UNC. Those three little letters evoke a plethora of emotions from almost every Duke fan. No other team is considered as big of a rival and no other team is as exciting an opponent. Often times, big rivalry games bring out the best in both teams and the level of play is raised to a new level.
Even in the wake of a 0-10 season, the football team is excited and ready to play. The immediate future seems bleak-Duke has not won a single game this season. The Blue Devils are on their way to having their names in the record book. Unfortunately, the record Duke is heading towards is the record for the most games lost (11) in the history of Atlantic Coast Conference play.
"Well, 0-11, is not a great place to be, but we don't feel any differently about ourselves," head coach Fred Goldsmith said. "We don't look upon ourselves as losers, instead we just continue with optimism and spirit."
At the same time, UNC is awaiting a possible bid to the Gator Bowl.
The desire and hunger to win on Saturday is present on both sides. Duke would like to rid itself of a losing streak. UNC would like to see its name back in the top 10. Both are true, but everyone knows that there is much more at stake.
Duke trails the all-time series Tar Heels by a 35-43-4 margin dating back to 1888. The Blue Devils have lost six straight in the series after an impressive 41-0 win in 1989. Duke's last home win in the series was a 35-29 decision in 1988. They are 15-17-2 against the Tar Heels in Wallace Wade Stadium.
The statistics are disheartening, but the Blue Devils are trying to disregard them and stay focused on this game.
"I'm sure [the Tar Heels] are going to be confident because they're in a situation where they have beaten us," senior linebacker Billy Granville said. "They are going to take this game seriously, but we're not going to take them lightly either."
The Tar Heels were faced with similar hype in 1994 when the Blue Devils entered the last contest of the year at 8-2 and in search of New Year's Day bowl bid. Carolina played the spoiler that day, downing Duke on their home turf 41-40 as Octavious Barnes scored the game-winning touchdown on a 71-yard catch and run with two minutes remaining.
Carolina held on with a late interception deep in its own territory and retreated into their own end zone for a safety with under 20 seconds remaining to prevent Duke from gaining good field position. The upcoming game will be an opportunity for the Blue Devils to issue some payback.
"It has been a rivalry-a good, wholesome rivalry," Goldsmith said. "There is no other game we want to win more and we will fight with intense competitiveness."
The mere thought of victory can drive any team to win, but an added bonus for the winner of Saturday's game is the famous Victory Bell. The bell, transported by a wagon painted in both Duke blue and Carolina blue, is held by the winning team. It has been in the Chapel Hill zip code for some time, and the Blue Devils are understandably anxious to own it again.
With all the prospective perks looming in the future, the biggest question for Duke is whether or not it will be enough for them to pull through. Carolina has, after all, demonstrated time and time again that they have the ability and the drive to win. Duke has not shown quite as much promise. Some team members still have the faith to be optimistic and guarantee a victory, while others are eying the game as hopefully. Still, in intense rivalries, there is no way to know for sure.
"[The Duke vs. North Carolina] game is the last game of my career and it's going to be kind of heartbreaking, so I want to win badly," senior flanker Dominique Flemming said. "But I'm just looking forward to [the game] being a tight, good game. It could probably go either way."
No matter the sport, no matter the records coming in, that is always the story with Duke-UNC.
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