Latest / ACC Football Addiction (Atlantic Coast Conference) / North Carolina vs. Duke REACTION | Tar Heels Win Revealed Something Bigger

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North Carolina vs. Duke REACTION | Tar Heels Win Revealed Something Bigger · ACC Football Addiction (Atlantic Coast Conference)

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's up tar heels. Thank you for tuning in today
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: to ACC football addiction. We're always happy to have you.
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: This game against Duke was something that we were anticipating
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: and we wanted to know.
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: The answers that we would get.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: It's not basketball season just yet, but anytime Duke and
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: Carolina play, that's the first thing that jumps in your mind. Well,
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: This was Manny Diaz against Bill Belichick. And I think
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: this game meant a little bit more than people realize.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: I think there are some takeaways from this game that
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: people are going to gloss over because it wasn't the
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: sexiest matchup of all time, but it's one that proves
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: a few things that are absolutely crucial. All of our
• 0:38
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• 0:44
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• 0:49
  Speaker 1: on the PrizePix app. We appreciate them for their support.
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: Now let's jump into more about this game. Bring it
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: back to Chapel Hill. The victory bell is coming home.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: North Carolina went into Durham and beat Duke 24-20. And
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: if your heart rate has come back down by now,
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: you're doing better than me. Your team built a 17-point lead,
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: watched it disappear piece by piece, fell behind with under
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: five minutes to play, and then marched 78 yards and
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: slammed the door. Jalen McGill from 24 yards out with
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: 153 left. Then a freshman defensive back, Kenton Dobson III,
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: picked off Duke's quarterback at your own 15 with 14
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: seconds on the clock.
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: Ball game. The bell is back where it belongs. How
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: are you guys feeling?
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: I think two emotions are running through this fan base
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: right now, and both are completely fair. One is pure joy.
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: The other is, why did I have to suffer that
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: much to get here? We're gonna talk about both. Start
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: with the question that hung over this entire week. Could
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: North Carolina finally win back the victory bell? Duke had
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: beaten your team two years in a row, and you
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: remember how last year ended. A fake field goal, Duke's
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: kicker rumbling down to the one-yard line, Duke punching it in,
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: and that loss kept your team out of bowl eligibility
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: for the first time since 2018. That one stung for
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: a whole offseason. Coming into this game, Duke was 4-1,
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: favored by 3.5, and playing at home. The local framing
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: was simple. Can this team build on the biggest win
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: of the Belichick era at Pitt, or was that a
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: one-week high?
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: My verdict?
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: This team just answered it. You don't get to call
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: the Pitt win a fluke anymore. That's back-to-back road wins
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: against good opponents, and your team decided both of them
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: in the final minutes. Luck doesn't close out two road
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: games in a row. This team is figuring out who
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: it is.
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: And man... Did it start like a statement?
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: North Carolina scored on its first three possessions. The opening
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: drive went 74 yards for a field goal. Then a
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: freshman linebacker, Calvin Thomas, got a hand on a Duke punt.
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: Jaziel Hart, another freshman, recovered at the Duke 11, and
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: Billy Edwards Jr. hit Jordan Shipp for a five-yard touchdown.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: Then came a 14 play 63 yard drive where ship
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: converted a third and 13 with a 16 yard catch
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: and demon June finished it on fourth and two with
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: a four yard touchdown run 17 to nothing early in
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: the second quarter. Meanwhile, Duke's first two drives were three
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: and outs that gained a total of 12 yards. The
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: punt block will get the highlight treatment and it deserves it,
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: but special teams didn't build that lead by themselves. Two
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: of those three scoring drives covered 74 and 63 yards,
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: and that's your offense doing it the hard way. This
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: unit finished last in the ACC in total offense a
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: year ago, and Bobby Petrino was brought in to rebuild it. Long,
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: patient scoring drives in a rival stadium right out of
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: the gate? That's exactly what you wanted to see. If
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: you were watching that first quarter thinking, wait, is this
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: actually happening?
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: You weren't alone.
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: And then it got hard, really hard. The win is sweet,
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: but the middle of this game was a problem. Between
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: the touchdown that made it 17-0 and the touchdown that
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: won it, North Carolina had six straight possessions without a point.
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: Six.
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: Two lost fumbles, three punts, and a failed fourth down try.
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: And the first fumble was a killer. Your defense had
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: just stuffed Duke on fourth and one at the two-yard line.
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: A huge stop. On the very next possession, Shipp had
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: the ball knocked loose near your own goal line, and
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: Duke returned it nine yards for a touchdown. That's a
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: 14-point swing in about two minutes of game time. The
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: second fumble came in the third quarter at the Duke 9,
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: when McGill had it stripped, and there goes a scoring chance.
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: And then in the fourth quarter, holding a four-point lead,
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: came the fourth and five at midfield, where your punter
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: ended up running and lost 16 yards, handing Duke the
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: ball at your 34. Duke scored its only offensive touchdown
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: on that short field. Earlier in the fourth, a 15-yard
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: punt return had already set Duke up at your 36
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: for a field goal. So how did a 17-point lead evaporate? Mostly,
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: your team kept handing Duke the ball in good spots.
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: Give Duke real credit here, too. That defense was outstanding
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: once it settled in. Two forced fumbles, a defensive touchdown,
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: two sacks, and six straight stops against your offense.
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: And Duke's lead running back was a problem all night.
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: 77 rushing yards, 98 receiving yards on 11 catches, 175
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: total yards. That's nearly half of Duke's entire offense running
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: through one player. Duke outgained your team 373 to 326,
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: converted more third downs, and held the ball longer. That's
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: a good football team, and Duke fans have every reason
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: to be proud of how hard it fought back. So
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: what does this win not prove? It doesn't prove the
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: offense has solved its ball security. Billy Edwards Jr. didn't
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: throw an interception, and I'll get to why that matters later.
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: But your team still put the ball on the ground twice,
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: and one of those became a touchdown. It also doesn't
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: prove this team can play with a lead and suffocate
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: a good opponent for four quarters. And a four-point road
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: win where you got outgained isn't a declaration of dominance.
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: What it shows is resilience. And right now, I'll happily
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: take that. Still, I'm not letting the middle of that
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: game ruin anything for you. Look at what happened when
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: it was on the line. Duke took its first lead,
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: 20-17 with 4.39 left. Everything about the season's pattern told
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: you what came next. Against Clemson, the team came up
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: short in big moments. Against Notre Dame, a strong opponent
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: took over late. That was the knock on this team.
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: Competitive against good teams, but the good teams finish. So
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: your offense takes the field at its own 22, down
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: three with 434 to go. A six-yard quarterback run, then
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: two incompletions. Fourth and four at your own 28. Season
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: on the line, rivalry on the line, the bell on
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: the line. And Edwards finds Jelani Thurman for 12 yards,
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: first down. Then McGill, 16 yards, four more.
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: Edwards to Tretch Kekahuna for 16.
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: And then McGill from 24 yards out into the end zone,
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: 24 to 20. 78 yards, eight plays, 241. Nobody handed
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: your team a short field on this one. An offense
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: that had gone dark for most of three quarters went
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: the length of the field when there was no margin
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: for error.
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: Think about McGill for a second.
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: He ran for 75 yards in this game, and 44
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: of them came on that one drive. Before that drive,
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: he'd had nine carries for 31 yards and a fumble
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: in the red zone. He could have been the story
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: for all the wrong reasons. Instead, when the moment came,
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: he ran like a different player, and that locker room
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: will remember it. Now, the quarterback question, which has followed
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: this team all year. Going into the season, people weren't
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: sure Edwards was the answer. After Clemson, people wondered if
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: he'd keep the job. Even after the Pitt win, the
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: two interceptions were a warning sign. The pregame worry for
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: this one was simple. Can Edwards avoid the giveaway, and
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: can this offense produce late against a strong Duke defense?
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: On the first part, he delivered. 15 of 25, 191 yards, 7.6
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: yards per attempt, a touchdown, and zero interceptions. On the
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: second part, the answer was not for a long time,
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: and then absolutely yes when it counted. That fourth and
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: fourth throw to Thurman is the throw a sixth-year veteran
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: is supposed to make.
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: He made it.
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: Split verdict on the offense overall, but no debate on
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: the final drive. And then the defense finished it. That
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: was the third big question coming in. Could a shorthanded
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: secondary without cornerback Caleb Cost and a defense that keeps
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: forcing turnovers carry this team again?
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: Emphatically yes. Here's the number I keep coming back to.
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: Duke's first three trips inside your 10-yard line produced six
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: total points. The fourth and one stop at the two.
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: a first and goal at the five that ended in
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: a field goal, and that was at the end of
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: a 19-play, 70-yard drive that ate eight minutes and six
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: seconds of clock. 19 plays, and your defense said, fine,
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: take three. Coleman Bryson broke up a third down pass
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: to keep it a field goal. Then another first and
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: goal at the eight, another field goal. If even one
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: of those becomes a touchdown, your team isn't driving to
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: win at the end. It's driving to tie or worse.
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: And the final drive was a test of nerve. Dobson
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: picked off Duke's quarterback earlier on that possession, and it
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: got wiped out by a pass interference call that moved
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: Duke into your territory.
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: That's the moment where a young defense can crack.
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: Instead, an intentional grounding backed Duke up to second and 24.
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: And on third and 14, Dobson went and got another one.
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: A freshman with a reversed interception already on his mind,
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: making the play that wins the rivalry. Your defense has
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: now forced a turnover in five of six games, and
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: this one ended the night. Your team is four and two,
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: with two straight road wins against quality opponents. and it
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: just won back the victory bell after two years of
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: hearing about it. Remember the preseason talk? A 4-8 first year.
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: Questions about whether Belichick would make it through the season.
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: Warnings that a slow start against TCU, Clemson, Notre Dame, Pitt,
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: and Duke would bring the pressure right back. Your team
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: went 3-2 against that stretch, and the two losses came
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: against Clemson and Notre Dame. That job security conversation feels
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: like it belongs to a different season now. Last year,
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: losing this game cost you a bowl trip. This year,
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: winning it puts four wins in the bank with six
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: games left. Syracuse comes to Kenan next week, then Miami.
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: The defense is real. The offense still has to prove
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: it can hold on to the ball and protect a lead.
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: But you now have a team that has shown, twice
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: in a row, that it doesn't fold when the fourth
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: quarter gets ugly. And you can build a season on that.
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: Enjoy ringing that bell. If you want more Tar Heel
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: football all season long, hit that subscribe button.