Jones Big Day Leads Blue Devils Over Tar Heels in Victory Bell Game

The Duke Blue Devils defeated the North Carolina Tar Heels 42-35 in the 105th gridiron matchup between the schools.

Both teams were hitting on all cylinders to begin the game as the score was 14-14 with 6:20 left in the first quarter. Late in the first the Tar Heels were driving the ball down the field. However, a missed 49-yard field goal off the right upright by senior Tar Heel kicker, Freeman Jones, gave the ball back to the Blue Devils with 14:29 left in the second quarter.

From Freeman’s missed field goal, the Blue Devil’s took lead off a 2-yard pass from Jones to redshirt senior tight end, Davis Koppenhaver, with 12:51 left in the quarter. This touchdown made Koppenhaver the all-time touchdown receptions leader, 11, for a Blue Devils tight end and put the score at 21-14.

On the next possession the Tar Heels responded with a touchdown of their own off a 2-yard rush by freshman running back Javonte Williams. The touchdown was Williams’ first career touchdown and put the score at 21-21 with 9:55 left in the second quarter.

Under the direction of Jones, the Blue Devils offense orchestrated a nine-play, 75-yard touchdown drive which was capped off by a 4-yard rushing touchdown by sophomore running back Deon Jackson.

The Tar Heels quickly responded with a one-play, 89-yard drive that was headlined by an 84-yard rushing touchdown by sophomore wide receiver Dazz Newsome. The score was 28-28 with 6:14 left in the half.

A 61-yard rushing touchdown on third down by Jones with 0:16 left in the second quarter took the wind out of the Tar Heel defense. At the half, the Blue Devils were leading 28-35. Moreover, Jones had already tallied 223 passing yards for three passing touchdowns and 113 rushing yards for one touchdown.

“Those are fun games,” Jones said when asked about the back and forth first half.” “…As an offense, you really relish those opportunities – the ball is in your hands as an offense, it’s up to you to put the points up.”

The defenses for both teams settled into a grove after halftime. The Tar Heels defense forced two turnovers in the third quarter on back-to-back drives. The first was forced and recovered by senior defensive end, Malik Carney, and the second fumble came off a quarterback hit by senior defensive tackle, Jalen Dalton, and the ball was recovered by sophomore defensive end Tomon Fox.

However Tar Heels offense went 3-and-out on the possessions following the defensive turnovers and only had 23 yards of total offense in the entire third quarter.

“Yeah, I mean they made some good adjustments at halftime,” Elliot said when asked about the inefficiency of the Tar Heel offense in the third quarter. “We just didn’t execute like we should’ve.”

With 1:42 left in the third quarter, junior quarterback, Quentin Harris, ran up the middle for a 2-yard rushing touchdown for the Blue Devils.

Even though the Blue Devils were leading the Tar Heels 42-28 the majority of the fourth quarter, the game still came down to the very last play.

A 13-yard touchdown pass from Elliott to senior wide receiver, Thomas Jackson, with 1:15 left made the score 42-35.

An interception by junior safety, Myles Dorn, in the end zone on the ensuing possession set the Tar Heels offensive up on their own 20 yard line for a game-tying drive with 0:53 left in the game and no timeouts for the Tar Heels.

Without getting out-of-bounds, the Tar Heels managed to move the ball down to the Blue Devils 39 yard line. Elliot spiked the ball in the final seconds of the game to set up one last heave to the end zone.

Freshman quarterback, Cade Fortin, subbed in for Elliot on the final play of the game.

“In that instance, (Fortin) has an extremely strong arm and we knew he could at least move around enough to get the ball down field for us,” Tar Heels head coach, Larry Fedora, said when asked about the Fortin for Elliott substitution.

Fortin launched a deep ball towards junior wide receiver, Anthony Ratliff-Williams, in the end zone. However the ball was batted down to the ground by redshirt junior corner back, Brandon Feamster, to give the Blue Devils its third consecutive Victory Bell Game win over the Tar Heels.

Jones finished threw 31-54 for 361 passing yards and three passing touchdowns. He also rushed the ball 15 times for 186 yards and one rushing touchdown. Jones’ 547 yards of total offense set the Blue Devil’s single game record and Jones joined Lamar Jackson, Louisville, and Tahj Boyd, Clemson, as the only quarterbacks to have multiple 300-100 games.

The Blue Devils (7-3, ACC 3-3) face nationally ranked Clemson on November 17 in Death Valley.

Counting this loss, six of the eight Tar Heels loses this season have been by a margin of 10 or less points.

“It’s tough week in and week out,” Dorn said when asked about dropping another close game. “A few plays, we can be 7-2 and not 1-8. So it’s tough.”

The Tar Heels (1-8, ACC 1-6) have two home games in Kenan Memorial Stadium, Western Carolina on November 17 and NC State on November 24, to wrap up the 2018 season.

“It means everything,” senior linebacker Cole Holcomb said when asked about what winning the last two games would mean for the senior class “We gotta go beat State and win our last two. That’s just what it is.”