SAM DEAN The Roanoke Times

Virginia's Zane Parr and John Kevin-Dolce (59) sack Duke quarterback Thaddeus Lewis during Saturday's game in Charlottesville. Lewis was sacked six times on the day during the Cavs' 28-17 loss.

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Walk-on Nathan Rathjen took over as Virginia's punter Saturday, replacing sophomore Jimmy Howell, who had done virtually all of UVa's punting for the past two seasons.

"We could see that the performance in recent games left a lot to be desired," UVa coach Al Groh said.

Howell was averaging 40.2 yards per punt after the Cavaliers' first seven games, but rainy weather didn't agree with him in outings at Maryland and against Georgia Tech at home.

Howell averaged 32.8 yards for nine punts against Maryland and 38 yards on four punts against Georgia Tech. A reduction in hang time was particularly noticeable against the Yellow Jackets.

Rathjen's average Saturday was the same, 40.2, as Howell's average for the season. Rathjen, a junior from Loudoun County High School, had an early 50-yarder but also had another punt go 18 yards off the side of his foot.

Groh said there was "probably some degree of improvement. You would never know if we didn't try this."

Rathjen had punted once all season before Saturday and actually had served as UVa's holder when Vic Hall was sidelined earlier in the season.

In vain

Duke quarterbacks had been sacked only 14 times in seven games before the Cavaliers got to Thaddeus Lewis five times in the first half and six times overall. Junior defensive end John-Kevin Dolce, who didn't start, had 2 ¹₂ sacks.

Senior Nate Collins had two sacks and sophomore defensive end Zane Parr, making his second career start, had 1 ¹₂. Collins has 35 tackles -- six for losses -- and four sacks in the last three games.

For the second game in a row, UVa gave up two touchdowns in the fourth quarter and time of possession may have taken its toll. Duke ran 80 offensive plays, compared to UVa's 66, and had the ball for 35:26, as opposed to UVa's 24:34.

By the numbers

With 198 yards in total offense, Virginia failed to crack the 200-yard mark for the third time this season. The Cavaliers had 177 yards in a 30-14 loss to TCU and 198 yards in a 34-9 loss to Georgia Tech. ... The crowd of 41,713 was the smallest at Scott Stadium since 40,100 turned out in 1999 for a Cavaliers game with Buffalo. The crowds for UVa's last four home games have been the four smallest at Scott Stadium since 1999. ... Duke's three-game winning streak is its first since 1994.

Odds 'n' ends

Duke wide receivers Donovan Varner and Conner Vernon, both of whom had seven receptions for more than 100 yards, were teammates at Gulliver Prep in Miami. ... Jameel Sewell had attempted 145 passes without an interception before yielding a first-quarter pick by Leon Wright. Sewell's streak was the fifth-longest in Division I-A going into Saturday.

Redshirts burning

Two more true freshmen made their first appearance of the season, tight end Paul Freedman and Connor McCartin. Groh has used 14 true freshmen this season after redshirting most of his previous three classes. He used a total of 11 true freshmen between 2006-2008.

Eerie feeling

The analyst for the ESPN360.com broadcast was Danny Kanell, whose last appearance at Scott Stadium had come Nov. 2, 1995, when he was the Florida State quarterback when the Seminoles lost for the first time in 30 ACC games.

Virginia knocked off then-No. 2 Florida State 33-28 despite a record-setting performance by Kanell, who completed 32 of 67 passes for 454 yards, the high at Scott Stadium until Georgia Tech's George Godsey passed for 486 yards in a 2001 loss to the Cavaliers.

UVa next week

The Cavaliers (3-5, 2-2 ACC) will seek to avoid a three-game losing streak when they visit Miami (6-2, 3-2) at a time that will be announced at noon today. The Hurricanes rallied for a 28-27 victory Saturday at Wake Forest.