The Duke football team took down the North Carolina Tar Heels on Saturday, beating their bitter rival for the first time since 2018 in front of a sellout Wallace Wade Stadium crowd. Blue Devils head coach [autotag]Manny Diaz[/autotag] actually said after the game that those fans in the stands helped power his team to victory.
Duke fell behind early in Saturday’s game, trailing 20-0 after a UNC field goal early in the third quarter. The fan presence didn’t waver, however, and North Carolina certainly felt the crowd once the Blue Devils started putting points on the board.
“I’ve got to give a lot of credit to our crowd tonight,” Diaz said. “The way they stayed into it, and I do feel like once we got rolling, the crowd became a factor in the game. I don’t think that’s any question that that helped us.”
The Blue Devils scored three touchdowns in a 15-minute stretch late in the second half, taking the lead for good with 5:42 left on the clock. The Tar Heels got two chances to win the game, but the Duke defense snuffed them out each time.
Edge rusher Vincent Anthony Jr. forced North Carolina behind the sticks with a key second-down tackle for loss on the first drive, and safety Jaylen Stinson forced the game-winning interception with a free rush at UNC quarterback Jacolby Criswell on the second. It’s hard to feel like the struggles along the North Carolina offensive line didn’t partially stem from the noise level.
“Great night for everybody associated with Duke football,” Diaz concluded. “And everyone, in my mind, has a piece in today’s victory because of the role that they played.”