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Duke Notes: Duke vs. Virginia

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Pregame:

Game captains: Duke – Adam Banks, Abraham Kromah, Bryan Morgan, Chris Rwabukamba
Virginia – Marc Verica, Ras-I Dowling, John-Kevin Dolce, Nick Jenkins
Virginia won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. Duke elected to receive and will defend the North endzone.
Weather at kickoff: 50 degrees, mostly cloudy, wind north northwest at 10 mph

Duke Game Starters: Offense – QB Sean Renfree, RB Desmond Scott, WR Brandon Braxton, WR Conner Vernon, WR Donovan Varner, TE Brandon King, LT Kyle Hill, LG Brandon Harper, C Bryan Morgan, RG Brian Moore, RT Perry Simmons; Defense – DE Patrick Egboh, NG Charlie Hatcher, DT Sydney Sarmiento, DE Wesley Oglesby, MLB Kelby Brown, WLB Abraham Kromah, CB Chris Rwabukamba, CB Ross Cockrell, S Lee Butler, S Matt Daniels, S Walt Canty

Duke 55, Virginia 48

National College Football Day
Saturday, Nov. 6 marked the 7th Annual National College Football Day. The Football Writers Association of America is supporting the efforts of the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic to celebrate the 141st birthday of college football and to assist the V Foundation for Cancer Research in its fundraising efforts.

Clarkston Hines Honored
At halftime former Blue Devil standout Clarkston Hines was honored for his upcoming induction into the College Football Hall of Fame. Hines is a two-time first team All-America pick in 1988 and 1989.

103 Combined Points Second Most in ACC Game
The 103 combined points between Duke and Virginia is the second most scored in an ACC game in conference history behind the 106 points in a Clemson and Wake Forest game that Clemson won 82-24. Earlier this season Duke and Wake Forest combined for 102 points in a 54-48 Wake Forest victory over the Blue Devils, which ranks third most in conference history.

55 Points Most Since 1990
The 55 points scored against Virginia is the most by a Duke team since 1990 when the Blue Devils won 57-20 Nov. 3, 1990 against Wake Forest. Duke had not scored 50 points in a game since 1994 when they had 51 in a 51-26 win over Wake Forest. It marks the third time this season Duke has scored at least 40 points in a game and sixth time under head coach David Cutcliffe. The last season in which the Blue Devils had three games of 40 or more points was 1994 when Duke had five games with 40 or more.

Blue Devils Rush For 230 Yards
The 230 rushing yards were the most by a Duke team since last season when they had 233 yards on the ground against N.C. Central. Sophomore running back Desmond Scott led the way with 97 yards on 17 carries and the game-winning 35-yard touchdown run. Duke’s two quarterbacks combined for 100 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns. The Blue Devils had six combined rushing touchdowns on the day.

Scott Scores Game-Winning Touchdown
Scott’s 35-yard carry with 40 seconds remaining in the game gave Duke the lead for good as true freshman Brandon Connette converted the two-point try to make the score 55-48.

4th-and-20 Pass Keeps Game-Winning Drive Alive
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Sean Renfree stood in the pocket and completed a 32-yard pass to junior wide receiver Donovan Varner on 4th-and-20 with 1:09 remaining in the fourth quarter. Renfree completed a similar pass at Maryland, finding Varner for a 35-yard gain on 4th-and-19 in the fourth quarter to set up a two-yard touchdown pass.

Touchdowns on First Three Drives
Duke scored touchdowns on each of its first three offensive possessions. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Sean Renfree led Duke down the field on the opening drive and, after a personal foul penalty, kept the drive alive he hit junior tight end Cooper Helfet for a 30-yard touchdown pass. On the next possession, Connette had a two-yard touchdown rush following an interception to make the score 14-0. Connette scored again with 2:22 left in the first quarter, this time on a 20-yard run to make the score 21-7.

Four Straight Scoring Drives
Later in the game Duke had four straight drives with scores, recording three touchdowns and one field goal in the third and fourth quarters. Overall the Blue Devils had nine scoring drives out of 13 possessions. The last time Duke scored on four straight possessions was at Wake Forest on Nov. 1, 2008.

Scoring on Opening Drive
The Blue Devils have scored on their opening possession of the game in six of the nine games this season. Virginia marked the third time Duke has scored a touchdown to open the game. They also had touchdowns against Elon and Wake Forest and had field goals against Maryland, Miami and Navy.

Renfree Two Scores, Including a 37-Yard Scramble
Renfree had rushing touchdowns of one yard and 37 yards in the fourth quarter to give him four rushing touchdowns in the last two games. All four of his career rushing scores have come in the last two weeks. The 37-yard run was 25 yards longer than his previous career long.

Connette Scores Two Rushing Touchdowns
Connette had two rushing touchdowns in the first quarter to give him six on the season. He had runs of two and 20 yards for his two scores. The true freshman’s six scores rank tied for the school record for rushing touchdowns by a freshman with Chris Douglas (2000). The six touchdowns also rank as the fourth most by a quarterback in a single season.

Connette Sets Freshman Scoring Mark
Connette set a Duke freshman single-game scoring record with 14 points on the day. In addition to his two rushing touchdowns he added a two-point conversion with 40 seconds remaining in the game to give Duke a seven-point edge.

Connette Posts Season High
The 78 rushing yards and two touchdowns were a season high for Connette who’s previous best was 48 yards against Elon in the season opener. He now has 281 rushing yards on the year and six touchdowns.

Varner Tallies First Career Rushing Score
Junior Donovan Varner carried the ball in from nine yards out for his first career rushing touchdown. Prior to the Virginia game, Varner had three career carries for -13 yards.

Helfet Catches Second Touchdown Pass
Helfet’s 30-yard reception in the first quarter was his second touchdown of the season and his longest catch of the season. His first touchdown grab of the year was a nine-yard score at Wake Forest.

100-Yard Game For Helfet
Helfet finished the game with a season-high 122 yards on seven catches for his first 100-yard receiving game as a Blue Devil. His previous high came last week at Navy when he caught seven passes for 69 yards.

Varner Moves Into Eighth All-Time
Varner had 73 yards on four catches to move into eighth on Duke’s career receiving yards list with 1,795 career yards.

Duke 5-of-5 In Red Zone
The Blue Devils entered the game ranked first in the ACC and tied for sixth in the nation in red zone efficiency and continued their success by completing all five of its trips inside the 20-yard line. Duke is now 30-of-32 (.938) inside the red zone this season.

Cockrell Records Two Interceptions
Redshirt freshman Ross Cockrell had an interception on Virginia’s first possession to set up a Duke two-yard touchdown. He then recorded his second of the game in the third quarter on a long pass attempt. It is the first time a Duke player has had two interceptions in one game since Leon Wright returned two for touchdowns at Army on Sept. 12, 2009. Cockrell now has three on the season to lead the team.

Canty First Career Interception
Sophomore safety Walt Canty recorded his first career interception in the fourth quarter to give Duke three in the game.

Defense Forcing Three Turnovers
The three interceptions gives the Blue Devils five games this season with two or more caused turnovers. The three interceptions give Duke eight on the year and break a string of three straight games without an interception. The last time Duke had three interceptions in a game was at Virginia Tech on Nov. 22, 2008.

Double Digit Tackles
Canty had a career-high 12 tackles to lead the team, four more than his previous best of eight against Army earlier this season. Redshirt senior linebacker Abraham Kromah notched his sixth straight game with 10 or more tackles, finishing the game with 10 stops. Junior safety Lee Butler matched a career high with 10 tackles, which he also had at Kansas last season.

Snyderwine Moves Into Seventh on Career Field Goals List
Junior kicker Will Snyderwine kicked field goals of 30 and 47 yards to move into a tie for sixth on Duke’s career field goal list. Snyderwine has 32 career field goals. Snyderwine has made 32-of-36 (.889) career field goals.

Season Long For Snyderwine
The 47-yard field goal was a season-long for Snyderwine and 12th career field goal of 40 or more yards. His previous long this season was 46 at Wake Forest.

13 Straight Made Field Goals
Snyderwine’s field goal extended his streak to 13 consecutive made attempts. He has not missed a field goal in his last eight games.

Snyderwine Now Tied For Fourth On Single Season List
With 15 made field goals this season (15-of-16), Snyderwine has moved into a tie for fourth with Doug Peterson in 1987.

Third On Consecutive PAT Chart
Snyderwine made all five of his PAT attempts to extend his streak to 51 straight, moving him up to the third longest streak behind Sims Lenhardt (62) and Randy Gardner (59).

Onside Kick Success
Duke recovered an onside kick to start the second half and has now recovered an onside kick in three straight games. Redshirt sophomore Jordon Byas came up with the recovery. Duke has opened up the second half with an onside kick in two straight contests.

Attendance: 22,741