This year the Blue Zone will be running a series looking back on important moments in the Duke football team’s history. Today, we take you back to Oct. 20, 2012.
After routing Navy 35-7 on Saturday in their final conference game, the Blue Devils return to conference play as they take a trip to Charlottesville to play Virginia on October 19. This week, we go back to week eight of the 2012 season, when Duke came away with a decisive victory in the tobacco road rivalry, beating the Tar Heels for the first time since 2003 by the score of 33-30.
The Blue Devils came into the game at 5-2 and only needed one more win to be bowl eligible for the first time since 1994, but they would have their hands full with a North Carolina offense that averaged 40 points and 486 yards per game. But in rivalry games like this one, statistics mean little to either team.
After Duke went three and out on the next drive, North Carolina drove down the field, setting the stage for one of the most bizarre plays of the 2012 season. Renner dropped back to pass and lofted the ball over the middle of the field to his receiver Erik Highsmith. Highsmith bolted down the field, but safety Jordon Byas caught up to him and knocked the ball loose. It seemed as if All-ACC defensive back Ross Cockrell was going to recover the fumble, but he lost the handle and Tar Heel running back Giovanni Bernard scooped it up, running it in for a four yard touchdown.
“I thought I blew the game to be honest with you,” Cockrell went on to say after the game.
Finding themselves behind 30-26 with just more than three minutes to play in the fourth quarter, Duke’s offense knew it would have to put together touchdown drive or fall to the Tar Heels yet again and postpone bowl game celebrations.
Head coach David Cutcliffe didn't see the score and think that his team blew a win, but rather that the Blue Devils had the opportunity to get in the endzone and take the lead right back.
“What I went down and told the offensive line right then was, ‘You know what, they blew it. They scored with too much time left on the clock. This is exactly what we want, right here. Exactly where we want to be. This is one you’ll remember.’ And they took care of the business,” Cutcliffe said.
With plenty of time, the offense went to work. Renfree completed 8-of-11 passes for 78 yards on the final drive, including two huge third down throws to Conner Vernon, which kept the drive of the year alive. Soon, the Blue Devils found themselves in the red zone.
On a third-and-four inside Tar Heel territory, Renfree handed the ball off to running back Jela Duncan, who could not move the chains forward. The Blue Devils now faced a fourth-and-short from the five-yard line with 19 seconds left in the game.
Duke spread the field with five receivers and Renfree took the snap. He stood in the pocket as North Carolina’s front four brought pressure and threw a bullet over the middle to wide receiver Jamison Crowder, who made the catch in mid-air and then went head over heels to the ground. When the dust settled, Crowder held onto the ball for the winning score, igniting the crowd at Wallace Wade Stadium.
“The main thing that was going through my head was just hold on to the ball,” Crowder said. “When I realized I had it, I just wanted to get to the sideline and celebrate with my team.”
Crowder’s heroic last minute head-over-heels catch would go down as one of the greatest moments in Duke football history and would become the defining moment of its 2012 season. The catch lifted Blue Devils to their sixth win of the season, which led Duke to an appearance in the Belk Bowl.
This week, Duke continues to work towards the goal of getting to the post season and hopes to get within one game of bowl eligibility with a win against Virginia. Will the Blue Devils need more heroics against the Tar Heels to achieve a bowl berth this season? It is possible, as the Blue Devils play their final game of the season against North Carolina in what could be their last chance to win their sixth game.
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