The Duke Blue Devils found themselves down to the Virginia Cavaliers late in the fourth quarter of their ACC clash on Friday. The Cavaliers were up 13-7 at halftime, but while Duke tied the game 13-13 in the fourth, Virginia went ahead 16-13 with a field goal of their own with less than two minutes left in the game.
But just like he has for much of this season, running back Nate Sheppard came to Duke's rescue. He did not get a touchdown with his feet, though; instead, he used his arm in a sneaky double-pass trick play.
After receiving a backward pass from quarterback Walker Eget, Sheppard uncorked a pass to wide receiver Brody Keefe, who was wide open for the touchdown.
Virginia still had a chance to tie after Duke missed the point after kick, which kept the score at 19-16. However, the Cavaliers' comeback hopes were dashed after quarterback Beau Pribula's pass on fourth down was intercepted by the Duke defense.
Sheppard, who had been dealing with an undisclosed injury, has been outstanding for Duke in both the running and receiving game this season. Heading into the game, he had 820 rushing yards with eight touchdowns, to go with 28 catches for 259 yards over six games. He was also coming off back-to-back games of 170 or more yards from scrimmage. He was limited to just 66 yards from scrimmage against Virginia, but he made up for it with the game-winning touchdown throw.
With the win, Duke improved to 5-2 on the season, while Virginia dropped to 4-4. The Blue Devils will look to clinch bowl eligibility on Halloween, when they host Boston College in Durham.