DURHAM – An eight-yard Drake Maye touchdown pass to Antoine Green at the edge of the endzone with 16 seconds left helped the North Carolina Tar Heels escape Durham with a 38-35 win over the Duke Blue Devils the latest installment of this Tobacco Road “Victory Bell” rivalry.
North Carolina opened the scoring with a 45-yard Noah
Burnette field goal to take the early 3-0 edge. Duke quickly responded with an
eight-play, 75-yard touchdown drive capped by a two-yard rushing score by
Waters. The Tar Heels jumped back in front 10-7 following a 10-yard touchdown
reception by Kamari Morales from Drake Maye with under five minutes to play in
the opening frame.
The Blue Devils answered with fourteen consecutive points in the
second quarter following rushing scores by Leonard and Jaquez Moore. Leonard
broke free for a 74-yard scamper, while Moore found paydirt from two yards out
to make it a 21-10 ballgame. The visitors sparked a rally of their own, scoring
21-straight points with a Caleb Hood reception and two Elijah Green rushing
scores to pull back in front at 31-21 with 3:54 remaining in the third quarter.
Duke again had an answer as Sahmir Hagans and Jordan Waters
posted back-to-back touchdowns to take the 35-31 advantage with 10:12 left to
play. Holding onto the slim four-point lead late in the game, the Blue Devils
were at the North Carolina 11-yard line but couldn't find the end zone after
consecutive penalties shifted them back, forcing them to settle for a 43-yard
field goal attempts, which sailed wide right giving the Tar Heels hope.
North Carolina then drove 74 yards in nine plays to register
the game-winning score with 16 seconds remaining.
Notable North Carolinians
Drake Maye (Myers Park) – The freshman quarterback finished
with 380 passing yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions.
Jordan Waters (Fairmont) – the redshirt junior running back
scored two touchdowns and ran for 91 yards.
Caleb Hood (Richmond) – the sophomore running back ran for 48 yards, caught five passes, and score one touchdown.
Up Next
North Carolina is off next Saturday and will host Pittsburgh
on October 29 while Duke travels to take on Miami.
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