Unlike in the recent past, this weekend’s battle for the Victory Bell actually means something in the ACC—for both participants.
Duke and North Carolina enter Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. matchup at Kenan Stadium on emotional highs. The Tar Heels are coming off an upset of then-No. 14 Virginia Tech, while Duke has reeled off three straight conference wins. A new feature of this year’s Tobacco Road rivalry game is that the contest isn’t the season finale. The last few years, the Tar Heels and Blue Devils have faced off on the last day of the season, often with students out of town for Thanksgiving.
“This is the first time that it has not been the final game, and it probably adds more fuel to the fire with so much on the line for both teams,” head coach David Cutcliffe said.
And the parallels continue: The two teams have postseason hopes at this late stage in the year. A win in Chapel Hill would put the Blue Devils (5-3, 3-1 in the ACC) within one victory of their first bowl berth in 15 years. After getting off to a slow start, the Tar Heels (5-3, 1-3) cannot afford to drop this game.
The Blue Devils will be traveling into the most hostile environment that they have faced all year in front of a sold-out Homecoming crowd. Although the past four years Duke has stayed within one score of the Tar Heels—like with many of the Blue Devils’ opponents, heartbreaking losses against North Carolina were not all that unusual— the team has not brought the Victory Bell back to Wallace Wade Stadium since 2003.
“I look at it as a slap in the face to choose us for Homecoming, but we can’t do anything about it until we step on the field and show them they should have picked somebody else,” senior running back Re’quan Boyette.
Although the Blue Devils are starving to beat their cross-town rival, they know this will be hard-fought battle. The focal point may be along the offensive and defensive lines, where Duke hopes to give quarterback Thaddeus Lewis enough time to throw against a rabid Tar Heel pass rush.
“Individually each one [of their front seven] can create a mismatch,” Cutcliffe said. “You have to pick and choose where you can give help.”
Much of that responsibility of avoiding those onrushing linemen falls on the right shoulder of Lewis. Lewis features a stellar 15-to-4 touchdown-to-interception ratio, and he must continue that Saturday. With interceptions in back-to-back games, the pressure is on Lewis to protect the football.
North Carolina features playmakers on its offensive unit also. The Tar Heels utilize an effective running back committee led by junior Shaun Draughn and bruising fullback Ryan Houston. Draughn averaged over six yards per carry against the stingy Virginia Tech defense in that Thursday night upset.
The Blue Devils look to keep the running backs in check and force junior quarterback T.J. Yates to make plays through the air. Yates has thrown nine interceptions this year, including six through four conference games.
A big question mark coming into the season for both programs was the receiving corps, and while Duke’s Donovan Varner, Johnny Williams and Conner Vernon have flourished, North Carolia’s wideouts have also done well.
A Durham native, Greg Little, is the Tar Heels’ leading receiver this season. After spending last year behind the departed Hakeem Nicks and Brandon Tate, Little has emerged as Yates’ favorite target, leading the team in receptions, receiving yards and tieing for the team lead in receiving touchdowns. Little is explosive, and the coaching staff tries to put the ball in his hands as much as possible, including on kick returns and even an occasional reverse.
Although the Blue Devils have several playmakers on the defensive side of the ball, the fact is they will only go as far as their senior quarterback and leader takes them. If Lewis can maintain the hot hand he has displayed since Duke’s Homecoming win over NC Central, then he will put his team in a position to beat North Carolina for only the second time in 20 years.
“There are no moral victories,” junior linebacker Adam Banks said.
It has been a long time since the Victory Bell has had larger implications for Duke than this year. In Cutcliffe’s second season, the trophy could be a symbol of bigger things to come, but if it remains in Chapel Hill yet again, Lewis and the Blue Devils will be sorely disappointed.
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