Duke capitalizes on UNC's errors to keep Victory Bell

After the victory bell sounded through Kenan Stadium, after jubilation erupted from the sidelines, after congratulatory concessions were exchanged at midfield, the North Carolina football team exited their home field for the last time this season.

One locker room continued the exuberant celebration, rowdily chanting its team’s battle cry.

“Go to hell, Carolina, go to hell!”

On the other end of Kenan, a different atmosphere hung in the Tar Heels’ locker room after losing to Duke 27-25 on Senior Day.

“Frustration,” said senior Tre Boston, describing the post-game atmosphere. “Guys are hurt. Guys put everything on the line. You can imagine how it is down there. Guys down there are hurt, but we’ll get over it.”

It wasn’t the farewell the senior class expected — not after turning a 1-5 start to a five-game win streak, not after an 80-20 romp of Old Dominion last week.

Just as it does every year, the Tar Heels’ season ended with the annual rivalry game with No. 20 Duke (10-2, 6-2 ACC), but this year, the game meant more than a potential win to close out the regular season.

For the Blue Devils, a trip to Charlotte for the ACC Championship game was on the line. For the Tar Heels (6-6, 4-4 ACC), the opportunity to win out the season — a task that seemed so insurmountable a month ago was a mere 60 minutes from completion.

But an afternoon of miscues halted UNC’s winning ways and thrust Duke to its first 10-win season in program history.

It was a game that echoed the mistake-riddled performances that plagued UNC during its early season losses — 85 yards lost on penalties, big plays that turned into touchdowns, including a 99-yard kickoff return by Duke’s DeVon Edwards, and two costly interceptions.

“It was just one of those days,” said quarterback Marquise Williams, whose second interception came with 13 seconds remaining in the game. “Things weren’t clicking for us. It wasn’t just me, it was everybody. I put a lot of this on myself and I feel like I let the guys down with some plays that I want back.”

For a sullen coach Larry Fedora, even the thought of the Tar Heels’ impending bowl game couldn’t completely mitigate his disappointment.

“Today, you’re awfully disappointed for these seniors and this football team that we didn’t play better,” Fedora said. “But yes, we’ll be extremely happy that we’ve got another game and we’ve got an opportunity to wash this taste out of our mouth and finish the year the way we want to finish it.”

The wait for its bowl fate will not be an an idle one — UNC will spend the week finding solutions to the weaknesses exposed Saturday afternoon in hopes of giving the 11-person senior class one final victory to close out a tumultuous college career.

“We still got one more game to play,” said junior Eric Ebron, who celebrated his final game at Kenan after declaring for the NFL draft earlier in the week. “This one’s out of the way, there’s nothing we can do. The clock hit zero-zero, our time is up, and Duke won.

“We just have to move on. We still have one more game to play, and the seniors still have one more opportunity to go to out and do something big.”

sports@dailytarheel.com