Sep. 28--DURHAM, N.C. -- Nobody wanted to be the ACC football team that lost to Duke.
That team is Virginia. And that doesn't help Al Groh's job security.
Eight regular-season games remain for U.Va., which fell 31-3 to Duke yesterday. The Cavaliers (0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference, 1-3) have time to salvage their season, and perhaps they will.
But if this turns out to be Groh's final season as coach at his alma mater, what happened yesterday at Wallace Wade Stadium will be part of the reason.
The Blue Devils (1-0, 3-1) ended their 25-game ACC losing streak in emphatic fashion, outscoring Coastal Division foe U.Va. 28-0 in the second half. Virginia had won eight straight over Duke and 17 of the teams' previous 19 meetings, but for the third time in four games this season, Groh's club lost by at least 28 points.
"Right now we're not a very good team," said senior linebacker Clint Sintim, a four-year starter.
Duke, meanwhile, is better than it has been in years. None of new coach David Cutcliffe's players had won an ACC football game before yesterday, and they made history before a raucous crowd of 25,527 on a humid fall afternoon.
"The Blue Devils' ACC winning streak has started!" yelled the jubilant PA announcer after the final second ticked off the clock.
The game was tied at 3 at the break, but the Cavaliers will rue the first-half opportunities they squandered as much as their five second-half turnovers.
In the first quarter, U.Va. piled up 126 yards to 19 for Duke. On each of their first three possessions, in fact, the Cavaliers drove inside the Devils' 35-yard line, but they had only Yannick Reyering's 33-yard field goal to show for their dominance.
U.Va.'s third series ended when junior tailback Mikell Simpson, on fourth and 1 from Duke's 20, was stopped about two inches from a first down.
"One of the things we understand is that if you don't take control of a game, the game eventually gets away from you, and we had the opportunity [in the first quarter] to take control of the game," Groh said.
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