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Game commentary

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UNC game becomes fitting ending to frustrating year**

CHAPEL HILL--On Saturday afternoon, the careers of many Duke football players came to an end. It was a bittersweet ending, as the Blue Devils blew a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter of the game, eventually falling to North Carolina 28-24.

The ending typified the careers of many of the Duke players. It was a classic case of close but not quite. None of the current Blue Devils have ever managed to beat UNC. The Victory Bell, which remains in the possession of the winning team in this heated rivalry, has resided in Chapel Hill since 1990. An age-old cliche still "rings" true when this series is mentioned--throw the records out the window.

This weekend's game was no different.

Despite the fact that North Carolina was a heavy favorite, Duke took a convincing 24-14 lead into the fourth quarter. The players even became caught up, perhaps too much so, in the thought of beating the Tar Heels.

And gain momentum was exactly what the Tar Heels did.

After a Dominique Flemming blocked punt, the Blue Devils scored from the one-yard line and handed the ball back to UNC with 2:26 left in the third quarter. North Carolina came storming back, as UNC quarterback Mike Thomas engineered an 8-play, 65-yard drive in less than three minutes to pull the Tar Heels within three.

The momentum which came from that series hurt Duke's offensive chances after that score, as senior quarterback Spence Fischer and company could manage nothing more than a three-and-out on the succeeding drive.

In the eyes of head coach Fred Goldsmith, the Blue Devils' defense has been improving all season, but even when Duke took away the option from UNC, quarterback Mike Thomas exploited the Blue Devils on passing routes.

"You try to make a team one-dimensional," Kirkland said. "Basically, you want to take away their strength and make them beat you with their weakness. We did that for the most part. They came out and beat us passing, for the most part, as I saw it."

After the Tar Heels regained the lead, the Blue Devils tried to mount a comeback, but Carolina defensive tackle Marcus Jones had different ideas for the game. The Duke offense began a drive with just under five minutes left in the contest, and after gaining 10 yards to move the sticks once, Jones sacked Fischer for a six-yard loss on first down which squashed any momentum that Duke had gained.

Ironically, the game ended in almost the same manner in which last season's did. Duke finally regained the ball at its own 20 with 30 seconds remaining in the contest. Fischer's first pass of that series was a long bomb intended for junior tight end Marc Wilson. Instead, it ended up in the hands of UNC's Fuzzy Lee, from a tip by teammate Sean Boyd. The Tar Heels sealed last year's victory on a Boyd interception--tipped by Lee--off of Fischer in the waning minutes of the game.

The Duke-Carolina game kept the Tar Heel hopes of a bowl game alive. But in the process, several Blue Devil careers came to an end on Saturday.

Seniors such as Fischer, Farmer, Kirkland and Tijan Redmon each leave something behind as they finish their football careers--records for other Blue Devils to break. Fischer became only the second quarterback in Atlantic Coast Conference history to throw for over 9,000 yards. He also ranks second on the ACC's all-time total offense list with 9,110 yards. The native of Atlanta overtook Ben Bennett as Duke's all-time total offense leader in the contest against Carolina.

Farmer leaves the Blue Devils with a gaping hole not only in the secondary but also on special teams play. Farmer has recorded 12 career blocked kicks, including an NCAA record eight blocked point-after attempts, three blocked field goals and one blocked punt.

Earlier this season, Kirkland jumped ahead of former Blue Devil Mike Junkin on the school career tackles for loss list, claiming the record with 41 during his four years at Duke.

Redmon, however, claims a rather infamous record this season at Duke. His third return against the Tar Heels gave him the NCAA single-season record for kickoff return yards, and his last return also claimed the national record for the most returns in a single season with 45. The reality of Redmon's record indicates a team which has been scored upon many times in a single year.

Each of these players, however, would more than likely trade all the statistics in the world for a few more wins in their four years as Blue Devils.

"It would have been a lot sweeter if we had won the game," Redmon said. "But I just thank the Lord for putting me in this position and allowing me this opportunity. I thank the coaches for having trust and faith in me."

Fischer echoed his teammate's sentiments.

"[The record] was something I was thinking about, but I would have taken the win," Fischer said. "I really wish we could have won this game. I wanted the Victory Bell more than the stats."