UNC Tar Heels Football Team Keeps the Victory Bell in Chapel Hill Holding Off the Devils in 2 OTs

by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn

In the final home game of the season, the North Carolina football team faced off against their rival Duke on Saturday night. The Tar Heels set the tone early with a touchdown on their first offensive drive of the game and the Heels’ defense followed it up with a three-and-out on their first defensive series. North Carolina had no problems marching up and down the field on offense in the first half. Omarion Hampton was running the ball well as he has all season long, and Tez Walker and Bryson Nesbit were producing well for the Heels in the passing game. The problem for Carolina came in the red zone where they were unable to score touchdowns but only settled for field goals.

This would allow Duke to hang around and keep the game close. UNC’s defense played well in the first quarter holding them scoreless and making it tough on Duke’s backup quarterback Grayson Loftis, who was starting for Duke in this game. However, late in the second quarter, Duke found some success offensively running the ball and after some missed tackles and blown coverages by the Tar Heel defense was finally able to put points on the board. After a mistake by the kick returner Tychaun Chapman fumbling the ball on the one yard, Drake Maye threw an interception, giving Duke some life and momentum. Duke capitalized on the forced turnover and scored a touchdown to tie the game at 14 before Carolina drove down the field to kick a field goal to give them a 16-14 lead going into halftime.  

In the second half, North Carolina’s struggles in the red zone continued as they settled for their fourth field goal in five red zone trips due to some questionable offensive play calling. Nevertheless, Carolina extended their lead to 12. After a couple of drives where the Tar Heels’ defense gave up some points, they came out after halftime and completely flipped the script, being able to put pressure on the quarterback and bottling up Duke’s running game. However, in the fourth quarter up 26-14, Carolina dialed down their pressure and aggressiveness defensively and played soft coverage for much of the last few minutes of the game. This defensive adjustment would be a mistake for the Tar Heels as Duke exploited the lack of aggression by the North Carolina defense and drove down the field to score a touchdown to bring the game within 5.

On the very next play, Duke went for an onside kick and recovered, stealing a possession. At this point in the game, the momentum had shifted in Duke’s favor. Duke would take advantage and go down to score to take a 33-29 lead. Down the stretch of the game, it was very close as the two teams battled, and both teams went back and forth scoring touchdowns. With 41 seconds left on the clock and Duke leading 36-33, UNC got the ball back with a chance to tie or take the lead. Drake Maye, in possibly his last home as a Tar Heel quarterback, led the Heels down the field to put them in field goal position, and UNC kicker Noah Burnette nailed the field goal to send the game into overtime.

In the first overtime, both teams’ defenses stepped up and held each team to a field goal. In the second overtime, North Carolina got the ball first and after a couple of great runs by Omarion Hampton, Drake Maye plunged into an endzone for a touchdown to put the Heels up 45-39. After converting the two-point conversion, the Tar Heels were up 47-39 as Duke got the ball. Duke would indeed score a touchdown, but UNC’s defensive back Alijah Huzzie would get a pass breakup on Duke’s attempt on a two-point conversation to give the Heels the win over the in-state rival.  

UNC Game Stats 

UNC Total Offense- 537 yards 

Rushing 195 Passing 342 

UNC Passing: Drake Maye 28-43-342 yards 1TD 1INT 

UNC Rushing: Omarion Hampton 31-169 yards 1TD, Drake Maye 12-22 yards 2TDs 

UNC Receiving: Tez Walker 7-162 yards, Bryson Nesbit 7-68 yards 1TD, Omarion Hampton 8-47 yards  

Duke Total Offense- 379 yards 

Duke Passing: Grayson Loftis 16-28-189 yards 3TDs 

Duke Rushing: Jordan Walters 20-113 yards 2TDs, Grayson Loftis 6-8 yards 1TD 

Duke Receiving: Jordan Moore 6-88 yards 3TDs 

UNC Bright Spots 

Drake Maye threw for 342 yards and one touchdown.  

Omarion Hampton had 31 carries for 169 yards and one touchdown. He also had 8 catches for 47 yards 

Tez Walker had 7 catches for 162 yards.  

Bryson Nesbit had 7 catches for 68 yards and one touchdown. 

Needs Work 

The Tar Heels must be better in the red zone. It seems like when they get in the red zone they go away from the successful play calls that got them in that position. The play calling in the red zone was awful and Offensive Coordinator Chip Lindsay needs to correct that issue because it is keeping them from scoring touchdowns, which allows teams to hang around instead of extending leads. 

The defense needs to shore up their run defense. The linebackers and defensive backs are overrunning the play and are out in position on these plays, which is really hurting the defensive success against the run. Their missed tackles in space allow opponents to gash them for big runs, which has been a common theme over the last few games for the Tar Heels. 

The North Carolina defense also needs to play physical, aggressive football the entire game. There is no need to let up even if you have a lead because you allow teams to hang around and the defense is not good enough to drop back in coverage and be successful as a defense.  

Final Observations 

North Carolina improves to 8-2 on the season. Over the last few games against ACC opponents, this UNC football team has not played up to its potential. In games they should win, they lose because they make miscues, and errors, and beat themselves. In today’s game that should’ve been a blowout, they allow Duke to hang around and have to win a nail-biter. There is no question the coaching staff must be better in all phases.

Over the last couple of weeks, the North Carolina coaching staff have let their players down. They have not put their players in the best position to be successful on the field and have not had them properly prepared for this team to take that jump into a consistently great football team that the coaching staff talked about all off-season. Since the Tar Heels started the season 6-0, both the offense and defense have played worse and that has a lot to do with coaching and the type of play calls on both sides of the ball.

The talent is there so the expectations are high and Carolina has just not lived up to them this season, which is disappointing. Going forward, the Tar Heels must win out if they want a chance at making the ACC Championship. They will need the teams above them in the standings to lose to help them out so there is still hope for the Heels. Carolina’s focus needs to be on the details, getting better each game, and putting a successful product on there on the field every week. Omarion Hampton continues his outstanding season with his fifth straight game with over 100 yards rushing and over 1,000 yards rushing on the season. Hampton was the player of the game today with over 200 yards of total offense. Next up is Clemson on Saturday, November 18 at 3:30 P.M. on ABC.