Tag: UNC-Duke

UNC on the wrong side of history in loss to Duke

UNC allowed Duke to do something embarrassing for only the second time in program history.

It wouldn’t be another UNC football game unless a poor defensive performance was involved.

The latest letdown came on Saturday at Duke, when the North Carolina Tar Heels allowed their archrival to score 21 unanswered, second-half points en route to a 21-20 Duke victory.

No team is particularly strong when it faces a 20-point deficit, but the Blue Devils (5-0, 1-0 ACC) are bad in particular. With Saturday’s comeback, Duke is now 2-72 when trailing by 20 or more points.

Saturday’s result didn’t surprise UNC football fans in the least. I was hoping North Carolina would keep its foot down and put the Blue Devils in the dust, but just like against Georgia Tech in 2022 at Kenan Stadium, another fourth-quarter collapse reared its ugly head.

There were a few instances where the Tar Heels came to their defensive senses, like forcing a Duke punt on their last drive and giving their offense a chance. Those positive moments were sadly, though, far outweighed by the negatives.

If UNC gets a lead next weekend against Pitt, that lead probably won’t hold for long either. The Panthers have the ACC’s second-best offense in terms of yards per game (522) – and given North Carolina’s inability to slow teams down – we could have another JMU situation on our hands.

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UNC disappears on both sides of the football, loses ACC opener at archrival Duke

The North Carolina Tar Heels were up big on archrival Duke in the second half. A defensive collapse and nonexistent offense cost UNC a win.

There’s absolutely no reason the North Carolina Tar Heels should’ve lost their ACC football opener on Saturday at archrival Duke.

UNC was up 17-0 at halftime, moving the ball well and finding ways to score against a solid Blue Devils defense. Noah Burnette added a 37-yard field goal halfway through the third quarter, putting North Carolina up 20.

But, as the Tar Heels’ inability to play a complete game would have it, they suffered an epic collapse that has me wondering about the program’s direction.

Thanks to an offense that went cold and a defense that couldn’t stop the run to save its life, UNC lost to Duke, 21-20, for the first time since 2018.

There are so many areas North Carolina (3-2, 0-1 ACC) struggled in during the second half, but none other than run defense.

Blue Devils running back Peyton Jones scored the eventual game-winning touchdown, evading an Antavious “Stick” Lane tackle and taking the football 20 yards with just under six minutes left in the game, but it was Star Thomas who torched the Tar Heels defense. Thomas ended his night with 166 yards and two total touchdown – catching one from Maalik Murphy in the third quarter, then running the rock into the end zone during the fourth.

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UNC’s offense was essentially non-existent after the Burnette field goal, generating 85 yards of offense and just ONE third down, which didn’t come until the final drive.

We really thought North Carolina solved its issues when it jumped out to a 20-0 lead. Instead, it’s right back to the drawing board.

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Mack Brown to face his former defensive coordinator on Saturday evening

Mack Brown faces Manny Diaz for the first time since 2013. Which former Texas football coach wins on Saturday?

Before Mack Brown returned to coach the North Carolina Tar Heels, he spent nearly two decades coaching the Texas Longhorns.

The highlight of Brown’s coaching career came at Texas in 2005, when his Vince Young-led Longhorns beat USC in the National Championship. Brown never found the same success after that, though, eventually resigning from Texas in 2013.

While in Austin, Brown also had a few solid defensive units. Texas’ 2011 and 2012 units were led by Manny Diaz, but Brown fired Diaz after the Longhorns’ 40-21 loss to BYU in 2013.

As luck would have it – on Saturday afternoon in Durham, Brown and his UNC players will face a Duke Blue Devils squad led by head coach Manny Diaz.

Since coaching at Texas, Diaz has made stops at Louisiana Tech (2014), Mississippi State (2015), Miami (2016-2021), Penn State (2022 and 2023). Diaz was hired to be Temple’s head coach in 2018, but returned to Miami two weeks later.

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I don’t know how much bad blood Diaz has against Brown, considering it’s been a decade. But with a Duke team exceeding expectations early – and North Carolina coming off its worst loss in over a decade – Saturday is the perfect time for Diaz to enact his revenge.

Does Mack have enough in the tank to help the Tar Heels respond and continue their Victory Bell streak?

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Omarion Hampton can move up UNC’s all-time touchdowns and rushing yards list against Duke

Can Omarion Hampton climb further up the UNC all-time rushing yards and touchdowns list on Saturday at Duke?

When the North Carolina Tar Heels need an offensive spark, they can always count on star running back Omarion Hampton.

A junior who rose to prominence last season, Hampton is currently third amongst FBS backs with 555 rushing yards. Hampton ran for over 200 yards and scored three touchdowns against NC Central in Week 3, then added a 100-yard performance and three more scores last weekend against James Madison.

Though Hampton’s only in his second year as UNC’s starting running back, he’s already amongst the program’s all-time leaders.

Hampton currently has 2,460 career rushing yards, which ranks 13th in program history. Hampton also has 27 career touchdowns, which is 10th all-time.

Hampton has a great chance to climb further up both lists this coming weekend, as North Carolina heads to Durham for the Victory Bell battle against archrival Duke. The Blue Devils have a stingy defense, though, so don’t expect to see Hampton have an “off” game.

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Hampton is extremely lucky to be in the company of some other program greats, such as Charlie “Choo Choo” Justice, Giovani Bernard, Javonte Williams and Marquise Williams. You might recognize the latter three in partciular: Bernard for his game-winning punt return against NC State, Javonte Williams for his 1,000 yard season and Marquise Williams for being one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks to don a Tar Heels uniform.

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UNC-Duke named college basketball’s top rivalry according to CBB analyst Andy Katz

We already knew UNC-Duke was the best rivalry in college basketball. College basketball analyst Andy Katz is one of many who thinks so.

When you think of the greatest rivalries in sports, which matchups come to mind? Is it Yankees-Red Sox? Ohio State-Michigan? Celtics-Lakers? Canadiens-Bruins?

We might be a little biased here, but for good reason. The greatest rivalry in college basketball – and all of sports – is UNC-Duke.

The experts agree with us too, as analyst Andy Katz ranked UNC-Duke his top overall rivalry in college basketball.

From our side, last year was a pretty great chapter in the rivalry. North Carolina won 93-84 in the Dean Dome on Feb. 3, then again in Cameron Indoor on March 9, in what is unofficially known as a Cormac Ryan legacy game.

Tar Heel Nation would like to forget about 2023’s chapter in the rivalry, with UNC losing both matchups as part of its infamous campaign. North Carolina led late in in second matchup against Duke, which would’ve boosted their NCAA Tournament resumé in a big way, but gave up a late lead.

There’s already some smoke building ahead of both 2025 matchups. In an interview amongst McDonalds All-Americans, highly-touted Duke freshmen Cooper Flagg and Isaiah Evans told UNC freshmen Ian Jackson and Drake Powell, that Duke would sweep UNC.

Regardless of what happens in the winter, there’s no doubt the Tar Heels and Blue Devils will deliver another instant classic.

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