3 Winners, 3 Losers From Duke Football's Huge Win Over Virginia

The Duke Blue Devils (5-2, 2-2 ACC) bounced back on the road to erase a two-game skid, defeating Virginia in Charlottesville 19-16. Duke desperately needed a victory to get back on track, and it delivered late.

Here are a few big winners and losers from the win.

Winners

WR Brody Keefe

True freshman Brody Keefe had one target all season heading into Friday night, but burst onto the scene against Virginia, culminating in Duke's trick play to take the lead late, where Keefe caught a touchdown pass from running back Nate Sheppard (yes, you read that right).

The Blue Devils haven't had a receiver step up this season into the team's true top option, and who knows, maybe Keefe becomes a big part of the receiver room going forward.

S Patrick Smith-Young

The Blue Devils were dealing with a few key injuries on both sides of the ball, and safety Andrew Pellicciotta was one of the big absences.

North Texas transfer safety Patrick Smith-Young was fantastic last weekend against North Carolina, tallying six total tackles and a forced fumble. He stayed hot against Virginia.

Smith-Young made some big plays and was once again one of Duke's leading tacklers against UVA. Duke needed him to step up, and he did.

LB Nick Morris Jr.

Sixth-year linebacker Nick Morris Jr. has been one of Diaz and Co.'s more consistent impact players on the defensive side of the ball in 2026, and he continued that against the Cavaliers. There wasn't a ton to love from Duke tonight in Charlottesville, but its defense as a whole was fairly solid, especially in the second half.

Morris was consistent and made a few big tackles throughout the game.

Losers

Duke's Quarterbacks

Walker Eget went out early with an injury, and once Dan Mahan entered the contest, Duke struggled to find any sort of offensive rhythm. After scoring a touchdown on the opening drive to take a 7-0 lead, the Blue Devils punted on all of their remaining drives in the first half.

Eget returned in the second half, and it was clear the Blue Devils' offense operates much smoother with him in the game. The San Jose State transfer delivered some good throws, but it was an all-around inconsistent game from Eget and Mahan.

Duke's receivers had a few costly drops as well throughout the game.

RB Nate Sheppard

Star running back Nate Sheppard found the end zone early and threw a pretty ball to Keefe late, but Virginia did as good a job as any team has so far at taking the sophomore out of the game. The second half was interesting, as Diaz and Co. elected to pass the ball maybe a bit more than usual, not running the offense entirely through Sheppard.

Sheppard has been arguably the most valuable player in college football this season, and he was contained more tonight than he has been all year.

Run Defense

The Blue Devils have statistically had one of the better run defenses in the ACC, allowing 92.5 rushing yards per game heading into Friday night. However, Virginia, led by Jekail Middlebrook, moved the ball on the ground all night.