Devils pass by Cavaliers

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.

Thaddeus Lewis and his Duke teammates don't know if opponents are starting to believe that the rumors of the Blue Devils' vast improvement are true.

And, he said, he doesn't care.

Lewis passed for 343 yards and hit Conner Vernon for a 42-yard touchdown with 3:45 to play yesterday as Duke rallied for its third consecutive victory, 28-17 over Virginia.

"We just know what we have," Lewis said.

What the Blue Devils had at Virginia was a dynamic passing game led by Lewis, a four-year starter who shook off six sacks and made the big passes when his team needed them.

"That route was open all day," Lewis said of the go-ahead touchdown. "Donovan (Varner) did a great job of carrying the first guy, and then I saw the window open up for Conner."

The play gave the Blue Devils (5-3, 3-1 ACC) an 18-17 lead. They essentially sealed the win 23 seconds later when Ayanga Okpokowuruk forced Virginia quarterback Jameel Sewell to fumble and Charlie Hatcher recovered and took the ball 7 yards into the end zone.

"We're having fun right now," Okpokowuruk said. "We're enjoying every minute of it."

Will Snyderwine made five field goals for the Blue Devils as they won their third game in a row -- all in ACC play. It's their first three-game winning streak since 1994.

The victory also kept Duke in the thick of the ACC Coastal Division race, with a game against division leader No. 11 Georgia Tech on Nov. 14 in Durham potentially decisive.

But Lewis said the Blue Devils don't care to look that far ahead, either, especially not with a game against in-state rival North Carolina in Chapel Hill next Saturday.

"We're going to let everyone talk and we're just going to continue with the plan that we have of taking it one by one, taking it a game at a time," Lewis said.

Virginia (3-5, 2-2) lost its second in a row as its pass defense, ranked fifth in the nation coming in, was unable to slow the Lewis-led sixth-best passing attack in the country.

"It's something I thought we were ready for, but you have to tip your hat to them," said defensive end Nate Collins, who had 10 tackles and two of Virginia's sacks. "They are good at what they do. We got to him a little bit early, but in the end it wasn't enough."

Lewis completed 24 of 40 passes, with Varner catching seven of them for 113 yards, Vernon catching seven for 103 yards and four other receivers catching at least two passes.

Before Lewis and Vernon hooked up for the big play, the Cavaliers looked as if they might pull off a dramatic victory of their own.

Virginia, trailing 12-10, drove to the Duke 40, where Sewell rolled left and hit Joe Torchia for a 19-yard completion on fourth-and-1. On the next play, they teamed up again, Sewell rifling a pass to Torchia down the middle to give Virginia a 17-12 lead.

Virginia's chances improved when Chase Minnifield made a diving interception in the end zone to stop another Duke drive, but Virginia went conservative on offense and had to quickly punt. Duke took over at its 33, and five plays later, Lewis hit Vernon.

Until then, Virginia had allowed Lewis to move up and down the field with a possession passing game, but forced Duke to settle for field goals of 44, 28, 34 and 25 yards.

The Cavs came in having scored a total of two offensive touchdowns in three ACC games, and managed 81 yards of offense and trailed 9-3 at the end of the half.

Duke 6 3 0 19 -- 28
Virginia 0 3 7 7 -- 17

First Quarter

Duke--FG Snyderwine 44, 9:27.

Duke--FG Snyderwine 28, 2:56.

Second Quarter

Duke--FG Snyderwine 34, 14:55.

UVa--FG Randolph 33, 11:51.

Third Quarter

UVa--Sewell 1 run (Jarrett kick), 11:38.

Fourth Quarter

Duke--FG Snyderwine 25, 13:50.

UVa--Torchia 19 pass from Sewell (Jarrett kick), 11:17.

Duke--Vernon 42 pass from Lewis (pass failed), 3:45.

Duke--Hatcher 7 fumble return (Snyderwine kick), 3:22.

Duke--FG Snyderwine 43, 1:05.

A--41,713.

TEAM STATISTICS

Duke UVa

First downs 22 14

Rushes-yards 39-81 28-89

Passing 343 107

Comp-Att-Int 24-41-1 13-38-1

Return Yards 30 9

Punts-Avg. 5-35.6 6-40.2

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-1

Penalties-Yards 5-54 5-50

Time of Possession 35:26 24:34

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--Duke, Hollingsworth 12-39, D.Scott 7-26, Lewis 16-13, Boyette 3-4, Team 1-(minus 1). Virginia, Jackson 16-83, Simpson 5-21, Hall 1-4, Team 1-(minus 1), Sewell 5-(minus 18).

PASSING--Duke, Lewis 24-40-1-343, Kelly 0-1-0-0. Virginia, Sewell 8-22-1-86, Verica 5-16-0-21.

RECEIVING--Duke, Varner 7-113, Vernon 7-103, Huffman 3-34, Kelly 2-46, Williams 2-22, D.Scott 2-16, Hollingsworth 1-9. Virginia, Torchia 3-44, T.Smith 2-11, Simpson 2-0, Burd 1-14, Green 1-14, Hall 1-10, Freedman 1-6, Jackson 1-5, Phillips 1-3.