The Duke Blue Devils are 0-7 against the Virginia Cavaliers since November of 2015, but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Saturday. Duke and Virginia will face off in an ACC battle at 7:30 p.m. ET at Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium. Given that both teams suffered a loss in their last game, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this game.
The Blue Devils came up short against the Kansas Jayhawks last week, falling 35-27. Duke's loss came about despite a quality game from QB Riley Leonard, who passed for one TD and 324 yards on 35 attempts in addition to picking up 54 yards on the ground.
Meanwhile, Virginia was hampered by 81 penalty yards against the Syracuse Orange last Friday. Virginia fell in a 22-20 heartbreaker. QB Brennan Armstrong had a pretty forgettable game, throwing one interception and fumbling the ball once with only 138 yards passing.
Virginia's defense was a presence, as it collected one interception and three fumbles. The picks came courtesy of DB Jonas Sanker and RB Xavier Brown.
This next matchup is expected to be close, with the Blue Devils going off at just a 3-point favorite. Now might not be the best time to take Duke against the spread since they've let down bettors for the past two consecutive games.
Duke is now 3-1 while Virginia sits at 2-2. A pair of defensive stats to keep an eye on: Duke enters the contest with only three rushing touchdowns allowed, good for 29th best in the nation. As for Virginia, they come into the contest boasting the sixth most sacks in the nation at 14.