Duke Blue Devils at North Carolina Tar Heels
· NCAA - Football
Fake FG call, Castle's 3 rushing scores help Duke hold off rival UNC 32-25 and become bowl eligible
The win made the Blue Devils (6-5, 5-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) bowl eligible again, along with ensuring they could keep the Victory Bell that goes to the rivalry winner for another year.
“It's two years in a row that when it came down to winning time at the end of the game in this fixture, that the Duke guys were the ones making the plays in clutch time,” Blue Devils coach Manny Diaz said.
Castle ran for three 1-yard touchdowns for Duke, then joined with kicker Todd Pelino to finally put the Blue Devils on top.
With Duke trailing 25-24, Duke lined up a 45-yard field goal for the lead — only to see holder Kade Reynoldson take the snap and flip it to Pelino to the left side.
Pelino took off to the open field for 26 yards, getting all the way to the UNC 1-yard line in a stunning play that set up Castle's score. Duke followed with Darian Mensah hitting Nate Sheppard on the left side for the 2-point conversion that pushed the margin to seven.
Gio Lopez threw and ran for a touchdown for UNC (4-7, 2-5), while Davion Gause also ran one in. But the loss means UNC won't be able to reach the six-win threshold for bowl eligibility in Bill Belichick's first season.
UNC had a final possession, but didn't move the ball before Lopez's fourth-down throw for Kobe Paysour fell incomplete with 1:18 left.
“Just made too many mistakes, too many bad plays, obviously too many penalties,” Belichick said. “So that's about the story. Really not a lot to add to that.”
UNC: The Tar Heels had shown gains in wins against Syracuse and Stanford before trailing the entire way in a loss at Wake Forest. Now Belichick, who won six Super Bowls as an NFL head coach, is 0-2 against instate ACC rivals.
UNC: The Tar Heels visit rival N.C. State next Saturday.
How To Watch
How can I watch Duke Blue Devils vs. North Carolina Tar Heels?
- TV Channel: Blue Devils at Tar Heels 2021 College Football, week 13, is broadcasted on ACC Network.
- Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.
Scoring Summary
 |
TD | 1st Period 7:57 | Gio Lopez 1 Yd Run (Rece Verhoff Kick) |
 |
TD | 1st Period 2:59 | Anderson Castle 1 Yd Run (Todd Pelino Kick) |
|
TD | 2nd Period 10:25 | Jeremiah Hasley 14 Yd pass from Darian Mensah (Todd Pelino Kick) |
|
FG | 2nd Period 2:33 | Todd Pelino 33 Yd Field Goal |
|
FG | 2nd Period 0:07 | Rece Verhoff 49 Yd Field Goal |
|
TD | 3rd Period 9:15 | Anderson Castle 1 Yd Run (Todd Pelino Kick) |
|
TD | 3rd Period 4:52 | Jordan Shipp 20 Yd pass from Gio Lopez (Gio Lopez Pass to Jordan Shipp for Two-Point Conversion) |
|
TD | 4th Period 13:13 | Davion Gause 12 Yd Run (Rece Verhoff Kick) |
|
TD | 4th Period 2:18 | Anderson Castle 1 Yd Run (Darian Mensah Pass to Nate Sheppard for Two-Point Conversion) |
Statistics
 DUKE |
 UNC |
|
|---|---|---|
| 24 | 1st Downs | 18 |
| 6-15 | 3rd down efficiency | 8-13 |
| 5-6 | 4th down efficiency | 0-1 |
| 352 | Total Yards | 305 |
| 175 | Passing | 204 |
| 20/33 | Comp/Att | 21/27 |
| 5.3 | Yards per pass | 7.6 |
| 177 | Rushing | 101 |
| 43 | Rushing Attempts | 25 |
| 4.1 | Yards per rush | 4.0 |
| 3-27 | Penalties | 12-103 |
| 0 | Turnovers | 0 |
| 0 | Fumbles lost | 0 |
| 0 | Interceptions thrown | 0 |
| 36:00 | Possession | 24:00 |
Game Information
Location: Chapel Hill, NC
Attendance: 50,500 · Capacity:
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