Virginia has hit a level very rarely seen over the last decade -- or two -- in Charlottesville.
Thanks in very large part to Kurt Benkert‘s three touchdown passes, UVa. scored in every quarter en route to a tight 28-21 home win over Duke. The victory was aided once again by the play of Blue Devils quarterback Daniel Jones, who has now thrown seven interceptions in his last two games against the Cavaliers -- five last year, two more in this game.
With the win, the Cavaliers improved to 4-1 for the first time since the 2007 team started that season 7-1. In fact, the Hoos have started 4-1 or better only two other times in the last two decades -- 1998, 2004 being the others.
Neither team did much offensively, with the Blue Devils (4-2) averaging 3.4 yards per play, the Cavaliers 3.8.
While Benkert tossed a trio of touchdowns, he completed just over half of his 43 of his 42 passes and threw a pick-six that tied the score at 7-all in the first quarter. His counterpart, Jones, completed just 14-of-42 passes (33.3 percent) for a meager 131 yards.
