DURHAM – Duke beating North Carolina for the first time since 2018 had to come with some drama, apparently.
The Blue Devils overcame a 20-point deficit to win 21-20 on Saturday and capture back the Victory Bell at Wallace Wade Stadium.
In addition to winning back the Victory Bell for the first time since 2018, it’s Duke’s first 5-0 start since 1994.
Duke’s comeback started with its first points, which came at the 5:49 mark of the third quarter. That’s when Star Thomas took a simple swing pass from Maalik Murphy as the safety valve and went 29 yards for a touchdown, outrunning UNC’s defense to the edge and staying in bounds along the sideline.
A few plays into the fourth quarter is when it really got tight, when Thomas scored from 2 yards out on a run.
The New Mexico State transfer had 211 yards of offense (166 rushing, 45 receiving) on 32 touches (30 rushes, two catches). He’s gone over 100 rushing yards in three straight games.
Duke failed to convert a fourth down on UNC’s side of the 50 with about 10 minutes left in the game. The Blue Devils got a stop, and after a shanked punt went 50 yards in four plays — the last 20 of which came on an explosive run by Peyton Jones into the end zone.
Todd Pelino’s extra point proved to be the game winner.
Duke’s defense got two stops to end it; first on downs, and then with Tre Freeman’s interception sealing the victory with 25 seconds left.
It was a total reversal of a first half that saw everything go wrong for Duke.
Duke had 97 yards total, on 37 plays (2.6 yards per play). It was 10-0 before the Blue Devils had their first first down.
The Blue Devils’ offense was hit-or-miss in its first four games; it was all miss in the first half of its fifth game. Four of the first six possessions were three-and-outs, and the two that weren’t had one first down each and then punts.
When Duke finally cobbled together a drive in the first half, it was 13 plays for 47 yards, aided by a fourth-down pass interference call against UNC.
It ended with Todd Pelino’s 47-yard field goal attempt clanging off the left upright.
Duke got the ball back with 16 seconds left in the first half. As a microcosm of its offensive performance to that point, Murphy missed a conceded underneath throw on the final play of the first half. That made him 7-for-19 for 60 yards in the first half.
