Tag: Duke UNC

The best photos from the Duke football comeback victory over UNC

Check out the best photos from Duke’s 20-point comeback over the North Carolina Tar Heels on Saturday.

The Duke football team made some history on Saturday in Durham.

The Blue Devils beat the North Carolina Tar Heels for the first time in six years, bringing the Victory Bell back to campus after it had stayed in Chapel Hill since 2018. They overcame a 20-point deficit in the third quarter, the second-largest comeback in school history, and reached 5-0 for the first time since 1994.

After getting outgained 220-97 in the first two quarters and failing to recover a blocked punt to start the second half, Duke finished the game with 394 yards of total offense. 211 of those came from running back [autotag]Star Thomas[/autotag], who ran for 166 yards and turned a short pass into a 29-yard touchdown to get the chains moving for the Blue Devils.

Edge rusher Vincent Anthony Jr. finished with a sack and 2.5 tackles for loss, and star defensive back Chandler Rivers broke up three passes. When linebacker Tre Freeman got his hands on a pass from North Carolina quarterback Jacolby Criswell with less than a minute to play, the game was over and the celebration began.

Here are the best photos from Duke’s 21-20 victory over the Tar Heels on Saturday.

Duke football fans storm the field at Wallace Wade Stadium after North Carolina comeback

Blue Devils fans celebrated their first win over North Carolina since 2018 by racing onto the field at Wallace Wade Stadium.

They weren’t keeping anybody off the field at Wallace Wade Stadium on Saturday.

The Blue Devils scored three unanswered touchdowns to surge past the North Carolina Tar Heels, and the 21-20 victory was their first over UNC since 2018. Linebacker Tre Freeman sealed the win with an interception on North Carolina’s last offensive play.

With the Victory Bell back in Duke’s possession for the first time in five years, the fans at Wallace Wade Stadium celebrated by rushing the field.

Saturday was Duke’s second field-storming in two seasons. Blue Devils fans also made their way onto the grass after last season’s opening win over the Clemson Tigers.

The Blue Devils improved to 5-0 for the first time since 1994, and transfer running back [autotag]Star Thomas[/autotag] played an essential role in the comeback. The former New Mexico State star ran for 166 yards, added 45 yards as a receiver, and found the end zone twice to etch his place in rivalry history.

First-year Duke head coach Manny Diaz, who previously worked for UNC head coach Mack Brown, picked up his first win over his former boss.

Watch the Duke Blue Devils reclaim the Victory Bell after UNC victory

After Duke’s stunning 21-20 comeback victory over North Carolina, the Blue Devils reclaimed the Victory Bell for the first time since 2018.

After five long years, the Victory Bell belongs to the Duke Blue Devils again at last.

The Blue Devils beat the North Carolina Tar Heels 21-20 on Saturday, a stunning comeback powered by 211 yards of offense from senior running back [autotag]Star Thomas[/autotag]. Duke trailed by 20 points midway through the third quarter, but three unanswered touchdowns and a late interception by linebacker Tre Freeman sealed the rivalry win.

Not only did first-year head coach [autotag]Manny Diaz[/autotag] secure Duke’s first 5-0 start since 1994, but he also helped the Blue Devils reclaim the Victory Bell for the first time since 2018. The trophy, which remains with the winning team between Duke and UNC, has lived in Chapel Hill thanks to five straight Tar Heels victories.

Duke came within inches of reclaiming the trophy on the road last year, losing 47-45 after two overtime possessions, but the close call only made this year’s triumph sweeter. The social media team captured the moment that North Carolina needed to hand the signature bell back to the Blue Devils.

https://twitter.com/DukeFOOTBALL/status/1840176246140879107

The bell now gets to stay in Durham for the next year as Duke finally gets the bragging rights on Tobacco Road.

2026 quarterback prospect will attend Duke football rivalry game against North Carolina

The Duke Blue Devils will host a 2026 quarterback prospect from Georgia during their rivalry football game against North Carolina.

The Duke Blue Devils play their most bitter rival on the football field this Saturday when the North Carolina Tar Heels come to town, and a potential quarterback of the future will be in attendance.

2026 quarterback prospect Darnell Kelly announced through social media on Thursday that he’d be in Durham this weekend while head coach [autotag]Manny Diaz[/autotag] and his staff aim for the school’s first 5-0 start in 30 years.

According to 247Sports, Kelly is a 6-foot-2 signal caller who plays for Peachtree Ridge High School in Georgia. Through the first five games of his junior season, MaxPreps credits him with 1,114 passing yards and 13 passing touchdowns against a single interception, completing 68.9% of his throws at 13.3 yards per attempt.

Diaz landed 2025 three-star quarterback Dan Mahan from Burlington, North Carolina, and Kelly shows how committed he and his staff are to building a deep room at the position.

Duke football game against North Carolina Tar Heels officially sold out

The Duke football team announced on Friday afternoon that the Blue Devils game against North Carolina had officially sold out.

The Duke Blue Devils and North Carolina Tar Heels will play in front of a sold-out crowd at Wallace Wade Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The team announced on Friday that the rivalry battle officially sold out despite some stormy weather in Durham.

The Blue Devils haven’t beaten North Carolina since 2018, but the Tar Heels seem especially vulnerable this time around. They lost starting quarterback Max Johnson for the season in Week 1 and allowed 70 points to James Madison last week, their second time allowing 300 passing yards in three games.

On the other sideline, Duke is within one win of its first 5-0 start since 1994. The Blue Devils’ secondary has given up 4.2 yards per attempt through Week 4 with three interceptions against two passing touchdowns allowed, and transfer quarterback [autotag]Maalik Murphy[/autotag] is one of three ACC passers with 1,000 yards and 11 touchdowns already this season.

Manny Diaz, in his first season as the Duke head coach, also gets the chance to beat his former boss. He worked for UNC’s Mack Brown as the Texas Longhorns defensive coordinator from 2011-13.

Duke football team wearing black uniforms against North Carolina for third straight year

The Duke football team, as has become recent tradition, will wear black uniforms against the North Carolina Tar Heels on Saturday.

The Duke Blue Devils revealed their football uniforms for this weekend’s game against the North Carolina Tar Heels on Thursday night, and the combination shouldn’t surprise anyone who watched the last two years of the rivalry.

The Blue Devils opted for the all-black outfit against UNC, matching their helmets, jerseys, and pants the same way they did when the Tar Heels came to town in 2022.

Duke didn’t wear all-black in Chapel Hill last season, but the Blue Devils did sport black helmets and pants for the road trip. As the road team, Duke wore white jerseys.

North Carolina has won every matchup between the two schools since head coach Mack Brown’s first season in 2019, but 2024 offers promise for a reversal. First-year Duke head coach [autotag]Manny Diaz[/autotag] worked for Brown with the Texas Longhorns a decade ago, and the Blue Devils are off to a 4-0 start for the second straight season.

The Tar Heels, on the other hand, allowed 70 points to James Madison in a stunning upset last Saturday.

https://twitter.com/DukeFOOTBALL/status/1839441346467438929

The rivalry battle kicks off at 4:00 p.m. Eastern on Saturday.

Duke football grounds crew debuts end zone design for North Carolina game

The Duke grounds crew shared a picture of Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium on Thursday, debuting their end zone design for the UNC game.

The Duke grounds crew stepped up its game for North Carolina week.

Ahead of the Blue Devils’ Saturday game against the Tar Heels, the field staff posted a photo of Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium on Thursday. The picture showed off their new end zone design featuring a white devil logo on either side of the school name.

The end zones themselves looked like they did against Elon and Connecticut in the first two home games of the year, blue grass with the word ‘Duke’ written in white. The school’s signature script ‘D’ looms large at midfield as always.

The Blue Devils have used their rivalry match with North Carolina to show off some new swag over the past few years. The team wore black helmets and pants in Chapel Hill last year, a 47-45 double-overtime thriller, and an all-black outfit with blue accents the last time UNC came to Wallace Wade Stadium in 2022.

That trend might continue with the athletic department debuting ‘Durham Camo’ on Wednesday, a new design meant to pay homage to the school’s signature stone colors. The team will wear the new merchandise before Saturday’s game, but their uniforms have not been revealed yet.

https://twitter.com/DukeGroundsCrew/status/1839378808304291856

Saturday’s game kicks off at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time.

Staff predictions for Week 5 matchup between Duke and North Carolina

Duke football is gearing up to take on North Carolina on Saturday, check out our Duke Wire staff predictions for the game.

There are seven games left on the Duke football schedule after Saturday, but Week 5 can make or break the emotions around head coach [autotag]Manny Diaz[/autotag]’s first season.

The North Carolina Tar Heels come to town, and the Blue Devils could reset some precedents with a triumph. Duke seeks its first win over its rival since 2018, its first 5-0 start in three decades, and Diaz’s first victory over former boss Mack Brown. After national writers questioned whether this team would finish last in the ACC before the season, the Blue Devils could move within one victory of a bowl appearance.

There are questions to answer, as well. Duke won its first four games of the year, but the Blue Devils have only played one Power Four program thus far, and that triumph came in overtime against a 2-2 Northwestern team. Can quarterback Maalik Murphy and his teammates prove themselves against conference competition?

Here are our staff predictions for Saturday’s game.

Ryan Haley, Duke Wire site editor

There are pros and cons to playing a football team that just got publicly embarrassed the week before, and Duke won’t know which one outweighs the other until Saturday afternoon.

On one hand, the North Carolina locker room just listened to its coach question whether or not he should step away from the team (maybe not genuinely, but Mack Brown seems desperate for answers he can’t find at the very least). That theme of disarray has shown up on the field, too. The Tar Heels have tried three different approaches at quarterback since they lost Max Johnson, and they seem mistake-prone with eight turnovers through four games.

However, if the players truly rallied behind Brown in the way those reports indicate, there’s always a chance that the Blue Devils get a team set on proving something. No one has denied the talent on North Carolina’s roster, and a week of focused practice could make Week 4 a thing of the past in Chapel Hill.

Personally, I think UNC’s issues stretch back farther than last Saturday. The Tar Heels gave up 300 passing yards and multiple touchdowns to Charlotte in Week 2, and they currently sit dead last in the ACC in yards allowed per attempt.

Tar Heels running back Omarion Hampton could easily break this game, especially against a Duke run defense that’s given up two 40-yard carries over the last three games. The Blue Devils passing offense couldn’t reach 300 yards against Connecticut or Middle Tennessee, two secondaries that were statistically more vulnerable than UNC. But I still think the Duke defensive line and Jordan Moore contribute enough for the win,

Duke 24, UNC 20

Bryant Crews, Staff Writer

Duke can nearly solidify its season with a win on Saturday. The caveat is that they will need to beat their biggest rival, a game in which the Blue Devils haven’t fared well over the last five matchups. Duke hasn’t beaten UNC since Daniel Jones accounted for 547 yards and four touchdowns in a 42-35 win at Wallace Wade back in 2018.

UNC just got smoked by James Madison, allowing 70 points behind an all-time performance from JMU quarterback Alonza Barnett III. I think UNC will come out motivated and ready to play, and if Duke doesn’t, they will lose this game. Duke can’t run the ball, but the UNC secondary isn’t great. The talent level Duke plays against is about to rise, so this team will have to up its game.

I don’t believe UNC and Mack Brown can get the stench of that 70 points out of their mouths enough to beat Duke, and I have the Blue Devils at home winning a thriller. Maalik Murphy throws for 300 yards and three touchdowns, Jordan Moore goes off for over 100 yards and a score, and Aaron Hall records a sack.

Duke 31, UNC 24

Revisiting Jamison Crowder’s iconic game-winning catch over North Carolina in 2012

Ahead of the Duke-UNC football game on Saturday, take a look back at one of the most iconic Blue Devils plays of the century.

The Duke football team hosts the North Carolina Tar Heels on Saturday with a chance to beat UNC for the first time since 2018, and the Blue Devils hope to channel the same energy Durham saw in 2012.

Entering that edition of the rivalry, North Carolina had beaten the Blue Devils in 21 of the last 22 years, including each of the previous eight contests. And with 19 seconds left in the game, it looked like the streak might continue.

Duke trailed 30-26 and faced a fourth-and-2 from the 5-yard line, needing a first down at minimum to keep the game alive. Quarterback Sean Renfree dropped back and surveyed for several seconds, struggling to find an opening amid the seven Tar Heels in coverage, before throwing a dart to a sophomore receiver named Jamison Crowder right at the goal line.

Crowder caught the ball amid two North Carolina defenders, getting flipped forward as he secured the catch. When he popped up with the ball in hand, however, the Blue Devils took the 33-30 lead with seconds left on the clock.

Renfree finished the game with 276 passing yards and a touchdown, and Crowder caught five passes for 41 yards. The wideout finished that year with 1,074 yards, his first of three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. He caught 108 passes for 1,360 yards as a junior in 2013, single-season school records that stand to this day, and he just started his 10th NFL season.

Duke football grounds crew shares early look at the field design for North Carolina game

The Duke grounds crew shared a photo of Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium on Monday, an early look at the field design for the UNC game.

It might only be Week 5, but with the Duke Blue Devils off to a 4-0 start for the second straight year and hosting their rival North Carolina Tar Heels on Saturday, it’s easy to make the case that this is the most important game on the 2024 schedule. So, naturally, the Duke grounds crew is treating it as such.

The Blue Devils field staff shared a photo of Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium on Monday, giving Duke fans a hint for the weekend’s field design

The signature ‘D’ logo stood out in bright white at midfield as always, and the word ‘Duke’ was written across each end zone as it had been in each of the previous two home games. However, this time, a white devil sat on either side of the school name, an adornment that wasn’t present against Elon or Connecticut.

The Blue Devils played Middle Tennessee on the road last week, so the new addition is clearly intended for the North Carolina game this weekend.

This year also marks the first edition of the rivalry since the Devil’s Deck was unveiled at Wallace Wade Stadium, a massive patio overlooking the north end zone that opened at the start of the season.