If Bill Belichick’s first words were “Beat Duke,” he’s going to have to wait a year to do it in Durham—assuming he’s still here.
The Duke Blue Devils rushed for 177 yards, passed for 175, and took advantage of a completely immature effort by UNC to score the go-ahead touchdown and two points with 2:20 left in the fourth to take their second straight against Carolina 32-25. After holding the Victory Bell for five straight seasons, the Tar Heels will have to try wait yet another year to get it back,
and try to win next weekend on the road to avoid going 0-3 against The Big Four.
The loss also means the Tar Heels can’t get to the six win mark on the season, likely ending any shot at a trip to a bowl game. There’s an outside shot a win next weekend could earn them a slot as a 5-7 team, but there isn’t really anything this team has shown throughout a whole game that would give fans hope this would happen.
The first half was a familiar pattern for the Tar Heels. The opening drive resembled the first one against TCU: scripted well, the ball moved down the field, and ended with a touchdown for Carolina. It took 7:57 off the clock, quarterback Gio Lopez was a perfect six for six to open the game, and once again the Tar Heels held an early lead.
From there, though Duke took over. The next three drives for the Blue Devils ended in points, as theBlue Devils answered the Tar Heel touchdown with a touchdown of their own, but was achieved in less than three minutes. From there, the Tar Heels went three and out. Duke then marched it down with a thirteen play drive to get their second TD and take a lead. That drive was especially infuriating as the Tar Heels had managed to hold it to where Duke was trying a field goal on 4th and 29, and despite missing the kick, Marcus Allen was flagged for roughing the kicker. This gave Duke an automatic first down, and they scored immediately after. Another three and out led to a fourteen play drive that ended in a Duke field goal. The Tar Heels were able to salvage a field goal before the half and went in down 17-10.
The third quarter seemed to portend a blowout as the Tar Heels went for an onside kick that Duke easily recovered. Then quarterback Gio Lopez had the best two drives of his Carolina career.
During a ten play drive, the quarterback took several licks after the play was over but wasn’t flagged, yet the Tar Heels kept marching down the field. Lopez would pass for 60 yards, and on the final play resulting in a touchdown the refs finally flagged Duke for a late hit. The resulting penalty made a two point conversion easier for the Tar Heels, and they were within six.
The defense seemed charged by the fact that the offense finally was able to string together a drive and Lopez was willing to take the hits, and for the first time, had to punt the ball away. They still got past midfield, and the punt pinned the Tar Heels at the UNC 9. However, the offense had momentum and the Duke defense didn’t have enough time to catch their breath. The Tar Heels took advantage and got several chunk plays on a nine play, 91 yard drive that ended with the Tar Heels punching it into the end zone and actually taking the lead.
Duke tried to dig into its bag of tricks on the next drive, but on a fourth and short reverse play, Carolina sniffed it out and found themselves with a first down in good field position with a chance to tack on to the lead. Things were setting up for this to be Carolina’s best win of the season, and that’s when it went down hill.
Duke hiked up for the ensuing drive, sacking Lopez twice to push the Tar Heels back thirteen yards. Duke took the opportunity and had a little more in their bag of tricks. It looked like they were going to try to take the lead with a field goal, but instead Manny Diaz pulled out a fake where the punter shoveled it over to kicker Todd Pelino, who was downed just at the goal line. They cashed it in on the next play to take the lead for good.
The final drive went backwards more than forwards, and a fourth and impossible ended with an incomplete pass, and once again the Victory Bell ended up in Durham.
The Tar Heels were undone by a lack of discipline. On top of twelve penalties for 103 yards committed, Duke was able to convert an astounding five of six fourth downs. Between the penalties and the conversions, the UNC defense just couldn’t get off the field and the UNC offense had too many drives that ended without any sort of score.
The Tar Heels mercifully finish this season in Raleigh next week against a NC State squad with an extra day off, at home, and already bowl-eligible.
