This year the Blue Zone will be running a series looking back on important moments in the Duke football team’s history. Today, we take you back to November 24, 2007.
The Blue Devils rushed for 358 yards and scored 48 points to beat Miami last weekend and move to 8-2 on the season. With two more wins, No. 25 Duke can advance to play in the ACC title game against No. 2 Florida State on Dec. 7. But first, the Blue Devils must win on the road this Saturday at Wake Forest. This week, we rewind to late in the 2007 season, when Duke fell in overtime to 20-14 to North Carolina.
Late in the season, the Tobacco Road rivalry featured two teams that were not bowl eligible and were only playing for the Victory Bell. The Tar Heels entered with a 3-8 record, while the Blue Devils had only won one game all season and were still searching for their first ACC win.
The North Carolina team featured a number of now-NFL players, quarterback T.J. Yates (Houston Texans), running back Greg Little (Cleveland Browns), wide receiver Hakeem Nicks (New York Giants) and wide receiver Brandon Tate (Cincinnati Bengals).
The Tar Heels came out and scored within the first three minutes, as a solid kick return by Little set up North Carolina with good field position. Yates capped a six-play, 55-yard drive with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Tate that gave the Tar Heels an early lead.
But the Blue Devils and quarterback Thaddeus Lewis responded with an impressive drive of their own. Duke drove all the way to the Tar Heel seven-yard line, but the next two plays sent the offense backwards and a delay of game penalty set up the Blue Devils with a third and goal from the 25-yard line.Undeterred, Lewis lofted the ball into the end zone where wide receiver Jomar Wright came up with the catch to give Duke a touchdown and even the score.
After the hot start for both teams, the second quarter featured no scoring from either team, sending them to the locker rooms at halftime with the score tied 7-7.
The Blue Devils started with the ball in the third quarter and drove into the redzone, but kicker Nick Maggio missed his first of two field goals on the day, with this one coming from just 36-yards out.
Both teams traded possession of the ball until early in the fourth quarter, when Lewis found Wright for his second touchdown of the game to give Duke the 14-7 lead. Wright finished the day with eight receptions, 91 yards and two touchdowns.
Two series later, an end-around to Tate gave North Carolina a 32-yard gain, putting the ball at the 24-yard line. Little took care of the rest, rushing on five of the next six plays, culminating in a 7-yard score with 8:02 to play in the game.
After punts by each team, the Blue Devils got the ball back at their own 20-yard line with just under five minutes to play in regulation.
Lewis completed his next four out of five passes, including a 17-yard pass to Wright that put Duke in field goal range. With the clock winding down and the ball on the 22-yard line, Maggio trotted onto the field to try a 40-yard field goal that would give his team the victory. The kick went up, but sailed wide left, sending the game into overtime.
The Blue Devils were on offense for the first possession of overtime, but were stifled by the Tar Heel defense, able to move the ball just two yards on three plays. With another field goal attempt coming up, head coach Ted Roof sent out reserve kicker Joe Surgan to attempt a 42-yard field goal, but Surgan's attempt was no better than Maggio's, missing the field goal wide left.
On the first play for North Carolina, Yates handed it off to Little who ran it to the right and romped 25-yards into the endzone for a touchdown that would cap a 26-carry, 154-yard, two-touchdown day.
The loss to the Tar Heels was one of many heartbreakers that occurred for Duke between 2003 and 2011, a span where the Blue Devils never took home the Victory Bell. But with the arrival of David Cutcliffe as head coach, Duke Football began to take on a new image, one that included beating North Carolina 33-30 in 2012. This season, the Blue Devils must again travel to Chapel Hill on the last week of the season, where they will be looking to retain the Liberty Bell so that they can punch their ticket to Charlotte.
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