CHAPEL HILL - All that stood between Duke and its first win against North Carolina since 2003 was a 40-yard field goal as time expired.
As true freshman Nick Maggio lined up to kick, the players stood nervously on the sideline, ready to capture the Victory Bell and return it to Durham-and perhaps save head coach Ted Roof's job.
And when Maggio sent the ball toward the uprights, the Duke players celebrated, running out onto the field, rushing to the bell and dousing their embattled coach with water as if they could wash away any questions about his job security.
"I started running, trying to get to the bell first," senior safety Chris Davis said. "By the time I got there, [UNC] was celebrating."
Once the players looked up at the replay, they realized what had set off the Tar Heels bench: Maggio's kick missed the uprights just a few feet to the left. Although the game went into overtime, the Blue Devils (1-11, 0-8 in the ACC) would never recover, falling 20-14 Saturday at Kenan Stadium.
Maggio's kick turned out to be Duke's best shot to beat UNC (4-8, 3-5), as Joe Surgan missed wide left on a 42-yarder in the extra period, and the Tar Heels scored on their first play to pull off the stunning victory.
It was the first overtime game in the history of the rivalry and was also Duke's 17th loss in 18 tries against the Tar Heels.
Duke's most significant loss, however, may not have been to UNC. With a meeting looming between Roof and Director of Athletics Joe Alleva as early as today, the head coach's job appears to be in serious jeopardy. After the game, Roof declined to speculate over whether he will return to the sidelines for the Blue Devils in 2008.
"I have no idea-that's for somebody else to decide," Roof said. "Would I like the opportunity to coach the football team next year? Absolutely."
In his four-year tenure as head coach, Roof has compiled a 6-45 record, including 25 straight losses to ACC opponents. Roof's performance is actually worse than Carl Franks, his predecessor, who went 7-45 during his time as Duke's head coach.
After Saturday's heart-breaking loss, however, several of Roof's players stood up for him. Davis, who has been with Roof all four years, said that the head coach has gotten the team on the right track and has done things behind the scenes to improve the program. Defensive tackle Vince Oghobaase was much more adamant in his support of Roof.
"It would be an injustice to all the players if they let Coach Roof go," Oghobaase said.
If Roof is fired, his tenure would end on what may be the most disappointing loss this year.
Unlike other losses this season, in which the Blue Devils hung around until the last minute, they dominated the majority of Saturday's game, garnering 111 more yards of offense, holding the ball for 12:46 longer and running 23 more offensive plays than UNC.
"We wish we could've ended the game on the field goal," Oghobaase said. "I don't know what happened. It was a mystery to me."
Through three quarters, it appeared Duke would finally get its first ACC win since 2004 and its first multi-win season since 2003.
The defense, after giving up a touchdown pass on the Tar Heels' opening drive, flustered freshman quarterback T.J. Yates, holding him to just 9-of-21 passing for a mere 64 yards and two interceptions in the first three periods. UNC's rushing attack did not have much impact in that span either. Although freshman Greg Little had 70 yards off 14 carries, 23 of those had come on one rush and the defensive line often found itself in the backfield.
Once the fourth quarter began, however, Little became a big nightmare for the Blue Devils.
With 11:15 left in the game, the Tar Heels went on a nine-play, 72-yard drive that did not include a single pass. Little began and ended the drive, pushing hard right for a first down on the first play and diving for a touchdown on an end-around on the last play of the drive from seven yards out.
In the overtime period, Little put to rest any doubt whether UNC would score quickly, as he took the first-down handoff right, broke some tackles at the line of scrimmage and outran cornerback Leon Wright to the end zone for the game-winning score. Over the course of those two periods, Little more than doubled his rushing output, finishing with 154 yards on 26 carries with the two decisive touchdowns.
"We were pretty effective in the first half, but in the second half they came out, and they had some sparks in the running game," Oghobaase said. "We didn't do a good job of stopping that and they capitalized."
Duke certainly pulled out all the stops for its second win of the year. The running attack, which had not broken the century mark in a game all season, had 115 by the end of three quarters and finished with 145. Roof said that it was the first time his team demonstrated balance all year-except that the Blue Devils actually ran 17 more times than they passed.
Zack Asack, who led the team to its only touchdown last week against Notre Dame, saw significant playing time, as he often alternated snaps with quarterback Thaddeus Lewis to provide a scrambling option.
Despite all that went well, though, the result ended with an all-too familiar feeling: a disappointing loss.
"Should have won, could have won," Davis said. "But we didn't."
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