Duke upsets Virginia to win its first ACC football championship since 1989
Duke won an improbable ACC football championship on Saturday night, the program’s first since 1989, with a thrilling, gutsy 27-20 overtime win over Virginia in the league title game.
Then, the college football world waited to see if the result was memorable for the ACC in a far different way.
After a series of tiebreakers landed unranked Duke in the ACC title game, the Blue Devils toppled No. 17 Virginia at Bank of America Stadium to reach the top of the conference for the first time in 36 years.
Duke won when, after failing to score on three plays from the Virginia 1 in overtime, Darian Mensah rolled right and tossed a 1-yard touchdown pass to Jeremiah Hasley. Duke coach Manny Diaz said he didn’t even consider skipping the field goal try and going for a touchdown a gamble because he trusted Mensah and his offense so much.
But Duke got even more out of the play. Virginia was also called for roughing the passer on the play, meaning the Cavaliers started their overtime possession at the Duke 40 after the 15-yard penalty.
On Virginia’s first play of its overtime possession, Duke linebacker Luke Mergott intercepted a pass to clinch the league title and start a wild celebration for Duke.
“Me and coach Diaz talked about it when we first met,” Mensah said, “to bring a championship to this school, who’s primarily known for basketball, on the football field. I think it’s a statement that me and the seniors on this team really have tried to make, and like I’ve been saying this, I’m just a piece of this puzzle. Duke is extremely special, and I’m just glad to be a part of it.”
Since Duke (8-5) suffered nonconference losses to Tulane, UConn and Illinois, the conference title did not guarantee the Blue Devils a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff field. Instead, it created the real possibility the ACC would not see any team selected for the playoff field, opening the door for American champion Tulane and Sun Belt champion James Madison to be selected ahead of the ACC champions.
Sunday, the ACC was relieved to have at least one team in the field — the committee seeded Miami No. 10 — but as many expected, Duke was left out of the field.
Saturday night, though, the Blue Devils celebrated a monumental accomplishment. The 1989 team shared the ACC title with Virginia, this is the first time Duke won the ACC outright since 1962.
“Their belief in each other and the things we’ve gone through this year,” Diaz said, “and the mental toughness of these guys, they were rewarded tonight. We said we were going to win it the Duke way. We were going to win it on the last play of the game. Luke Mergott won the game on the last play of the game.
Duke’s ACC championship came four years after it suffered through a winless ACC season while going 3-9 in David Cutcliffe’s final season as its coach. Mike Elko got the Blue Devils to bowl games in 2022 and 2023 before he left to coach Texas A&M.
Diaz, after going 9-4 in his first season at Duke last season, finally secured the long-awaited ACC championship.
“For me,” Duke redshirt junior defensive end Wesley Williams said, “I’ve only been here for four years, but how far we’ve come in those four years, is magical, honestly. It’s nothing but God’s grace and hard work. We just stand on that every day.”
The Blue Devils appeared to be on the verge of claiming the championship in regulation as they held a 20-10 lead with 5:02 to play.
But Virginia used their final two drives to force overtime, driving for a Will Bettridge field goal before they ended a 96-yard drive with a Chandler Morris 18-yard touchdown pass to Eli Wood with 22 seconds left that tied the score at 20-20.
Prior to that, Virginia had marched inside the Duke 25 four times and tallied only 10 points. Virginia matched that point total on its final two drives of regulation.
Duke, meanwhile, got first half touchdowns from Hasley, on 12-yard pass from Mensah, and Nate Sheppard, on a 16-yard run. Todd Pelino added two second-half field goals for Duke.
Down 17-10 early in the fourth quarter, Virginia faced a crucial fourth-and-5 play from the Duke 24. Rather than trying to cut in to the lead with a field goal, the Cavaliers ran a play. Quarterback Chandler Morris tossed the ball into the end zone, where Maddox Marcellus was double covered by Duke’s Landon Callahan and Dwight Stone. The ball sailed over Marcellus’ head and fell incomplete at the 14:24 mark.
On Virginia’s next possession, a third-down play from the Cavaliers’ 3 resulted in an interception by Duke’s Caleb Weaver at the Virginia 33 with 7:21 to play. Duke turned that short field into a 23-yard Pelino field goal to take a 20-10 lead with 5:02 remaining.
Virginia responded by driving 50 yards on eight plays, adding a Bettridge field goal with 3:54 to play to cut Duke’s lead to 20-13.
Duke gained a pair of first downs, but punted the ball back to Virginia with 1:44 to play. Starting from their 4, the Cavaliers took advantage of two Duke defensive penalties to reach their own 48 with 55 seconds to play.
Virginia running back Harrison Waylee broke free for 19 yards on a third-down run to reach the Duke 38 with 47 seconds remaining. Morris’ fourth-down pass to Cam Ross to the Duke 18 kept the Cavaliers’ drive alive. On the next play, Morris tossed an 18-yard touchdown pass to Eli Wood tying the game at 20-20 with 22 seconds to play.
Duke led 14-7 at halftime and the teams traded third-quarter field goals, allowing the Blue Devils to carry a 17-10 lead into the fourth quarter.
Duke built a 14-7 halftime lead on the strength of the two longest touchdown drives, in terms of elapsed game time, in ACC championship game history.
The Blue Devils took the opening kickoff and drove 75 yards on 15 plays, using 9:38 of the first quarter clock. Mensah’s 12-yard touchdown pass to Hasley completed the longest scoring drive in ACC title game history.
Virginia took advantage of a short field gained by Corey Costner’s interception of a Mensah pass. Starting at the Duke 23, the Cavaliers needed three plays to score. J’Mari Taylor caught an 11-yard pass from Morris for the touchdown, tying the score at 7-7 with 14:16 to play in the first half.
Duke’s offense immediate embarked on another sustained touchdown drive to move back in front. This time, the Blue Devils used 8:02 of the game clock, which would have been an ACC title game record if not for Duke’s first drive of the game.
The Blue Devils needed 13 plays to march 75 yards. That included a fake punt, when Duke snapped the ball to the upback, Kevin O’Connor, who gained six yards to the Duke 39 and a first down. Duke then converted another fourth-down, this one a 3-yard run by Anderson Castle, to the Virginia 49.
Two plays later, on third-and-13, Mensah fired a pass down the left sideline that Sahmir Hagans made a diving catch to corral to gain 35 yards to the Virginia 18. Nate Sheppard completed the drive, breaking a tackle at the line of scrimmage during a 16-yard touchdown run that put Duke up 14-7 with 7:19 to play in the first half.
The temperature at kickoff was 39 degrees, making it the coldest ACC title game in the event’s 21-year history.
This story was originally published December 7, 2025 at 12:10 AM.