DURHAM — North Carolina took their 20th win in 21 attempts against Duke at Wallace Wade Stadium by a score of 24-19 to keep the Victory Bell in Chapel Hill.
The Tar Heels were the more physical team, amassing 520 total yards on offense, compared to the Blue Devils’ 198 yards. Duke especially struggled on the ground, as they had 16 rushing yards after three quarters.
The Tar Heels had to withstand a furious fourth quarter rally by Duke, as the Blue Devils scored nine straight points, but they could not finish the comeback.
Anthony Elzy became the fourth consecutive Tar Heel to rush for 100 yards against Duke as he gained 105 yards on the game.
UNC pulled away when Yates connected with Dwight Jones for 35 yards down to the 5-yard line, and Shaun Draughn scored on the very next play to put the score at 24-10.
Casey Barth broke Jeff Reed’s school record when he made an extra point after Josh Adams’ 5-yard touchdown reception, as Barth made his 67th consecutive extra point for the Tar Heels.
Quarterback T.J. Yates broke Darian Durant’s single-season record for completions in a season.
The game got interesting in the fourth quarter, when Kendric Burney caught a fourth down pass by Sean Renfree, and a block in the back penalty on the ensuing return gave UNC the ball on their own 3. One play later, Duke tacked on a safety to make the score 24-12.
The Blue Devils took advantage of some defensive miscues by the Tar Heels in scoring again, to get the game to 24-19.
