The Victory Bell is gone from its spot near Duke’s football locker room, but Manny Diaz isn’t treating that as anything more than a temporary condition.
“That was won by last year’s team,” Duke coach Manny Diaz said. “It’ll be contested by this year’s team on Saturday.”
With North Carolina coming to Durham, the Blue Devils are back in the kind of game that has recently defined this series: tight, tense and usually decided late. Duke enters at 4-1 overall and 1-1 in the ACC, trying to bounce back after a 28-25 loss at Georgia Tech that ended its unbeaten run and snapped an eight-game winning streak that began with a win over UNC in Chapel Hill last November.
“It doesn’t take much to refocus when it is this game,” Diaz said.
That Georgia Tech loss came down to a missed 33-yard field goal by freshman kicker Gavin Strange in the final seconds. Strange had already connected on a kick earlier in the game and handled kickoffs in place of injured starter Cosme Salas, and Diaz said the program still believes in him.
“There’s three humans that touch the football on a place kick and just didn’t feel our operation was clean at that moment, where our timing and everything was just the way we wanted it to be,” Diaz said. “Once that timing was off, I think that’s part of the season why the ball missed to the left.”
Duke will be without Salas for the rest of the season, and linebacker Elliott Schaper is also done for the year. Diaz said both injuries happened in practice and called them “freak” injuries.
The location of the Victory Bell doesn’t seem to be in dispute for long. It was still missing Sunday when Duke returned to its facility, and Diaz said it had disappeared before he even had a chance to make sure staff moved it.
“I have no idea where it is now,” Diaz said.
He knows exactly where he wants it to be by Saturday evening.
UNC comes in at 3-2 and 1-1 in the ACC, looking to take the Bell back after Duke kept it the last two years. The Tar Heels won five straight in the rivalry from 2019 through 2023, and the last four meetings have all been one-score games, including Duke’s 32-25 win last year.
“It’s hard to imagine that it’s not going to come down to the last play based off the evidence and so prepare yourself to ride through all the ups and downs to get you to that,” Diaz said. “Because if it’s going to come down to the end, then there’s going to be some parts that are really good and some parts that are not so good and a lot of times a team that can manage to overcome their mistakes is the one that has the best chance of executing at the end of the game.”
Diaz, who arrived at Duke in 2024, pointed to how close the schools are - roughly eight miles apart - as part of what makes this rivalry different.
“There’s nothing like it,” Diaz said.
UNC center Christo Kelly, who did not play in last year’s game, said the program’s facility even carries reminders of past wins over Duke, underlining how much this matchup means.
“We have such a great appreciation for the history, for what it entails, especially kind of watching the Duke-UNC game last year,” Kelly said. “It’s special, just to be a part of it is really cool.”
In Other News...
Duke Still Has A Transfer Question Heading Into North Carolina
Dukes first loss of the 2026 season came in a 28-25 setback to Georgia Tech, and even in defeat there were reasons to think the offense can keep carrying its weight. The Blue Devils battled through costly penalties, but receivers Jared Richardson and Jaivon Solomon helped keep the attack moving, while linebacker Luke Mergott stood out on the other side of the ball in a game that still felt competitive deep into the finish.
Still, the bigger question for the stretch ahead is whether the transfer additions can become more than background pieces as the schedule tightens. Duke has leaned on a few familiar names early, but players like Owen Wafle and Javen Nicholas have not yet made a major imprint this season, leaving the Blue Devils with some uncertainty to sort out before North Carolina comes into view. [Read more 🡒]
Duke Showed Real Fight At Georgia Tech But One Concern Remains
Duke went on the road to Georgia Tech and came away with a close loss, but the bigger takeaway was how much fight the Blue Devils showed from start to finish. Walker Eget kept the offense moving by completing 26 of 41 passes for 259 yards and a touchdown, while Nate Sheppard was a steady presence despite playing with a taped foot and leading the team in both rushing and receiving.
There was plenty to like beyond the box score, too. Duke found encouraging signs across the offensive line, defensive line, linebackers and secondary, and the late comeback push suggested the group still has some resilience when the game tightens up. Even so, the loss left one concern lingering, because for all the effort and improvement, there are still areas that need to come together if this team wants to turn close games into wins. [Read more 🡒]
Duke May Be Building An Early Edge In A Huge Recruiting Battle
Jon Scheyer keeps giving Duke reasons to feel good about its long view on the recruiting trail, and the latest buzz only adds to it. The Blue Devils already have commitments from Australian point guard Luke Paul and five-star forward Kager Knueppel in the 2027 class, giving the staff an early base to sell as it keeps circling some of the nations most coveted young prospects.
The more interesting layer is what could happen if the calendar keeps moving in Dukes favor. The program has also picked up a crystal ball prediction for five-star forward Asa Montgomery and five-star 2028 prospect Colton Hiller, who recently took an official visit to Durham, while Scheyer has openly pointed to the growing possibility of top recruits reclassifying and reaching college sooner. If that trend keeps picking up, the Blue Devils may be positioning themselves not just to land elite talent, but to land it earlier than everyone else expects. [Read more 🡒]