UNC's Anthony Elzy (6) and Da'Norris Searcy (21) savor their 24-19 victory over Duke with a ride on the victory bell. ROBERT WILLETT - rwillett@newsobserver.com
DURHAM — There is a temporary sticker of a North Carolina helmet affixed to the front of the Victory Bell. The Tar Heels ought to find something more permanent, maybe a "Property of" plate to weld to the rickety sled.
The Tar Heels took home the Victory Bell, again, on Saturday with a 24-19 win over Duke at Wallace Wade Stadium. UNC has won seven straight and 20 of 21 in the series, including 11 straight at Duke.
As usual, Duke made UNC earn it with nine late points, but it wasn't enough to give the Blue Devils their first home win in the series since 1988.
UNC quarterback T.J. Yates completed his ACC career with another strong performance in a strong senior season with 264 passing yards and a touchdown. Senior running back Anthony Elzy added a career-best 117 rushing yards for the Heels, who closed the regular season with a 7-5 record (4-4 in the ACC) and now await their bowl fate.
Duke closes coach David Cutcliffe's third season with a 3-9 record and 1-7 mark in the ACC.
UNC's offense started slow but Yates made up for it with an efficient, controlled passing attack on two long scoring drives to give UNC a 10-7 halftime lead. Yates completed 28-of-35 passes for the game.
The Heels drove 94 yards, capped by Elzy's 5-yard touchdown run, for their first touchdown and then 87 yards to set up Casey Barth's 25-yard field goal.
Duke led 7-0 after a 9-yard touchdown catch by receiver Austin Kelly. The Blue Devils had converted on fourth-and-6 from their own 22 to extend the drive and present an early hope the series could be turned in their favor.
Instead, UNC woke up from its N.C. State hangover and kept Duke at an arms-length with two second-half touchdowns. Yates rocked back and threaded a perfect pass to Joshua Adams in the end zone for a 5-yard touchdown and a 17-7 lead.
Duke cut UNC's lead to 17-10 on a Will Snyderwine field goal with 2:31 left in the third quarter and recovered the ensuing onside kick. Duke was flagged for offsides on the surprise kick and UNC got the ball and scored on the next drive.
Senior running back Shaun Draughn ran six times for 40 yards on the drive and capped it with a 3-yard touchdown run to push UNC's advantage to 24-10.
Duke got a safety when Duke defensive tackle Charlie Hatcher stopped Draughn in the end zone to cut UNC's lead to 24-12. The Blue Devils scored on the next drive, even after quarterback Sean Renfree was temporarily knocked out with an injured right shoulder. Brandon Connette came in and rushed twice for nine yards, the second attempt for two yards and a touchdown.
Down 24-19 with 3:20 left, Duke eschewed the onside and kicked deep and pinned the Heels at their own 9. UNC got one first down then had to punt. Duke got the ball back at UNC's 24-yard line with 43 seconds left but UNC's defense didn't let them cross midfield.
The mostly pro-Carolina crowd at Wallace Wade stuck around until the end to watch the Heels celebrate with the Victory Bell.
The UNC contingent will have to wait for the ACC bowl order to be sorted before the Tar Heels learn who they'll play next. The Music City Bowl in Nashville on Dec. 30 against an SEC opponent — Tennessee, Kentucky or possibly Georgia — appears to be the most likely destination.
Either way, Saturday's win guaranteed UNC its third straight winning season, which hadn't happened since 1996-1998, and possession of the Victory Bell for another year.
Comments
It is good to know that no
Sun, 11/28/2010 - 23:18 — unc098It is good to know that no matter how badly you can f--up your still going to beat Dooook. I was amazed at how much bigger, on both sides of the ball, we were than them. We pushed them around like dolls.
Disappointment
Sun, 11/28/2010 - 14:38 — Heels20It's always nice to get the win against Dook. Before I get into the negative stuff, I want to go ahead and congratulate the offense on yet another solid outing. Elzy has been one of the toughest players on this team, showing up for three straight big games while playing injured. Yates continues to show that his great play this season is more than just a fluke. Possibly the most exciting thing is the way Dwight Jones and Josh Adams have stepped up to give us all something to look forward to in the future. With one more game to go this season, I am definitely excited to see how these guys perform in their final contest.
Defensively, I just don't know what's happened. Yeah, the D-Line took a huge blow by losing Quinn, Austin and McAdoo, but Paige-Moss and Coples have been playing well lately. Burney looked better as a freshman than he does this season. Searcy's tendency of getting beat left and right and making awful decisions as a return man leaves me shocked at the fact that he's a senior. And finally...I understand that Merletti is the kind of player a coach loves because he runs hard and gives all his effort. But why does he play so much on defense and why does he return kicks? As good of a special teams player he is (when not returning the ball), he serves as little more than a target for opposing offensive coordinators. I appreciate his hard work, but sometimes it's just not meant to be...
Personally, I am very impressed with 7-5 considering the circumstances. With all the talent we had coming into the season, I was still only predicting 9-3 because of how tough our schedule was. These guys not only won the games they should have, but they won a game or two more than expected. As disappointed as I am in the guys who took their college careers for granted and lost their spot on the squad, I am most certainly proud of the guys on the field who did it the right way. Hopefully enough fans will continue to show their support for Butch and the players and we can keep this program rolling.
Blustery
Sun, 11/28/2010 - 21:16 — heelsno1Heels 20...long-winded as usual!
Glad you are so delighted with 7 wins.
You have no perspective on the big picture.
Dude...Your not Mamba in
Sun, 11/28/2010 - 22:44 — unc098Dude...Your not Mamba in disquise are you?....I know you have a beef with 20 on some issues but lets kumbaya and pull together for some positive energy. The friggin ( in the words of our great leader ) basketball team needs all that we can give them.
Double post
Sun, 11/28/2010 - 22:13 — Heels20Well done. You've mastered the keyboard about as well as Jake Delhomme has mastered the forward pass.
Congrats
Mon, 11/29/2010 - 20:47 — heelsno1Shortest post ever for the long-winded Heels20!
Blustery
Sun, 11/28/2010 - 21:16 — heelsno1Heels 20...long-winded as usual!
Glad you are so delighted with 7 wins.
You have no perspective on the big picture.
Dude
Sun, 11/28/2010 - 22:12 — Heels20Are you trying to make me your nemesis or something? Big picture? What do you even mean by that? We should have 13 guys suspended, several NFL caliber players get the boot, have injuries pile up, and win the conference? Please switch your fanhood to Dook, you do not make me proud to be a Carolina fan.
Sad...
Mon, 11/29/2010 - 21:51 — heelsno1...that you are not proud to be a Heels fan. I am totally!
I want to pile on my
Sun, 11/28/2010 - 18:34 — unc098I want to pile on my congratulations to the team as well, particularly TJ Yates who I was never a big fan of. The dude stepped up and played to the best of his abilities and really finished strong even though we lost 2 out of the last 3.
I am feeling really good about the future of this team. Next year the defensive line is going to be really good. I am very happy about the play of Price.This guy is going to be something special. The rest of the secondary should be very solid. On the offensive side of the ball the O-line will return this team to the days of old when we could expect to have a 100 yd rusher every game. This line is going to be very good and will enable Renner to develop his game. The receivers are big targets who should be very productive.
The one area that this team needs big help in is the special teams. Special teams play this season has been atrocious and has costs us wins this season. We need a kicker who can boot that ball into the end zone and we need coverage that doesn't allow the opposing team excellent field position. CJ Feagles is not impressive and better improve.
It really has been amazing how much this team has accomplished this year despite the investigation and all the hype surrounding it. The coaches have done a great job.
Hopefully this team can close out 8-5. I would love to see us play Florida
Agreed 100%
Sun, 11/28/2010 - 22:19 — Heels20Special teams cost us three games this season (LSU, GT, NCSU), but that couldn't really be helped. We were so banged up and had so many suspensions that guys who normally played special teams had to start, and guys who were walk-ons had to fill in on special teams. That never makes for a pretty situation. The punting this year was inexcusable. Butch needs to take care of that.
Offensively, we will be very very good in the coming years. I think that Renner is most certainly capable of doing a good job and he has a lot to work with now that we have a talented, experienced O-line with talented and experienced receivers. I just hope we can find another Johnny White or Anthony Elzy to give it everything he's got game in and game out.
Defensively, I'm a bit nervous. I've heard Coples is gone. It will be nice to have Paige-Moss and Powell back, and it's also good that Tim Jackson and Kareem Martin got some experience. LBs will be Reddick, Brown and he who has yet to be named. I'm optimistic. We'll be great at corner with Charles Brown and Jabari Price (who in my opinion was our best DB for the second half of the season), but safety has me nervous with Merletti starting. Gene Robinson will be fine, though.
Anyway, I can't get ahead of myself. We still have one game to go. Let's hope these seniors go out the right way.
Rivalry
Sun, 11/28/2010 - 10:30 — SurferYes, but we won the game. I am sure the devils had their spray paint handy, for yet another year. This team has a lot to be proud of.
College Football season ...
Sat, 11/27/2010 - 23:05 — gvillegatrfly's by faster than any other season I can think of. Even when your school/team is under a little heat or battling for a spot in Charlotte. It's over in a blink of an eye. They need longer seasons!
I was at this game...
Sat, 11/27/2010 - 21:38 — UNC1998As a matter of fact, I saw jpg walk by me on the way up the stairs in sec. 26. My friend gave me his tickets and a fine parking pass that was basically right beside the stadium. UNC dominated Dook, and should have sent them home headless. Instead, some ill timed penalties, and a bad game by the refs kept Dook in this down the stretch. UNC's special teams just wasn't good this season. Hopefully with a full team next year it will improve. Whatever bowl game UNC ends up will be a good one, because this team was left for dead after the summer.
My son and I were at the
Sun, 11/28/2010 - 00:12 — unc098My son and I were at the game and UNC dominated this game in all aspects but the special teams. There were some bad decisions on the part of the defense ( Burneys interception, batt it down) and the officiating was atrocious for both teams. TJ was terrific again, but we did everything in our power to give the game away for a third straight week. We have to find a kickoff specialist who doesn't give the other team a 10-20 yd cushion. Check the stats. It tells the story. Penalties just about killed us. There is a discipline problem here that has persisted for quite some time. Glad for the win.