Tag: Duke UNC

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.

Four-star defensive lineman from Durham announces that he’ll attend Duke-UNC game

Noah Clark, a four-star defensive lineman from Durham, announced through social media on Tuesday that he’d attend Duke’s game against UNC.

The entire state of North Carolina slows to a halt when the Duke Blue Devils and North Carolina Tar Heels face off, even on the football field, and one member of Saturday’s crowd will be of utmost importance to the Duke coaching staff.

Noah Clark, a four-star defensive lineman from the Class of 2026, announced on X (the social media platform formerly known as Twitter) on Tuesday that he’d visit the Blue Devils for their rivalry battle this weekend.

Clark, a local kid from Durham, plays for Charles E. Jordan High School. According to his 247Sports recruiting profile, he’s 6-foot-3 and 318 pounds, and he’s within the top 200 players in his class on the site’s rankings.

The Falcons have won three of their first four games in Clark’s junior season, and according to MaxPreps, he’s already made 25 tackles and 2.0 tackles for loss this season. He compiled 63 tackles and 2.5 sacks with the varsity team as a freshman back in 2022.

https://twitter.com/NoahClark_90/status/1838566383308652605

Clark should appreciate Duke head coach [autotag]Manny Diaz[/autotag] and defensive coordinator Jonathan Patke’s commitment to a defensive rotation. True freshman Preston Watson recorded his first collegiate sack last week against Middle Tennessee, and 20 different Blue Devils have a tackle for loss through Week 4.

If Duke football wants to beat North Carolina again, it’s now or never

The Duke Blue Devils haven’t beaten North Carolina on the football field since 2018, but they’ll never have a better chance than Saturday.

The Duke football team hasn’t beaten the North Carolina Tar Heels in five years, but the Blue Devils have an ideal chance to shift the power balance in Wallace Wade Stadium on Saturday.

Legendary head coach Mack Brown took over the UNC program in 2019, and Duke has lost to him in each game since.

The recent trend gets even more frustrating upon closer examination with three of those losses coming by three points or fewer. The Blue Devils took North Carolina all the way to double overtime in Chapel Hill last fall before a failed two-point conversion foiled the upset bid.

On Saturday, however, Duke looked much steadier than its in-state counterpoint. The Blue Devils walloped Middle Tennessee 45-17 thanks to three first-half fumbles while UNC gave up 53 first-half points in a stunning upset at the hands of James Madison.

Brown apparently even asked his players if he should step away from the team after the 70-50 loss, a comment he clarified did not mean he was on the brink of retirement but seems to indicate some instability in the locker room.

Even besides the general form, North Carolina looks like it’s missing something critical from the last five seasons: an NFL talent at quarterback.

Sam Howell started for the Tar Heels from 2019-21, throwing for more than 10,000 yards and 92 touchdowns in his three years at the helm. He threw for at least 220 yards with multiple touchdowns in all three games against the Blue Devils, culminating in a 321-yard, three-touchdown game in 2021.

Drake Maye followed in his footsteps and somehow looked even better. The 6-foot-4 slinger threw for 4,321 yards and 38 touchdowns in his first season as a starter, and he finished with 364 total yards and three touchdowns in last year’s overtime thriller.

Howell ended up as a fifth-round NFL draft pick, playing 18 games for the Washington Commanders between 2022-23, while Maye went to the New England Patriots with the third overall pick earlier this year. Between their five starts against Duke, the duo completed 61.4% of their passes at a staggering 9.06 yards per attempt, averaging more than 300 passing yards per game with 15 total touchdowns against just four interceptions.

UNC quarterback Jacolby Criswell threw for 475 yards and three touchdowns against the Dukes on Saturday, but he also tossed two interceptions. He seems to have won the job after sophomore Conner Harrell started against Charlotte in Week 2, but the Tar Heels split time between them against NC Central in Week 3. That’s three different approaches to the quarterback position in three weeks.

Combine that with a Duke pass defense allowing 4.2 yards per attempt with more interceptions than touchdowns allowed through four games, and the Blue Devils should have the blueprint to make UNC one-dimensional. Granted, that’s still a great dimension with running back Omarion Hampton, but it’s better than the exhausting effort of defending Maye and Howell for the last half-decade.

The passing advantage extends to the other side of the ball as well. UNC has given up at least 300 yards through the air in two of its first four games. James Madison’s 388 yards and five touchdowns were an aberration, but the Charlotte 49ers threw for 309 yards and two scores against this secondary.

Through four weeks, Duke ranks second in the ACC in pass attempts per game with 36.0. First-year starter [autotag]Maalik Murphy[/autotag] has thrown 11 touchdowns in his first 16 quarters with the team, the third-most in the conference so far this season, and senior wideout [autotag]Jordan Moore[/autotag] is within the top five in catches (24) and yards (340) despite a quiet game against MTSU.

Between the general vibes around this UNC program after last week and a vulnerable pass defense playing into Duke’s strengths, it’s no wonder the Blue Devils opened as 3-point favorites on Monday. However, those advantages bring expectations, and there’s no reason for head coach Manny Diaz to not get off to a 5-0 start.

Duke kicks off against the Tar Heels at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday, and Blue Devils fans can watch their team try to make a statement on ESPN2.

Duke football coach Manny Diaz has a history with North Carolina coach Mack Brown

Duke and North Carolina need no introduction to each other, and football coaches Manny Diaz and Mack Brown won’t need one either.

The Duke Blue Devils host their most bitter rival, the North Carolina Tar Heels, at Wallace Wade Stadium on Saturday in a game that always carries elevated personal meaning for the locker rooms.

However, while Duke football coach Manny Diaz hasn’t faced North Carolina head coach Mack Brown yet at this job, he already carries plenty of history with his counterpart.

Diaz served as Brown’s defensive coordinator back when the UNC coach led the Texas Longhorns in 2011-13. Texas won eight games in Diaz’s first season on the job and nine games in his second, allowing 22.2 points per game in 2011 and 29.2 in 2012.

However, Brown fired Diaz two games into the 2013 season after a 40-21 loss against BYU. The Cougars, led by quarterback Taysom Hill (yes, that Taysom Hill), ran for 550 yards and four touchdowns.

Diaz took another job as the defensive coordinator at Louisiana Tech, and he eventually found his way into the ACC as Miami’s head coach in 2019. Brown took over as the North Carolina head coach that same season, and the two faced off three times before the Hurricanes let Diaz go in 2021. Brown won all three matchups.

Blue Devils fans also noticed this postgame handshake between the coaches after their final showdown in 2021 in which the now-Duke head coach’s body language looks less than enthused.

https://twitter.com/DukeMFFootball/status/1838022662754381883

In all fairness to the narrative juiciness of the above evidence, that was the third time Diaz had coached against Brown, and his Hurricanes had just lost after a last-minute interception in field goal range. I wouldn’t attribute all of the frustration to any tension in their relationship, especially given that Diaz likely knew his job was in jeopardy.

For his part, Diaz didn’t seem overly frosty toward Brown in his Monday press conference. He said he saw the Tar Heels coach at conference meetings earlier this summer and that the two were at a clinic together this year.

“We’ve known each other, obviously, for a long time,” Diaz said. “But you know, as we always talk about, on game days, I’m sure he’s trying to do the best he can for his guys and we’re trying to do the best we can for our guys. The game’s the game.”

With the Tar Heels reeling after a 70-50 loss to James Madison last week, the Blue Devils have a great chance for their first win over UNC since 2018 and Diaz’s first triumph over his former boss.