DURHAM – The Victory Bell is on the line Saturday when Duke and North Carolina square off in the 110th meeting at Kenan Stadium.
Kickoff is set for 8 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on ACC Network.
North Carolina leads the all-time series between the two schools, 64-41-4. In the last meeting on Oct. 15, 2022, Duke and North Carolina combine for 1,078 yards and seven lead changes, but the Tar Heels scored the go-ahead touchdown with 16 seconds remaining to stun the Blue Devils, 38-35, at Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium. The Blue Devils’ last win over North Carolina came on Nov. 10, 2018, when Daniel Jones set school single-game records for total offense (547) and rushing yards by a quarterback (186) to help Duke to a 42-35 victory.
The Battle for the Victory Bell began in 1948 with North Carolina first earning possession following a 20-0 win. Head cheerleaders from Duke (Loring Jones) and North Carolina (Norman Sper) decided on the idea, with Jones designing the model and Sper obtaining a bell from an old railroad train. Red Lewis, Duke’s business manager, agreed to find money in the budget to pay for the bell.
North Carolina is Duke’s fifth nationally-ranked opponent faced this season. The last time the Blue Devils faced five ranked opponents in the same season was 1993 against No. 4 Florida State, No. 14 Virginia, No. 19 Clemson, No. 14 NC State, and No. 21 North Carolina. Duke is currently 1-3 on the year against Top-25 foes.
Saturday’s ACCN broadcast will feature Wes Durham, Tim Hasselbeck and Taylor Tannebaum on the call. The game can also be heard on the Blue Devil Sports Network from LEARFIELD through the Varsity app or goduke.com.
HOW TO FOLLOW
Duke (6-3, 3-2 ACC) at [24] North Carolina (7-2, 3-2 ACC)
Saturday, November 11, 2023 • 8 PM
Chapel Hill, N.C. • Kenan Stadium (50,500)
TELEVISION • ACCN
RADIO • Blue Devils Sports Network from LEARFIELD
GAME NOTES • Duke Notes • North Carolina Notes
LIVE STATS • GoHeels.com
TWITTER • @DukeFOOTBALL
GAME NOTES
Of the 21 teams nationally with three losses on the year, Duke joins Southern California and LSU as the only schools with all three losses coming against Top-25 opponents.
The Blue Devils are the only ACC school averaging 25.0 points per game (25.67 ppg, 8th) and allowing 15.0 points or less per outing (15.67 ppg, 1st).
Redshirt sophomore linebacker Tre Freeman leads the team and ranks sixth in the ACC with 71 tackles on the year. The Durham, N.C., native is averaging 7.89 tackles per game and led the Blue Devils in tackles in four contests against No. 9 Clemson, No. 11 Notre Dame, NC State and Wake Forest. Over his last five outings, Freeman has compiled 50 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks, one interception, one caused fumble and three quarterback pressures.
Senior defensive end Ryan Smith earned ACC Player of the Week honors following Duke’s 24-21 victory over Wake Forest. Smith garnered Defensive Lineman of the Week honors after registering two tackles and collecting his first career interception to set up the Blue Devils’ game-winning 26-yard field goal as time expired.
LONG AND SHORT DRIVES
Duke has put together 16 scoring drives of eight-plus plays, including seven of 10-plus plays.
Additionally, Duke has needed just three or less plays eight times to find the end zone, including twice during its last outing against Wake Forest.
FOURTH-QUARTER WINS
Duke’s win over Wake Forest during its last outing marked the first game in program history where the Blue Devils won without playing a snap with the lead.
Duke’s game-winning kick by Todd Pelino as time expired marked the third Blue Devil win in program history occurring on the final snap of regulation and the first since Matt Brooks drilled a 53-yard field goal as time expired against Clemson on Nov. 13, 2004. The other occurrence was on Oct. 5, 1968, when David Pugh converted on a 27-yard field goal against Maryland.
In addition, the victory marked just the second win under head coach Mike Elko after trailing heading into the fourth quarter. Ironically, Duke’s other fourth-quarter win under Elko came against the Demon Deacons in 2022, where it registered a 34-31 win following a Sahmir Hagans touchdown reception from Riley Leonard.
BOWL ELIGIBLE & FOUR CONSECUTIVE BOWL WINS
The Blue Devils earned their sixth win of the season against Wake Forest and now sit at 6-3 overall and 3-2 in ACC play, making them bowl eligible for the second-consecutive year. Mike Elko became the first Duke head coach to lead the Blue Devils to bowl eligibility in back-to-back seasons to start a career.
Elko joins former Duke head coach David Cutcliffe as the only two coaches in program history to lead the Blue Devils to bowl eligibility in back-to-back seasons.
By capturing the 2015 New Era Pinstripe Bowl, 2017 Quick Lane Bowl, 2018 Walk-On’s Independence Bowl and 2022 Military Bowl, Duke holds the longest active bowl streak in the ACC at four wins. Duke has been victorious in its last four bowl appearances after having won three bowl games in its history entering the 2015 season.
POINTS OFF TURNOVERS
The Blue Devils rank first in the ACC in points scored off turnovers this season with 60. The next closest is Louisville and Georgia Tech with 57 and 50 points, respectively. Additionally, Duke trails North Carolina (6 points) and Florida State (13 points) in fewest points allowed off turnovers this year with 19 points given up.
Under head coach Mike Elko, Duke has scored 132 points off turnovers (17 touchdowns, four field goals and one two-point conversion).
THREE DIFFERENT QBS
Duke is one of just three Power 5 programs to have started three different quarterbacks this season, joining Arizona State and Texas Tech. The Blue Devils are the only program to have all three earn a win.
Additionally, Duke’s win over Wake Forest during its last outing marked the first time it had three different starting quarterbacks register a win in a season in modern history.
LOFTIS AGAINST THE DEMON DEACONS
Rookie quarterback Grayson Loftis earned his first career start against Wake Forest and finished the night 7-of-19 passing for 86 yards with one touchdown and eight rushes for 17 yards.
He became the first true freshman quarterback in Duke history to win his starting debut since Mike Dunn led the Blue Devils to a 21-10 win over Army West Point on October 11, 1975. Loftis is the first Duke true freshman to win a starting debut against a conference opponent since Jerry Barger won his first start over South Carolina on September 22, 1951.
PASSES HAD INTERCEPTED
Duke joins Florida State, Virginia Tech and North Carolina as the only four schools in the ACC to have thrown five-or-less interceptions on the year. That mark ranks the Blue Devils tied for 20th nationally with 17 other schools.
FOURTH DOWN DEFENSE
The Blue Devils have held their nine opponents to just 7-of-20 (.350) on fourth down conversions, a mark that ranks third in the ACC and tied for 16th nationally.
LIMITING LONG PLAYS
The longest pass play Duke has allowed this year is 61 yards, occurring in the Blue Devils’ outing against Wake Forest. Additionally, Duke has only allowed eight plays of 30-plus yards in nine games.
Plays of 30+ Yards Allowed This Season
Rushes Passing KOR
49 vs. Clemson 36 vs. Notre Dame 99 at FSU
39 at Connecticut 30 at FSU
34 vs. Notre Dame 61 vs. Wake Forest
30 vs. Notre Dame
FREEMAN FINDING RHYTHM
After Duke’s game against NC State, LB Tre Freeman was tabbed the ACC Co-Linebacker of the Week after recording a career-high 15 tackles, to become the first Duke player to register 15-plus tackles in a game since Shaka Heyward (16) against North Carolina A&T on September 10, 2021.
Over the last five games, Freeman has compiled 50 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks, one interception, one caused fumble and three quarterback pressures.
DEFENSIVE YARDS PER PLAY ALLOWED
The Blue Devils rank third in the ACC and tied for 20th nationally, allowing just 4.93 yards per play. Duke trails Clemson (4.43) and Louisville (4.77) in the league.
PUNTING EXPERIENCE
Redshirt junior Porter Wilson has been Duke’s starting punter for the last four seasons. He has punted 198 times for 8,800 yards (44.44) with 75 boots downed inside the opponent 20-yard line against 11 touchbacks in 45 career games. He has 57 punts of 50-plus yards and registered a career-long 70-yard punt on two occasions against Georgia Tech in 2020 and Clemson in 2023.
He currently ranks first on Duke’s all-time career chart for punting average, seventh in punting yards, and 10th in punts. Against No. 4 Florida State he became the eighth player in program history to reach 8,000-plus career punting yards after compiling 172 yards on three boots.
Additionally, Wilson ranks first in the ACC and tied for seventh nationally in punting (47.58) this season.
NET PUNTING
Duke ranks second nationally with a 44.67 net punting average per game, trailing Vanderbilt (45.05).
PELINO ON PLACEMENT KICKS
After starting the final six games of 2022, sophomore Todd Pelino took over kicking duties for field goals and extra points in 2023.
This season, Pelino has gone 9-of-13 on FGs (.692) and has converted all 28 of his PAT attempts. The Cornelius, N.C., native is now a perfect 51-of-51 on PATs during his Blue Devil tenure and moves to seventh all-time on Duke’s consecutive PATs made chart. Additionally Pelino sixth in the ACC this season in PATs made, seventh in scoring (55) and 10th in FGs made.
Against NC State, Pelino connected on a career-long 52-yard field goal, tying him for the 11th-longest field goal in program lore. It also was Duke’s longest field goal made since Ross Martin recorded a 52-yard boot against Indiana in the 2015 Pinstripe Bowl.
In Duke’s last outing, Pelino converted on the Blue Devils’ game-winning 26-yard field goal against Wake Forest to make them bowl eligible.
LIMITING PUNT RETURNS
The Blue Devils held opponents to just 74 punt return yards last season. An average of just 5.69 yards per return. The longest return Duke allowed was a 16-yarder against Kansas. Duke’s opponent yards per return ranked 37th nationally, and ranked fifth in the ACC behind Virginia Tech (2.91), Miami (3.80), Pittsburgh (4.83) and Louisville (5.52).
In Duke’s nine games of 2023, the Blue Devils have only relinquished 34 yards on 14 returns (2.43). That mark ranks them 12th nationally and first in the ACC.
#GoDuke
