CHAPEL HILL—At some point, the Homecoming crowd at Kenan Memorial Stadium may have expected to hear “EA Sports—it’s in the game” announced over the loudspeakers.
The No. 21 Tar Heels racked up video game numbers all afternoon, tossing a flea flicker for an 89-yard touchdown on their opening play from scrimmage—one of three plays of 45 or more yards that reached pay dirt. By the time North Carolina’s 66-31 drubbing of the Blue Devils was complete, the Tar Heels left the field with more than 700 yards of total offense, more than 500 passing yards, complete control of the ACC Coastal Division and the Victory Bell.
Although Duke entered its contest with the Tar Heels hoping to bring the Victory Bell back to Durham for the third time in four seasons and take control of the ACC Coastal Division, North Carolina quarterback Marquise Williams and his offense had other plans in mind for their Tobacco Road rivals.
“I don’t know that I’ve ever seen as many explosive plays executed as their offense did,” Duke head coach David Cutcliffe said. “[Williams] is a big, physical, athletic guy, and he outperformed us.”
In just less than three quarters of play—Williams was pulled from the game with a 59-24 lead in the waning minutes of the third quarter—the senior signal-caller amassed 524 total yards and five touchdowns. Williams surpassed the 200-yard mark through the air in the first quarter—finishing with 494 total—and broke school records for total yards of offense and passing yards in a single game.
Despite the high billing of the Blue Devils’ 10th-ranked defense, it appeared that it remained in Durham for the short trip down 15-501. The Tar Heels’ gashing of defensive coordinator Jim Knowles’ 4-2-5 defense resembled the wide-open offensive style of a Big 12 team. The Blue Devils had only allowed 37 points in the first half thus far this season—they gave up 38 points before entering the locker room Saturday.
“Before you know it, they had two touchdowns on us,” junior cornerback Breon Borders said. “We’re definitely frustrated. It’s not a good feeling getting blown out by your arch-rival.”
Through eight games this season, Duke’s season-high in yards allowed was 452, which occurred on the road against Virginia Tech—a game that went into four overtime periods. In the first half alone, the defensive unit gave up 486 yards against Williams and the North Carolina offense.
The Duke secondary’s “Cheetahs”—led by redshirt senior Jeremy Cash—was touted as one of the strongest points of a unit that was expected to keep that defensive fire alive. But following an injury to safety Deondre Singleton in the second quarter, things went downhill for a team already trailing 21-3 after the first quarter of play. The vaunted pass defense gave up 537 yards on 28 completions, contributing to the Tar Heels’ mark of 8.8 yards per play.
“They just came out and outplayed us. They were on another level,” Borders said. “We had a good game plan. We knew what we were going to do and we knew their game plan. They just came out and outperformed us in all areas of the game.”
It appeared for much of the game as if someone was holding the sprint button for both offenses, and not just for North Carolina. The two teams combined for 1,237 total yards of offense—the most in any game in Tar Heel history—and combined to produce the highest-scoring game in Duke-North Carolina history, breaking the 1970 record of 93 total points.
Due to the lack of defense for both sides, the Blue Devils found a lone bright spot in the breakout of their running game. With sophomore running back Shaun Wilson ruled out earlier in the week due to injury, redshirt junior Jela Duncan shouldered more of the load on the ground for Duke. The Charlotte, N.C., native displayed shades of his 2013 season performances by rushing for 115 yards and one touchdown—the first 100-yard rushing game of his career.
Along with Duncan, senior running back Shaquille Powell added 98 yards on 7.5 yards per carry, which contributed to the Blue Devils’ 327 yards on the ground—the most since amassing 331 against Kansas in 2014.
“[We have to] take the positives, learn from the negatives and hopefully that’ll carry us for the next few games,” senior center Matt Skura said.
Even though Duke cannot pause and hit the restart button or change its difficulty settings for another go at the Tar Heels, the team will have to pick itself up in a hurry as it readies itself for a showdown against Pittsburgh next weekend at Wallace Wade Stadium.
“I think that we have the best team in the country,” linebacker Dwayne Norman said. “Today we didn’t show it—we worked for it and all that—but I think we do and I think that next week we’re going to show that we’re that best team.”
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.