Helmet stickers for UNC’s wild double-OT win against Duke
Tar Heel fans – you can finally breathe.
If you were in Kenan Stadium last night or watching UNC-Duke on TV, particularly late in the game, chances are your nerves were shot.
In the final 5:41 of the fourth quarter, there were three separate lead changes and a Noah Burnette field goal as time expired, which sent the game to overtime.
After trading field goals and stopping Duke’s 2-point attempt in the second overtime, Carolina emerged with a 47-45 victory and won its second consecutive game. The win ensured UNC keeps the Victory Bell for a fifth straight year, its longest winning streak in the series since 2011.
Though the Tar Heels were eliminated from ACC Championship contention on Friday night, with Louisville’s comeback win over UVA, they are 8-2. They’ll travel down to Upstate South Carolina next weekend for a 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff, facing a Clemson team that just became bowl-eligible with yesterday’s thumping of Georgia Tech.
Defense, which Clemson is known for, almost cost Carolina again vs. Duke. Saturday’s game ended on a missed 2-point conversion from the Blue Devils, but Grayson Loftis overthrew Jalen Calhoun in the back of the end zone.
In a game full of offense, who shined specifically for the Tar Heels?
Noah Burnette
If not for starting kicker Noah Burnette, UNC would’ve lost Saturday’s Victory Bell battle by at least two touchdowns.
Burnette converted on a whopping six field goal attempts last night, with his most important kick a 43-yarder that sent the game to overtime. His game-tying kick barely got by the Duke rusher, then just curled inside the upright.
Burnette tied the game once again in overtime, kicking a 24-yarder that tied things up at 39 after Carolina’s drive stalled. He likely would’ve kicked on the Tar Heels’ next drive, expect teams have to go for 2-point conversions in the second overtime and later.
Omarion Hampton
What can’t UNC star running back Omarion Hampton do?
He turned heads with his 200-yard performance in Week 2 against App State, but what he’s done since is production you’d see from a Heisman Trophy contender.
Hampton ended Saturday’s victory over Duke with 169 yards, his fifth-straight game hitting the century mark. Hampton now sits second among FBS ballcarriers with 1,236 rushing yards, just 14 yards behind Oklahoma State’s Ollie Gordon II and ninth among single-season leaders at UNC.
What made Hampton’s day that much more impressive, was the fact Duke has one of the ACC’s better defenses. Hampton will be challenged even more against Clemson, which limited Georgia Tech to 254 total yards.
Devontez Walker
Devontez Walker didn’t need a touchdown on Saturday night to show how effective he was.
UNC’s top wide receiver caught seven Drake Maye passes for 162 yards, averaging just over 23 yards per catch. Essentially, Walker moved a fifth of Kenan Stadium’s field per catch.
Duke’s Jordan Moore was the best receiver on the field Saturday night, catching three touchdowns for 88 yards, but Walker’s production was just as important.
Drake Maye
If Saturday night was Drake Maye’s last time ever playing in Kenan Stadium, he gave fans a game to remember.
Maye, a projected early first-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, scored UNC’s final touchdown against Duke on a 5-yard scramble in the second overtime. He busted through a couple defenders, laid out like you see in the picture above and barely crossed into the end zone.
Maye’s night ended with 364 total yards and three total touchdowns. Saturday was also his fifth game with over 300 yards passing, something he’s done in exactly half of UNC’s games.
