After two missed field goals and a botched extra point earlier in the game, North Carolina kicker Dan Orner nailed a weak, wobbly 47-yard kick as time expired to beat the football team 23-21 Saturday afternoon and take the wind out of a student body that looked ready to tear down the Wallace Wade Stadium goal posts for the second time this season.
The kick, which Duke head coach Carl Franks said looked both wide and short until it somehow miraculously went through the uprights, came on the heels of a seven-play, 45-yard drive in the last 53 seconds of the game by the Tar Heels. The drive not only got them into field-goal range after starting from their own 25, but also allowed Orner's knuckleball to float through, crushing Duke's chances at beating their archrivals for the first time since 1989.
"I didn't hit it very well, but I was trying to keep my head down on it as much as possible," Orner said. "I hit it straight--I didn't hit it that good, but I knew I was going to have the leg enough and it just came right down the middle. It is just a dream come true."
Just prior to North Carolina's game-winning drive, the Blue Devils had marched down field with a drive of their own that many thought had won the game for Duke.
After forcing a North Carolina punt with a 20-14 lead and 5:14 left in the game, quarterback Adam Smith, who had been cold up to that point, hit a few key passes to march Duke from their own 28 down to midfield with about two minutes left.
The Tar Heels then sacked Smith on first down and stuffed running back Alex Wade on second to bring up third-and-eight. On the ensuing play, the North Carolina defense got to tailback Chris Douglas behind the line of scrimmage, leaving Duke facing a fourth-and-nine situation.
However Smith's hot hand continued as the sophomore found Lance Johnson on a slant-hook pattern from the left side for a 14-yard gain, keeping the Duke drive alive.
"It was a play that we run quite often," Smith said. "Lance Johnson did a good job making sure he got the eight yards-he got to the 10 before he came back in, so he definitely had the first down. I knew it was fourth down so he definitely had to catch it, no one was open and had to throw it somewhere. Lance ran a great route, and came open and I just threw it across."
On the next play, first-and-10 from the UNC 33, Senterrio Landrum ran a hitch-and-go on the right side. The Tar Heel cornerback bit on the hitch, leaving Landrum to run a fly on the right side. Smith found his receiver in the endzone for a touchdown. Kicker Brent Garber nailed the extra point giving Duke a 21-20 lead with 53 seconds left.
"It came down to the last four seconds--a two minute drill run by our quarterback to the best of his ability and everybody out there executing and making plays," North Carolina head coach John Bunting said. "And then the kicker came up with the kick of his life."
The Tar Heels outplayed Duke for most of the first half, before Wade was able to punch on in to tie the score in the waning seconds.
In the second half, Duke came out and recovered a fumble to halt a North Carolina drive.
A few possessions later, Duke blocked a UNC punt, and Douglas was able to score on a 19-yard pass, giving Duke a 14-7 lead, the first of Franks' career against the Tar Heels.
North Carolina responded by scoring two unanswered touchdowns, and missing the extra point on the latter, before Duke was able to respond offensively with its last second drive.
"We'll use this as motivation," Franks said. "I still like this football team a lot, this is a great group. We're so far away from where we were three years ago, but we can only go up."
The Blue Devils will now have the offseason to think about another heart-wrenching loss. Duke, which loses only one player, Jaymon Small, will begin practicing again in the spring.
"We'll be back, we'll be bowl contenders next year," junior safety Terrell Smith said.
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