Duke rallies from 20 points down, beats rival North Carolina 21-20

DURHAM, N.C. -- — Manny Diaz and Star Thomas won’t ever forget their first venture into the Duke-North Carolina rivalry.

Peyton Jones ran 20 yards for a touchdown as Duke took its first lead with 5:42 remaining, Thomas scored two touchdowns and the Blue Devils rallied from a 20-point deficit to defeat North Carolina 21-20 in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams on Saturday.

"I’m in awe of our guys,” said Diaz, Duke's first-year coach. “We talked about at halftime that we have a chance to do something legendary and that would take all of our belief.”

Thomas rushed for 166 yards and Maalik Murphy threw for a touchdown and 209 yards.

The Blue Devils (5-0) snapped a six-game losing streak in the series, beating their neighbors for the first time since 2018. Tre Freeman’s interception with 25 seconds left clinched the outcome. Shortly afterward, fans rushed onto the field to celebrate and reclaim the Victory Bell.

“Why not make it this (game) and come in and get it,” said Thomas, a transfer from New Mexico State.

It was a signature victory for Diaz, a former assistant at Texas under current North Carolina coach Mack Brown. The comeback for a victory matched the second-largest in Duke program history.

The Tar Heels (3-2) lost for the second week in a row despite Jacolby Criswell’s two touchdown passes and running back Omarion Hampton’s 103 rushing yards.

“I thought we would come out and take over the game, which we should have to start the third quarter, and we didn’t,” Brown said.

Trailing 20-0, the first Duke touchdown came when Thomas finished a 29-yard pass play in the end zone in the third quarter. His 2-yard touchdown run on the fourth play of the fourth quarter allowed Duke to close within 20-14.

“Our guys believe when we got to the fourth quarter, that’s where we felt we could dominate,” Diaz said. “It just looked like we got stronger as the game went on, and it looked like they, from my vantage point, went in the other direction.”

North Carolina’s defense, which was shredded for a large portion of the points allowed in a 70-50 home loss to James Madison a week earlier, yielded 97 first-half yards of total offense. The Tar Heels led 17-0 at the break.

In the second half, Duke didn’t take a snap until nearly the first seven minutes of the third quarter had elapsed because of an odd sequence. The Blue Devils blocked a North Carolina punt, but the ball went beyond the line of scrimmage and was mishandled by the Blue Devils. The Tar Heels recovered for a fresh set of downs and went on to score on Noah Burnette’s 37-yard field goal for the 20-0 edge.

“Defensively, we had to play the entire second half with really no margin for error,” Diaz said.

Duke came closest to scoring in the first half when Todd Pelino’s 47-yard field goal bounced off the right upright in the final minute.

The teams met in an ACC opener for the first time. The Tar Heels lost their league opener for the first time in three years.

“Games like that are why you play football,” Criswell said. “They did what they needed to do in the second half to get the win.”

Star stuff

Thomas eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark for the third consecutive game. With 480 yards on the ground this year, he’s already approaching his 15-game total of 653 from last year with New Mexico State.

“What an inspiration that guy is for our team,” Diaz said. “I felt like he got stronger and stronger as the game went on.”

Brown’s string ends

Brown, in his second coaching tour with the Tar Heels, had directed a victory in 13 straight meetings with the Blue Devils. His last loss in the series came in 1989.

“Everybody knows how important this game is to us and our university,” he said following Saturday’s game.

The takeaway

North Carolina: The Tar Heels did better defensively, but this will be a difficult result to accept. It was a chaotic week for the team after Brown apologized for his reaction to the James Madison loss and North Carolina players were kept off limits from the media.

Duke: The Blue Devils picked up 297 yards in the second half and had just enough clutch plays to pull out a victory despite going 2-for-14 on third downs. Duke’s defense has been strong through the first month of the season and they buckled up in the second half.

Up next

North Carolina: Home Saturday vs. Pitt

Duke: Saturday at Georgia Tech

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