Monday, November 16, 2015

Blue Devils, Cavaliers to Battle in Coastal Division Matchup

Duke (6-4, 3-3 ACC) travels to Charlottesville, Va., to take on ACC foe Virginia (3-7, 2-4 ACC) on Saturday, November 14. Kickoff at Scott Stadium is set for 3:30 p.m. ESPN3 will broadcast the game with Michael Reghi (play-by-play) & Tom O’Brien (analyst)

Saturday’s game will mark the 67th on the gridiron between the two schools, with the series tied at 33-33. The series began in 1890 with a 10-4 UVa win. Duke won 18-of-22 meetings between 1952-78. Virginia captured 17-of-19 games between 1989-2007. The Blue Devils have won three straight and six out of seven in the series. Duke won last year’s tilt, 20-13, in Durham.

The Blue Devils have won 12 of their last 14 road games dating back to the start of the 2013 season. Among ACC teams, Duke (12-2) has the top ledger in that time span followed by Florida State (11-2), Clemson (10-4), Virginia Tech (10-5), Pittsburgh (10-6), Georgia Tech (7-8), N.C. State (7-8), North Carolina (6-7), Boston College (6-8), Miami (6-9), Syracuse (4-10), Wake Forest (3-14) & Virginia (0-14).

Over their last 20 ACC regular season games, the Blue Devils are 14-6. Only Florida State (18-2) and Clemson (17-3) have better ledgers

Dating back to the 2013 season, the Blue Devils are 23-7 in their last 30 regular season games. The only schools with more wins during that stretch are Ohio State (29), Florida State (28), Baylor (27), Michigan State (27), Alabama (26), Clemson (25) & Wisconsin (25)

In place of injured QB Thomas Sirk last week against Pitt, Parker Boehme earned his first career start at Duke and completed 23-of-42 passes for 248 yards and one INT while rushing 11 times for 80 yards and one TD in the 31-13 loss to the Panthers. Boehme’s afternoon was highlighted by a 77-yard run

K Ross Martin booted a 51-yard field goal last week against Pittsburgh to match the school record for career field goals of 50+ yards, equaling the mark of six set by Sims Lenhardt. For his career, Martin has made six-ofeight attempts from 50+ yards

Duke is averaging 4.72 yards per rushing attempt to post the fifthhighest total in the ACC. All four of Duke’s top ground-gainers average at least 4.56 yards per carry — QB Thomas Sirk (4.91), RB Shaquille Powell (4.56), RB Shaun Wilson (4.60) & RB Jela Duncan (6.90)

Five Blue Devils were honored with CoSIDA Academic All-District accolades, marking the highest total in the nation. The Duke contingent also made up 45.5 percent (5-of-11) of the ACC’s honorees. S DeVon Edwards earned the honor for the second straight year and was joined on this year’s team by OT Gabe Brandner, K Ross Martin, QB Thomas Sirk & DT A.J. Wolf


Bob Harris, the Voice of the Blue Devils, is in his 40th season as the play-by-play announcer for the Blue Devil IMG Radio Network. Harris enters this week’s game in Charlottesville having called 456 consecutive Duke football games dating back to the 1976 season-opening 21-18 win at Tennessee