Ring. Ring. Ring. Do you hear that sound? That is the sound of the Victory Bell and that can only mean one thing, rivalry week this weekend in Durham as the Tar Heels look to end a two game losing streak in the series and bring the bell back home to Chapel Hill where it belongs.
The Opponent
All-time Record
555–565–31, 9-9 in bowl games
Best Former player
Unlike the past two weeks where Notre Dame and Pittsburgh had more than a few players to choose from, the Blue Devil’s options are much more limited (unless you
think Daniel Jones’ half season last year is the norm and not the outlier). However, despite all that, Duke does have an easy choice here in quarterback Sonny Jurgensen. Jurgensen played for the Blue Devils in the mid-50s before going on to have an 18-year career with the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins. The former Duke quarterback finished his career with over 32,000 passing yards (he missed the top 50 by 120 yards) and 255 touchdowns while also leading the Eagles to a NFL championship in 1960 (this was before the Super Bowl). Jurgensen also was a four time all-pro, a five-time Pro Bowler, and led the league in passing five different times.
Head Coach
Manny Diaz. Diaz, a Florida State graduate, is in his third season with the Blue Devils after also being head coach at Miami for three seasons and head coach at Temple for two weeks. In his six seasons as a head coach, Diaz is 43-25, 22-10 record at Duke, with a 28-15 conference record and an ACC Championship in 2025. Diaz is 2-3 all time against UNC with both wins coming while with the Blue Devils. He is also 1-3 in bowl games.
Last season
Last season, the Blue Devils went 9-5 overall and finished in a five-way tie for second in the ACC with a 6-2 record. Due to some archaic tie breaking rules, Duke made it to the ACC Championship game where they beat Virginia 27-20 in overtime. However, due to their overall record they were not ranked as one of the five highest ranked conference champions and were subsequently not invited to the College Football Playoff allowing two group of five schools to make it instead and nearly costing the ACC a spot in the playoffs (Miami did sneak in before making a valiant run to the National Title game). Duke’s victory did lead to the ACC changing it’s championship tie breaker rules as well as the CFP changing its rules so that the P4 school champions all make the playoffs. Duke finished their season with a 42-39 bowl win over Arizona State.
When the Tar Heels are on offense
When North Carolina is on offense they should find ways to get Jordan Shipp in favorable matchups. Shipp is the Tar Heels leading receiver by a country mile (Shipp has 26 receptions for 366 yards, the rest of the wide receivers have 19 receptions for 236 yards combined). Wide receiver Jordan Allen had 10 receptions for 99 yards in Georgia Tech’s upset win against Duke (Duke’s only loss so far this season). Getting Shipp open often and in space should give UNC chances to keep the Blue Devil defense on the field and slow down their powerful rushing attack. Speaking of that rushing attack…
When the Tar Heels are on defense
When North Carolina is on defense, they need to do everything they can to stop the run. Duke is the second-best rushing team in the ACC rushing for 226.6 yards per game. Blue Devil’s running back Nate Sheppard is the best running back in the ACC with 746 yards on 118 attempts (6.3 ypc) and is tied for second in the ACC with eight rushing touchdowns (he is first amongst all ACC running backs). North Carolina meanwhile is eleventh in the ACC at stopping the run and have allowed 186 yards and two rushing touchdowns per game against ACC foes (that does not include the 241 yards and a score that Notre Dame had on them). Part of Georgia Tech’s success against Duke is they limited Sheppard to his lowest rushing total and average per carry on the season (though Sheppard still scored two TDs against the Yellow Jackets). If the Blue Devils can run the ball, the Tar Heels will be hard pressed to win this one.
One of the things that eventually led to Mack Brown’s downfall was his inability to win the rivalry games late in his career like he had earlier on. It is also one of the biggest negatives of Larry Fedora’s tenure at UNC. Coach Bill Belichick is 0-4 in rivalry games since coming to Chapel Hill. Even if he does get the team to six wins and bowl eligibility but goes 0-3 against Duke, Virginia, and NC State, will that still be enough to keep him around for year three? In other words, this may be the biggest game of his short college coaching career.
What do you think about the Tar Heels’ next opponent? Let us know in the comments below.
