The most intriguing numbers to come out of Duke’s week 13 loss to North Carolina:
4
Duke committed four turnovers for the second time this season, having previously done it against Virginia Tech. Both Sean Renfree and Anthony Boone threw interceptions, their 11th and first of the season respectively. Renfree also fumbled once on a sack, while Desmond Scott coughed up the football once as well.
18
There were a whopping 18 penalties resulting in 154 yards in Saturday’s game. Neither team had a game with as many penalties this season, though North Carolina's game against Rutgers earlier this in which 17 penalties were committed.
23:31
Duke could not control the football in this game. Having the football for just 2:07 in the first quarter, Duke controlled the ball for just 23:31, the shortest time of possession this season by 3:13. Some of the blame for the short time of possession can be placed on the turnovers, though Juwan Thompson’s 70-yard touchdown also limited the time of possession for the Blue Devils.
70
When Juwan Thompson made a reception and took it to the endzone for 70 yards in the first quarter, he recorded Duke’s longest play from scrimmage of the season. Donovan Varner’s 64-yard touchdown against Virginia was previously the longest play.
5
The Blue Devil defense was torched by the run game once again. The Tar Heels posted 187 rushing yards, led by freshman running back Giovani Bernard’s 165-yard performance. This was the fifth consecutive game in which the Blue Devils surrendered over 150 rushing yards. There have been only four instances all year that Duke has held a team to under 150 rushing yards.
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