Duke football extended its record to 5-0 for the first time since 1994 after posing a score of 21-20 against North Carolina. The Blue Zone is here to break down the victory with three key takeaways, stats and a look ahead:
Three key takeaways
1. First-half struggles
Duke scored zero points in the first half on just 102 yards of total offense. Forty-seven of those yards came on the Blue Devils’ second-to-last drive of the half, which ended with a missed 47-yard field goal attempt by Todd Pelino. It was also the only drive of the half that Duke converted more than one first down, a testament to the Blue Devils’ struggles in the air and on the ground. In the first half, Duke didn’t have a single rush over ten yards, and quarterback Maalik Murphy completed only 7-of-19 passing attempts for a 36.8% completion percentage.
2. Second-half comeback
The Blue Devils’ 21-20 victory marks the second largest comeback in school history, falling just short of when Duke battled back from 21 down at half in 1962 to beat the Florida Gators 28-21. After 30 minutes of play, Blue Devil fans began leaving the stadium, demoralized by the squad’s poor showing on the gridiron. But Duke exited the locker room a different team. With a chaotic blocked punt that allowed the Tar Heels to maintain possession — and ultimately score a field goal — after a Duke defensive stop, it looked like the first half might repeat itself. But after that, the Blue Devil defense entirely shut down a high-powered North Carolina offense that fentered Saturday averaging 38 points per game compared to Duke’s 30.75.
The offensive line allowed only one sack after the break and helped open up holes for running back Star Thomas, who torched the North Carolina defense for 166 total yards in the second half. After taking the lead, the Blue Devils got the ball back and had a chance to end the game, but on fourth-and-1 on North Carolina’s 45 yard line, Duke elected to punt the ball up one point with a full 1:44 left to play. The Tar Heels were out of timeouts, but 104 seconds is plenty of time for a team to move into field goal range. Thanks to a near-perfect kick from Kade Reynoldson, however, North Carolina was pinned on its own 5-yard line. Bad field position forced Tar Heel quarterback Jacolby Criswell into attempting dangerous passes on his final drive, culminating in a poor game-losing interception on third-and-10 on North Carolina’s own 40-yard line with 30 seconds to play.
3. Coaching staff
When the Blue Devils retreated to the locker room for halftime, Wallace Wade’s atmosphere had been dampened. With North Carolina winning 17-0, Duke fans were demoralized, and the missed field goal to end the second half couldn’t have come at a worse time. The Blue Devils still had hope, however. Head coach Manny Diaz and offensive coordinator Jonathan Brewer committed to the run game in the second half, shortening the field and allowing Murphy to take deep shots as the Tar Heels’ safeties moved closer to the line of scrimmage. In the third quarter, the redshirt sophomore quarterback connected with Jordan Moore on a 43-yard play, setting up the second Duke touchdown of the day and getting the crowd roaring back into the game. As Diaz said afterwards, “we had a chance to do something legendary, and that would require all of our belief in ourselves and in each other.” This faith ultimately brought the team together to rally back in an epic win against North Carolina.
Three key stats
1. 44.1% completion percentage
Maalik Murphy connected on just 15-of-34 passes for a completion percentage of 44.1%, and it wasn’t until Duke’s fourth drive that a Blue Devil receiver caught a pass. Murphy performed slightly better in the second half, completing 8-of-15 passes. However, the run game continued to become an even greater focal point of the offense as the game progressed.
2. 2-of-14 on third downs
Duke struggled to convert on third downs throughout the game, managing to do so successfully only twice. The first came in the second quarter on a 14-yard pass play from Murphy to wide receiver Sahmir Hagans. The second came on an 11-yard pass to Moore in the second half, which kept the Blue Devil drive alive, culminated in Duke’s first points of the game and provided a massive shift in momentum. The Blue Devils did technically have another third down conversion that came on a costly North Carolina pass interference penalty in the end zone, setting up first-and-goal for Duke on the opposing 2-yard line. Star Thomas ran for his second touchdown of the day on the next play, bringing the Blue Devils within a score of the Tar Heels. Fortunately for Duke, North Carolina also struggled on third downs, converting on just 5-of-18.
3. 211 yards
It was the Star Thomas show in Wallace Wade as the graduate running back finished the game with 166 yards on the ground and a touchdown, adding another 45 yards and a score through the air. Thomas single-handedly accounted for over half of Duke’s points and yards on the day and was crucial in getting the offense rolling when Murphy's passes were failing to connect.
Looking ahead
Duke has now begun the season undefeated through five games for the first time since 1994, and Diaz’s squad looks to stay that way against Georgia Tech (3-2) Saturday, Oct. 5. The Blue Devils have an opportunity to secure an ACC conference win and head into a parents’ weekend matchup with momentum against a massively struggling Florida State team.
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