By AARON BEARD
AP Sports Writer

RALEIGH, N.C.(AP) -- Thad Lewis threw for career-highs of 459
yards and five touchdowns in a dazzling one-man show to help
Duke beat North Carolina State 49-28 on Saturday.

Lewis also ran for a score for the Blue Devils (3-3, 1-1
Atlantic Coast Conference), who snapped an 11-game losing streak
to their instate rival and earned their first road league win in
almost six years. Donovan Varner added 154 yards receiving while
Conner Vernon had 10 catches and was one of five different
players to catch a TD pass from Lewis.

But on this day, everything started with Lewis, a senior
quarterback who has until now almost always seen his big passing
days go for naught.

He picked apart the Wolfpack's defense, helping Duke roll to 502
total yards and convert 13 of 19 third downs to dominate the
game in front of a stunned home crowd for the Wolfpack (3-3,
0-2).

Lewis was sharp from the beginning, guiding the Blue Devils to
touchdowns on their first three drives. And even though the Blue
Devils had a few of those only-can-happen-to-Duke mistakes that
helped the Wolfpack hang around, Lewis just wouldn't let the
Blue Devils falter.

Duke earned its first ACC road win since beating North Carolina
to close the 2003 regular season, ending a 20-game losing
streak.

With the game tied at 28 midway through the third quarter, Lewis
directed a 10-play drive that ended with his 8-yard scoring pass
to Austin Kelly with 3:41 left. Then the Blue Devils caught a
huge break when a Blue Devil punt bounced off blocker Justin
Byers and Duke recovered at N.C. State's 11-yard line.

Three plays later, Lewis connected with Vernon for a 5-yard
touchdown that pushed the lead to 42-28 with 11:02 left. And
when the Blue Devils' defense - which hung in after a rough
start against N.C. State quarterback Russell Wilson - stuffed
Toney Baker on a fourth-and-1 with 6:05 left, the Blue Devils
could feel that this game would be different from all those
other league losses.

On the other sideline, things only got worse for the Wolfpack,
which played the final 5 minutes or so in front of a virtually
empty Carter-Finley Stadium.

The low point - aside from a miserable defensive performance -
came when the Wolfpack botched another punt return in the final
minutes in the same fashion, this time with the ball bouncing
off the leg of blocker Owen Spencer and rolling into the end
zone, where Duke recovered for another touchdown with 3:07 left.

Wilson ran and threw for a touchdown for N.C. State, which never
led.

Baker ran for 73 yards and a score and T.J. Graham added a
93-yard kickoff return for a score for the Wolfpack.