Duke Blue Devils news and notes from the weekend:
Duke football wins a thriller over Virginia thanks to gutsy trick-play call
To snap a two-game losing streak and to end the late-game woes that directly led to it, Manny Diaz had to get bold. With under 90 seconds to play, Diaz gave the green light for a double pass: a throw from Walker Eget to star RB Nate Sheppard well behind the line of scrimmage, which Sheppard faked as if he was going to run before launching a 28-yard touchdown pass to freshman WR Brody Keefe, who was standing wide open in the endzone.
Duke perfectly set up the play two plays earlier. Eget threw a swing pass to Sheppard to the left for a 13-yard gain. It looked like Duke was simply running the same play, just in the other direction, but instead Sheppard threw it for the go-ahead score.
Patrick Smith-Young sealed the deal on the ensuing defensive possession, intercepting a desperate 4th-down heave by Virginia's Beau Pribula to give Duke a 19-16 win to improve to 6-2 on the season.
Duke basketball earns a 90-84 road exhibition win over Kansas on the road
Jon Scheyer got what he wanted on Sunday: Duke was tested against Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse. That was expected. Scheyer needed to see how his Blue Devils would respond in a tight contest in a difficult environment.
They responded like champions.
Led by Patrick Ngongba (28 points, 10 rebounds) and John Blackwell (23 points), Duke made the plays down the stretch to earn the 90-84 victory at the Phog.
Duke got what it needed from the Kansas game. Neither Belmont nor Tennessee gave the Blue Devils much of a game in the first two exhibitions. The Jayhawks pushed them, but Duke proved to be too much for them, too.
This is a team with incredible depth and talent, and they look to have the mental resolve, too. Those are winning formulas for Scheyer.
The Kansas game wrapped up Duke's three-game preseason schedule. The regular season starts next Monday in Cameron Indoor when the Blue Devils welcome Army.
Other Duke sports in action over the weekend:
- No. 6 women's soccer got a second-half goal from Avery Odor to lift them past NC State, 2-0, in Durham.
- Women's field hockey hung on for a 5-4 win over Liberty.
- Volleyball swept Cal in an ACC matchup, 3-0, led by Nataly Moravec's 16 kills.
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