darrell Owens
Headline Photo Credit: UVA Football
The Virginia Cavaliers (2-2) traveled to Durham, North Carolina to take on the Duke Blue Devils (3-1). The Cavaliers were coming off a tough loss to Syracuse 22-20 on a last-minute field goal after a great comeback effort. The Virginia offense is still looking to find the magic from last season or at least something close to it. The Cavaliers’ defense has improved tremendously from last season. That defense was ranked near the bottom out of 129 teams in Division 1 in the country. Virginia head coach Tony Elliott has seem to have made strides to fix the major problem/question he was asked during the off-season with the play of the defense so far. Coach Elliott was looking for his first career road win as a head coach versus a Duke team that has started the season off well. Coach Elliott’s dreams of getting his first career Road win would not be in the cards in this game.
The Duke Blue Devils defeated the Virginia Cavaliers 38-17 ending their 13-game ACC losing streak. The Blue Devils outscored Virginia 21-7 at halftime. Virginia’s hopes of coming back in the second half would be dashed as Duke would hold on and would never relinquish the lead. Duke had 4 rushing touchdowns on the day. Jaylen Coleman, Jaquez Moore, Riley Leonard & Jordan Waters would combine for 248 yards rushing, which would help keep the Cavaliers on their heels all day.
Virginia QB Brennan Armstrong continues to struggle this season for the Cavaliers. The team has not been able to get back to the explosiveness their offensive showed last season. Armstrong went 19/37 with 202 passing yards one touchdown and an interception. Armstrong also carried the ball eight times for 23 yards in a touchdown. Perris Jones lead the team in rushing with 41 yards & Keytaon Thompson had six receptions for 61 yards leading the receiver core. The 38 points were the most points Virginia gave up this season. What’s next for the Cavaliers, they head back home to Charlottesville to take on Louisville Saturday, October 8 at noon. The Cavaliers are undefeated at home and I’m looking to bounce back and even their record at 3-3.
