Virginia Shuts Out Blue Devils 48-0

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia’s dominance of ACC rival Duke continues.

In a Coastal Division game at Scott Stadium, the surging Cavaliers overwhelmed the Blue Devils 48-0 before a crowd of 38,489. The victory was UVA’s seventh straight over Duke, which played at Scott Stadium for the third year in a row.

Coming off back-to-back road wins that weren’t decided until the final seconds, the Wahoos made sure there was no such drama Saturday afternoon.

Virginia (5-2 overall, 3-2 ACC) piled 368 yards in the first half and led 34-0 at the break, as Brennan Armstrong continued to show he’s one of the nation’s premier quarterbacks.

In the first half, Armstrong passed for 296 yards and two touchdowns, the first to wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks and the second to tight end Jelani Woods.

Armstrong, who didn’t play in the fourth quarter, finished 25-of-45 passing for 364 yards and two TDs, with no interceptions.

The second half produced fewer highlights, but the Hoos, who have won three-straight since losing to Wake Forest on Sept. 24, stretched their lead to 41-0 late in the third quarter.

A 34-yard run by Devin Darrington, a graduate transfer from Harvard, moved Virginia to the Duke 7. On the next play, Darrington took a handoff from Armstrong and raced around right end to the end zone.

Another UVA running back, Ronnie Walker Jr., scored on a 1-yard run with 12:57 remaining.

The Blue Devils (3-4, 1-3) came in with the ACC’s second-leading rusher, tailback Mataeo Durant. Virginia held Durant to 82 yards on 17 carries.

It was the first shutout of an ACC opponent by Virginia since a 31-0 victory over Maryland on October 4, 2008.

NOTES

TEAM

• The 48-point margin of victory was the highest in the Bronco Mendenhall era (2016-present). It was the sixth time since 2016 UVA has scored 48 or more points in a game.
• Since 2017, Virginia is 24-6 at home and 15-2 at Scott Stadium since 2019.
• Virginia is 9-3 in its last 12 games, tied for the best mark amongst ACC teams (NC State 7:30 p.m./Wake Forest (9-3) – Bye)
• Virginia has won seven-straight meetings against Duke and leads all-time series, 40-33.
• UVA is 16-6 against the Blue Devils since 2000.
• Virginia is 49-45-2 all-time in homecomings games and has now won three-straight for the first time since 2007-09.
• The Cavaliers scored 34 points in the first half, the most in an ACC game since 2004 against North Carolina.
• Virginia intercepted two passes, the first multi-interception game of the season and first since picking off five against Duke in the 2020 season opener. It was the first time this season that Duke had thrown multiple interceptions.
• The Virginia defense held Duke to 110 yards rushing. The Blue Devils came into the contest with the second-best rushing attack in the ACC, averaging 218 yards per game. It was Duke’s lowest rushing total of the season.
• Mataeo Durant, who ranked second in the ACC in rushing coming into the game accumulated 82 yards on the ground, only the second time this season he was held under 100 yards.
• The shutout was Virginia’s first in ACC play since 2008 when it blanked Maryland, 31-0.
• Virginia has shut out Duke nine times in the all-time series, most recently in 2006, a 37-0 win in Durham.
• Virginia has two shutouts on the season (W&M, 43-0, Duke, 48-0). It marks the first time since 2008, UVA has two or more shutouts in the same season

PLAYER

• Armstrong passed for 364 yards, all in three quarters of action. It marked the sixth time this season he has passed for 300 or more yards.
• Armstrong went over the 5,000-yard passing mark for his career and moved into seventh place all-time on UVA’s career passing list with 5,199 yards. He surpassed Marques Hagans (4,877), Marc Verica (4,992) and Aaron Brooks (5,118) in Saturday’s game.
• Armstrong has amassed 5,922 yards of total offense in his career, the sixth-most in program history.
• Wide receiver Billy Kemp IV caught six passes for 65 yards, his 22^nd straight game with a reception. He took over sole possession of sixth place all-time on UVA’s career reception list (150 receptions), passing Heath Miller (144 receptions).
• Wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks led UVA with seven catches and 125 yards and a touchdown. The 100-yard receiving game was Wicks’ third of the season. He has a reception in all seven games this season.
• Specialist Brendan Farrell was a perfect 2-for-2 on field goals (31, 34) and was 5-for-5 on extra points. He is 6-for-6 this season on field goals from 43 yards and in.
• Freshman Malachi Fields made his first career start and caught one pass for 19 yards.
• Devin Darrington and Ronnie Walker Jr. each ran for second half scores. The seven-yard touchdown for Darrington was his first at UVA.
• Linebacker Nick Jackson made a game-high 11 tackles, the fourth time this season he has registered double-digit tackles. He also recorded a sack and a career-high four tackles for loss.
• Joey Blount recorded his seventh career interception and made four tackles (three solo).
• De’Vante Cross intercepted a second quarter pass that setup Farrell’s 34-yard field goal. He has six career interceptions.