While last week was a very low point for UNC football, Saturday’s loss to Duke in the battle for the Victory Bell may have somehow been even worse. The Tar Heels were rolling for 2.5 quarters of the game before the wheels fell all the way off. They blew a 20-0 lead on their way to a 21-20 loss. The Victory Bell will stay in Durham for the first time in five years.
Both the offense and defense were effective throughout the first half of the game. Getting the ball to start the second half, it looked like Carolina would move on from last week’s embarrassment with little fight from the Blue Devils. The Heels even had a blocked-punt-turned-recovery in one of the weirder plays you’ll see to start the third, making it feel like it was just meant to be UNC’s day.
With five minutes left in the third quarter, Duke finally scored. From there, the wheels fell off and it was all Blue Devils the rest of the way. The 20-0 lead turned into trailing 21-20. Carolina got the ball back, but the offense failed to do anything with it. The defense did manage to stop Duke around midfield to get the ball back on their own 5 with just over a minute to go. Jacolby Criswell threw an interception as they tried to get into field goal range to seal the win for Duke. It was the only turnover by either team in the game…