Duke Secures Overtime Win, ACC Championship

Duke’s football team delivered a thrilling overtime triumph on Saturday, complicating the College Football Playoff landscape. The Blue Devils defeated Virginia with a score of 27-20, marking their first outright ACC championship since 1962.

In a decisive moment, Duke quarterback Darian Mensah found tight end Jeremiah Hasley for a 1-yard touchdown on a fourth-down play, which turned out to be the clinching score.

On the Cavaliers’ first possession of overtime, quarterback Chandler Morris threw an interception to Duke’s Luke Margot, shifting the momentum decisively.

The last time Duke shared the regular season title in the ACC was back in 1989, during Steve Spurrier’s final season as head coach. This year’s conference championship game was established in 2005, and Duke secured their place after a tiebreaker involving five teams.

Virginia, having claimed the ACC regular season title, faced a missed opportunity; a victory would have sent them to the College Football Playoff for the first time ever. Duke’s chances of advancing remain slim, but this victory could open the pathway for another Group of Five contender, likely James Madison, to enter the playoffs.

Attending the game were JMU alumni Ben Overbee and James Turner, who were there to support Duke. “I don’t have anything against UVA,” Turner expressed excitedly, “but we’re here for Duke.”

ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips recently argued that the conference deserves two playoff spots: one for Miami, ranked No. 12, and another for the Duke-Virginia winner as the champion of the league.