North Carolina Rolls Past Duke To Retain Victory Bell

Durham, NC – North Carolina ran out to a big, early lead and cruised past Duke, 56-24, at Wallace Wade Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Tar Heels scored touchdowns on all six of their first-half drives in a dominating offensive performance, piling up 338 yards of rushing and 573 total offensive yards overall.

Just 17 seconds into the second quarter, Carolina had raced out to a 28-0 lead behind two Sam Howell’s two touchdown passes and his rushing TD. UNC led, 42-10, at halftime.

Javonte Williams caught one of Howell’s first-half TD passes and rushed for two more, piling up 91 first-half rushing yards on just six carries to go along with his three first-half scores. He finished the game with 151 yards on 12 carries, an average of 12.6 per rush.

Six seconds into the second half, Duke fumbled and Carolina recovered. Three players later, Howell hit Dazz Newsome for a touchdown to make it 49-10. The Blue Devils were never able to mount a serious challenge during the game. Michael Carter added 17 carries for 85 yards of his own.

The Tar Heels improved to 5-2 this season, 5-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Duke’s top rusher was Mataeo Durant, who finished his night with his third 100-yard rushing performance after compiling 132 yards on 11 carries. Durant’s 132 yards in the game gave him 1,096 for his career, making him the 50th Blue Devil to reach the 1,000 career rushing yards milestone.

Redshirt junior quarterback Chase Brice finished the day 11-of-23 for 155 yards. Holmberg also saw action under center going 7-of-9 for a career-high 70 yards.

Sophomore wide receiver Darrell Harding Jr. led the Blue Devils in receiving with a career-high 70 yards on five catches.

Senior Marquis Waters recorded his fourth double digit tackle game when he finished the day with a team best 10. Fellow classmate Michael Carter II earned Duke’s seventh interception of the season when he picked off Tar Heel quarterback Sam Howell in the third quarter.

Duke has an open date before it returns to Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium on Nov. 21 for a matchup with Wake Forest.

Carolina now enters the final, four-game stage of its season beginning next Saturday at noon in Kenan Stadium against Wake Forest. Home dates with Notre Dame and Western Carolina remain on the schedule, as does a trip to Miami.

(Courtesy of the University of North Carolina Athletics, Duke University Athletics, the Atlantic Coast Conference)