Facing a rivalry like UNC-Duke can turn a football game into a memory that lingers for a year, and on Saturday night in Durham, the Tar Heels got the version they wanted.
UNC escaped Wallace Wade Stadium with a 24-20 win, then made the short trip to the Victory Bell to enjoy the reward. Jordan Shipp got there first among the offense after the final seconds ran out, and from there he climbed onto the base of the bell and joined teammates, Bill Belichick and Chancellor Lee H. Roberts in ringing it.
"That's why you come to Carolina," said Shipp, who'd been on the losing side of the rivalry the last two years. "For a rivalry game like that."
The finish fit a series that has been living on the edge for years. The previous four UNC-Duke games had been decided by a combined 13 points, and this one stayed tense all the way through. North Carolina opened with a burst, then had to survive its own mistakes when the game started tilting Duke’s way.
The Tar Heels raced out to a 17-0 lead by scoring on their first three possessions. Rece Verhoff opened with his first field goal of the season, Shipp went up high for his first touchdown of the year, and Demon June powered through a defender on fourth down for another score.
Then the momentum shifted. Two UNC turnovers and a missed punt opportunity gave Duke life, and the Blue Devils eventually moved in front with 4:39 left in the fourth quarter.
"If adversity strikes as it's going to - it's not if, it's when - we've got to be able to bounce back," said UNC quarterback Billy Edwards Jr., who completed 15 of his 25 passes for 191 yards.
That steadiness showed up when the Tar Heels needed it most. UNC had not scored since early in the second quarter, but Edwards helped settle the offense on the final march. He found tight end Jelani Thurman on fourth down from the UNC 28 with under four minutes left, then connected with Trech Kekahuna for 16 yards to move the Tar Heels into range.
Jaylen McGill turned the last drive into his redemption moment. The sophomore running back had fumbled deep in Duke territory in the third quarter while UNC led 17-10, but he shook off the mistake and finished the game with the biggest play of the night, a 24-yard run that sent him almost untouched to the end zone. McGill piled up a career-high 77 rushing yards on 11 carries.
"Way to step up when it was time to make a play. He was able to flush the bad mistake," Edwards said.
UNC’s defense did plenty of work too. The Tar Heels held Duke running back Nate Sheppard to 77 yards on 20 carries and kept the Blue Devils from hitting many big plays through the air. Duke did threaten in the red zone, but UNC kept slamming the door.
The Blue Devils settled for two field goals inside the UNC 5 and came away empty on a fourth-down try at the UNC 2, where safety Greg Smith III again made a key stop. Belichick pointed to that kind of resistance as a major reason the Tar Heels were able to survive the pressure.
"Those guys just fight hard down there and don't give up on those final yards," Belichick said. "That's really been helpful for us all year."
Duke still had one last chance, but it needed a touchdown and never got close to cleanly setting itself up for one. An intentional grounding penalty, drawn by pressure from defensive lineman Xavier Lewis and linebacker Peyton Seelmann, pushed the Blue Devils behind the chains after they had reached the UNC 30.
Then the game ended on the kind of moment young players remember. True freshman cornerback Kenton Dopson III, filling in as UNC dealt with injuries in the secondary, intercepted the ball to end it.
"Playing corner in the ACC as a true freshman is tough, especially in a hostile environment," UNC linebacker Derek McDonald said. "He stepped up to the plate and finished the the game the right way."
Belichick noted that the game counts as only one of 12, but his expression while ringing the bell said plenty about what the victory meant in the moment.
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