Tag: UNC vs. Duke

UNC stuns top-seeded Duke in comeback victory, advances to ACC women’s soccer Title Game

The UNC women’s soccer team won an absolute thriller against archrival Duke on Thursday.

No matter how well the UNC women’s soccer team played during the regular season, there’s one thing it couldn’t do: beat archrival Duke.

North Carolina lost 1-0 at Duke back in September, then again on Halloween in the regular-season finale.

On Thursday night in the ACC Women’s Soccer Tournament semifinal, the Tar Heels finally enacted revenge.

After trailing 1-0 heading into halftime, UNC staged a second-half rally, scoring its second goal with under 10 minutes left for  2-1 victory over the top-ranked Blue Devils.

North Carolina (16-4) dealt Duke its first loss since August 15, when Duke lost 1-0 at Ohio State.

If you didn’t watch Thursday night, let us take you through the exciting comeback.

The Tar Heels allowed their lone goal of the game 28 minutes in, when Blue Devils defender Cameron Roller converted on a penalty kick. UNC goalkeeper Claire Gagne was solid otherwise, saving four shots.

When the second half started counting down, North Carolina started firing up.

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The Tar Heels‘ first goal looked extremely similar to Stanford’s goal in the men’s tournament. Not even five minutes into the second half, Linda Ullmark sent a long shot into the box, with the ball bouncing off Duke keeper Leah Freeman’s outstretched arms and rolling slowly into the net.

UNC only was able to earn three corner kicks against the Blue Devils’ tough defense, but made one of those pay off. With approximately 10 minutes left in the second half, North Carolina defender Trinity Armstrong scored her first goal of the season, pushing a header into the goal for a 2-1 advantage.

When the final seconds ticked off, the Tar Heels piled on goalie Claire Gagne.

North Carolina will try for its 23rd ACC Tournament Championship – and first since 2019 – at 12 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 10 when it faces Florida State.

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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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Game time announced for UNC-Duke Victory Bell battle

You can now start making plans to watch UNC-Duke’s Week 5 college football matchup.

After welcoming James Madison to Kenan Stadium this coming Saturday, the North Carolina Tar Heels will finally hit the road again on Saturday, Sept. 28 for a Victory Bell rematch with archrival Duke.

UNC has owned the Blue Devils of late, winning the past five matchups. Each of the last two games were decided by a total of five points, though, including last year’s 47-45 double-overtime thriller.

If anyone remembers last year, North Carolina needed a 43-yard Noah Burnette field goal to send things into overtime. The Tar Heels eventually won when they stopped Duke’s 2-point attempt in the second overtime.

You can now start making game day plays for this year’s edition of the Victory Bell matchup, with a kickoff time of 4 p.m. ET announced earlier today.

UNC and its archrival will start when it’s light out, then finish under the lights of Wallace Wade Stadium. As we get further into fall, more late afternoon/evening games will be played primarily under the lights.

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North Carolina will try for its sixth-consecutive victory against its arch-rivals – and third straight in Durham. The last time UNC was inside Wallace Wade, Drake Maye found Antoine Green for the game-winning touchdown with 16 seconds left.

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Tyler Hansbrough lists most annoying Duke players

The UNC-Duke basketball rivalry dates back to the last century. Tar Heel legend Tyler Hansbrough talks about Duke’s most annoying guys.

The entire NCAA Tournament field has already been announced for the men and the women. Some First Four teams (hello, UVA) have proven they didn’t belong. Others (Grambling State) provided exciting basketball in their first trip to the Big Dance.

The real fun starts on Thursday as sports fanatics across the country watch as their brackets hang on or get busted. Who will be the Cinderella teams? Will the favorites advance to the final?

One of the NCAA Tournament favorites is North Carolina, which enters with a 27-7 record as the West’s top seed. The Tar Heels built an eight-game win streak, which included completing the season sweep of Duke, before falling to NC State in the ACC Tournament final.

Speaking of the Duke, which is seeded fourth in the South Region, one of the greatest players to don a UNC uniform gave his four most annoying Blue Devils in a recent interview with FanDuel.

“JJ Redick, just because he was so good,” Tyler Hansbrough said during a recent interview on FanDuel TV’s “Run It Back.” “I think so many people hated him in college, he kind of egged it on a little bit. I will put him up there. Then you got to go with Christian Laettner. Seems like he’s the poster boy for Duke. You could say Grayson Allen because of his tripping. Gerald Henderson is probably up there. Me and Gerald are pretty good friends now, but back in the day, there was a lot of hatred because of “that” incident.”

It’s hard to argue with Psycho T’s list, particularly his Laettner and Allen choices. Both are talented players, with Allen still playing in the NBA for the Phoenix Suns, but easy to be hated by the Tar Heel faithful.

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UNC named a weekend winner by USA TODAY

The UNC men’s basketball team’s 5-point win over Duke on Saturday was named one of USA TODAY’s top weekend college basketball games.

A few college basketball teams punched their NCAA Tournament tickets over the weekend, while several others won big rivalry matchups and locked up the top seeds in their respective conference tournaments.

North Carolina happened to be one of those programs.

The Tar Heels gained a two-for-one special on Saturday night: beating archrival Duke, 84-79 – in Cameron Indoor Stadium – while clinching their first outright ACC regular-season championship since 2016.

UNC is playing its best basketball at the right time. While an ACC Tournament championship is likely the next thing on players and coaches’ minds, North Carolina is chasing a greater prize.

With the Tar Heels’ massive win Saturday, it was named USA Today’s top Weekend Winner.

“In what will go down in the lore of the rivalry as the Cormac Ryan game, UNC led wire-to-wire and staved off Duke’s late rally, capping the night by waving goodbye to the Cameron Indoor Stadium crowd,” USA TODAY sportswriter Eddie Timanis said. “Ryan finished with a career-high 31 points, keying the Tar Heels’ first-half surge with a barrage of three-pointers and sealing the deal with the clinching free throws in the final minute. That win, the biggest of the weekend, keeps the Tar Heels in the mix for a No. 1 NCAA regional seed with the major conference tournaments on deck this week.”

That’s something we’re not talking about a lot: North Carolina improving its odds for a top-4 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Winning the ACC Tournament title will likely solidify UNC’s chances for a 1 seed.

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What happened the last time UNC swept Duke?

It’s not very often that UNC or Duke sweep each other in basketball. The Tar Heels completed this year’s sweep on Saturday night in Durham.

There’s not many years where either UNC or Duke sweep the season basketball series, but it’s happened in each of the past two seasons.

The Blue Devils won both matchups last year en route to the ACC Tournament championship, essentially ending North Carolina’s season with the second of two wins.

It was North Carolina’s turn to sweep this year, beating the Blue Devils by a 84-79 mark on Saturday to complete the feat. The Tar Heels largely dominated both matchups this year, leading for all but 16 seconds and proving they were – undoubtedly – the ACC’s best team.

The last time UNC swept the season series was in the 2020-2021 campaign, which was legendary head coach Roy Williams’ final season.

What exactly happened this year? Cole Anthony was the main star, but he played too much iso ball. North Carolina started the year ranked, but issues were exposed in a big loss to Ohio State.

UNC ended up winning a couple ACC Tournament games and made the NCAA Tournament, but was blown out by Wisconsin in its first-round matchup.

Both the Tar Heels and Blue Devils will make the NCAA Tournament this year, but there’s no doubt UNC is the ACC Tournament favorite. North Carolina may have very well played its way back into national title contention, too, thanks to its recent hot stretch of six consecutive wins.

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Stat shows just how much UNC dominated two matchups against Duke

Most UNC-Duke basketball games are close and sport several lead changes. Such was not the case this year, with UNC dominating.

In most years, UNC and Duke play each other pretty close in basketball games. This happens regardless of how each team is playing in a given season.

Last year, Duke swept the Tar Heels in one of the more forgettable UNC basketball seasons of late. The Blue Devils lost to Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament, which was a solid consolation prize, but still not enough to deal with the sting of missing the Big Dance.

This year, it was North Carolina’s turn to sweep its archrival. Cormac Ryan forever etched his name into the Tobacco Road rivalry with a career-high 31 points on Saturday, March 9, helping his team beat Duke by an 84-79 mark to clinch the ACC Regular Season Title.

Not only did UNC largely dominate the Blue Devils last night, but for the rivalry series all season.

Outside of Kyle Filipowski’s bucket 20 seconds into the Feb. 3 installation of North Carolina-Duke, the Tar Heels trailed in Tobacco Road Rivalry for all of 16 seconds this season.

You read that right – 16 seconds. That’s just more than half of a collegiate shot clock possession, which can last no longer than 30 seconds.

It’s not uncommon to hold your breath, yell at the TV and doubt whether UNC can hold a lead.

Luckily, Tar Heel fans didn’t have to do that a lot this season.

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