For the second year in a row, Carolina shot itself in the foot against Duke, and between stupid penalties, offensive letdowns and defensive busts, it felt like nearly every player helped pull the trigger.
One of the few who didn’t was Jordan Shipp. In just his second year of college football, Shipp has emerged as the Tar Heels’ top receiver, and he rose to the occasion on Saturday with a career-high eight receptions for 83 yards (one short of his career high) and a touchdown – totals that don’t factor in the difficult grab he made on the 2-point conversion following his (also difficult) TD catch. If you do factor in the 2-point conversion, he caught all nine of his targets, including a third down reception to move the chains on two different scoring drives.
Shipp put forth an admirable effort – especially for an underclassman – in a heated rivalry matchup that was also a do-or-die game for bowl eligibility. It wasn’t enough to outweigh the shortcomings of those around him, but considering how a bowl game likely would have gone for UNC, that may have been for the best.
