CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Walker Eget was itching to get back onto the field in Duke football's ACC contest at Virginia.
The Blue Devils (5-2, 2-2 ACC) quarterback exited the first quarter of Duke's 19-16 win over Cavaliers after his finger appeared to have collided with that of a Virginia defensive lineman's helmet.
"We just did X-Rays, it's fine bone wise," Eget said postgame. "It's just like a little tendon, like on the first throw, I just got jammed bad into a linemen's helmet or something. But, I mean, I feel good right now, so that's all that matters."
Dan Mahan entered the game in his place, but Eget wasn't going to stay on the sideline for long.
After all, injuries are nothing new for the sixth-year quarterback.
"That kid's been through so much that the idea that he was not gonna get back on the field and give it the old college try, that just wasn't gonna happen," head coach Manny Diaz said.
"It wasn't an injury per se. There was nothing structurally wrong with the finger. But just his ability to grip the football and just didn't feel it was great."
Coming out of half, Diaz said the Blue Devils were unsure which quarterback they were going to roll with. With his finger taped, the Blue Devils opted to go with Eget. Diaz quickly realized it paid off after one of his first completions of the half was a deep crossing route to Jonah Burton.
"Honestly, one of the better throws he's thrown on that route all season," Diaz said. "So you kind of saw that, you're like, okay, I think he's ready to go."
Eget exited the game after engineering Duke's 78-yard touchdown drive to open the game and jump out to a 7-0 lead. He finished the night completing 14 of his 25 passes for 211 yards and an interception.
"I didn't want to not play," he said. "We scored first drive. It's like we want to keep this momentum."
The victory snapped Duke's two-game losing streak after consecutive defeats to Georgia Tech and North Carolina.
Eget said those losses served as a wake-up call for the Blue Devils, who had started the season 4-0 before dropping back-to-back contests.
"Those two losses sort of were eye-opening experiences," he said. "Like, we have the team, we have everything that we need, and it's just like, all right, I'm going to take a deep breath. Let's just play football. Like, it's about us and nothing else."
Duke returns home to host Boston College on Saturday, Oct. 31.
Anna Snyder covers Duke for The Fayetteville Observer as part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at asnyder@usatodayco.com or on X @annaesnydr.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: What Manny Diaz said about Walker Eget after Duke football's win over Virginia