The Victory Bell rings from Chapel Hill yet again.
The Blue Devils (3-9, 1-7 in the ACC) fell to North Carolina for the 19th time in their last 20 meetings, excluding the 2008 and 2009 Tar Heel victories which were vacated in the wake of NCAA violations. With the 37-21 loss, Duke extended its losing streak to seven games, the longest under head coach David Cutcliffe.
“We knew exactly what we had to do coming in, and we really did none of those things,” Cutcliffe said.
North Carolina (7-5, 3-5) was the superior team from the start, scoring on four of its first five possessions to open a 20-7 lead. Running back Giovani Bernard accounted for 127 of the Tar Heels’ 156 yards on their first-half scoring drives. Bernard set a school record for freshmen with 222 total yards, catching four passes for 57 yards and rushing 30 times for 173 yards.
“We knew coming in he was a great running back,” said senior safety Matt Daniels, who finished with a career-high 18 tackles. “They were going to put the ball in his hands and try to ‘big boy’ us. The first half he got after it pretty good.”
Despite only gaining three first downs and 11 rushing yards in the first half, Duke stayed in the game behind a pair of big passes by quarterback Sean Renfree. On the first play of the Blue Devils’ second drive, the redshirt junior found Juwan Thompson down the left sideline for a 70-yard score. Then, just before halftime, the signal caller found Jamison Crowder across the middle, and the freshman danced his way past two tacklers into the end zone for a 45-yard touchdown, the first of his career. The score brought Duke back within seven with 1:22 remaining in the half.
Renfree played two offensive series after halftime, but was hit hard by defensive end Quinton Coples, fumbling deep in Blue Devil territory. Coples wreaked havoc in the backfield throughout the game, accumulating two sacks, three tackles for loss, a quarterback hurry, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
“We don’t have an answer for Coples, obviously,” Cutcliffe said.
The Tar Heels were held to just eight yards on their ensuing series, but started deep enough in Duke’s half to still add a field goal to their total.
Anthony Boone took over under center on the Blue Devils’ next drive, leading them on an 11-play touchdown drive in which the redshirt freshman accounted for all 75 yards—throwing for 33, rushing for 21 and catching a flea-flicker from Crowder for 21. Boone completed 12-of-20 passes for 111 yards and also ran for 42 of Duke’s 48 total rushing yards.
Donovan Varner’s 11-yard touchdown reception capped the drive. The senior finished with eight receptions, making him the first player in ACC history to reach the 60-catch milestone in three seasons.
North Carolina responded with a methodical five-play, 70-yard drive that ended with a Bryn Renner pass to Dwight Jones in the back of the end zone, one of Jones’ three touchdown receptions on the day. On Duke’s next drive, Boone marched the Blue Devils to the Tar Heel 41-yard line before an underthrown pass intended for Brandon Braxton was intercepted by Gene Robinson.
“There were a couple lessons [Boone] got in there,” Cutcliffe said. “He didn’t know the coverage pre-snap [on the interception], and you’ve gotta know.... The play before that, if he’d known the coverage pre-snap he would’ve had an easy touchdown, but he didn’t see it.”
North Carolina’s ensuing 12-play, 91-yard touchdown drive cemented the win.
“I know we’ve closed the gap across the board,” Cutcliffe said. “We just have miles to go.”
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