Duke Football improved to 5-0 on the season after capping off a 21-20 rivalry win over North Carolina on Saturday night in Wallace Wade Stadium.
After falling behind 17-0 at the half, Duke spotted the visiting Tar Heels another field goal midway through the third quarter to trail 20-0. At that point the Blue Devil offense had amassed only 97 yards of total offense and seemed to be completely overmatched.
Until they weren’t.
Over the final 20 minutes of action Duke would rack up nearly 300 yards of total offense led by running back Star Thomas’ season high 166 yards on the ground. The transfer back accounted for two touchdowns, one running and one receiving, to help Duke storm back.
The rally was complete when Peyton Jones broke away for a 20-yard touchdown run with 5:43 left in the fourth quarter to make it 21-20 in favor of the Blue Devils.
Saturday night’s win improves Duke to 5-0 on the season and marks the best start for the Blue Devils since the program won seven straight to open the 1994 season. The rally from 20 points down marked the second biggest comeback win in program history.
Following the game the Blue Devils met the media to discuss the win and to look ahead to what’s next. Here’s what they had to say…
Duke University Head Coach Manny Diaz
Opening statement:
“Good to see everybody. Before I begin, I want to make a comment about the hurricane that went through and what it did to the western part of the state. Everybody associated with Duke football’s thoughts are with the people who have gone through some devastating damage. If in any way, shape or form, what happened here tonight could have been some sort of distraction for what they’ve had to go through, then that’s another part of the victory we had here tonight.
“As for the game itself, I’m in awe of our guys. Couldn’t be more proud of what we did. We talked about it at halftime, that we had a chance to do something legendary, and that would require all of our belief in ourselves and in each other. The way Carolina was defending us, they were making us go the long way. They had really changed their coverage structure to eliminate one-on-ones down the field and grind it out. We challenged our offensive line and our defensive line at halftime to take over the game, and I thought, without a shadow of doubt, that’s exactly what happened. I thought we dominated the line of scrimmage in the second half.
“To get Star Thomas going is really what got our offense going. On defense, we had the one unfortunate situation when we blocked the punt, which ended up being three points for them. From that point on, they didn’t score again.
“Defensively, we had to play most of the second half with very little margin for error. They were phenomenal. That back [Omarion Hampton] is a real guy. That’s an NFL guy, a threat to go at any time. I do think we made him earn the majority of his yards.
“That’s a locker room right now that’s really excited and really happy, but also knows that this night is not what this season’s all about and that there’s more that we can do. Starting the season 5-0, they really believe that. We’ve got a tough one next week, but we will enjoy the heck out of this one tonight and we go again tomorrow.”
On Duke’s resilience throughout the game:
“Our guys were remarkable. Even at halftime, there were no throwing helmets and there were no loud voices. We refocused. We had to get the mindset that the way to come back was going to be through body blows. We made a reference of ‘just keep hitting singles.’ What happens is that you try to get it all back at once. That really is what they wanted us to do. They wanted us to get impatient on offense and try to get it all back at one time, instead of just going to work on them. That’s what we did.
“Star Thomas, what an inspiration that guy is for our team. Not just the way he runs. The [offensive] line and tight ends did a great job opening up the holes, but what he does, when gets to the secondary, it just felt like he got stronger and stronger as the game went on.”
On the decision to punt on 4th-and-1 late in the fourth quarter:
“The plan all along was to punt and see if we could draw them offsides in that situation. Kade Reynoldson, what a weapon that guy is. Holy cow. We felt like we could make them go [down] the long field, even though they only needed three to win. But the fact is that they only needed three. If we missed a block or something happened and you’re starting a possession at midfield, their kicker is probably good from 60 [yards]. So, that might’ve been one first down and they’re in a formation that we don’t want to see – a field goal formation to potentially win the game. So, trust in our defense in that situation, and they made it happen.”
On the fan support at the game:
“I’ve got to give a lot of credit to our crowd tonight. Our crowd was amazing. The student body was unbelievable. Obviously, for the first 30 minutes plus of the game, we didn’t give a lot to cheer for. There wasn’t a lot of evidence that it was going to end up being a legendary night. The way they stayed into it, and I do feel like once we got rolling, the crowd became a factor in the game. I don’t think that’s any question that that helped us and helped our guys. It maybe factored into some of the pressure we were able to create, too, as they were maybe having a hard time hearing their snap count. Great night for everybody associated with Duke football and everyone, in my mind, has a piece in today’s victory because of the role that they played.”
On what second-half adjustments the team made:
“I think how we lined up formationally to get the looks that gave our runs a chance. They were just going to keep three guys over two and really almost try to double our wideouts. It was frustrating, because even in the first half, we just weren’t running the ball well in the light boxes. That’s a sign of respect, which we would expect. That shows you the story. I don’t know what [Jordan Moore] and those guys ended up having, but that’s an example of where people are concerned about leaving those guys one- on-one. We feel like this has been five weeks in a row where you get into a game, and you get a little bit of a different picture than what you practiced all week. I think that’s part of where our offense, what they had seen and what they had practiced against, all of a sudden there’s a lot of different moving parts on gameday. That takes a while to get used to. Like I said, credit the offensive staff for getting it turned around and making the necessary adjustments.”
17–StarThomas–Gr.–RB
On playing in the rivalry game and coming out with the win:
“Coming into the game, I knew how important it was to the university and how important it is to Durham. Like coach said, it’s another game but it’s an important game to the university. It’s an important game for Durham. This is something we really wanted to come out with. They’ve been talking about losing the last few years, so we said, ‘Why not make this year the year we come in and get it?’”
On picking up the offense in the second half:
“We got into the locker room and Coach Diaz said, ‘We have to run the ball better. We have to get better.’ So, I just took it upon myself to be better on the run. It starts with me. Starting right now, I have to step up and be the best player I can be. We set that tone coming out of the locker room at halftime.”
4–EliPancol–Gr.–WR
On the energy in the fourth quarter and the win:
“This feeling is indescribable. It’s what I’ve been waiting on since I got here. So, I’d like to shoutout all the alumni, everybody I came in with and everyone that represents Duke. That’s for everyone.”
On being part of a 20-point comeback:
“For us, that’s just how Duke football is. It’s a credit to Coach [David] Feeley. He basically trains us to ‘take people to the sewer’ and finish games. We feel we work the fourth quarter better than any team in the nation and that’s what Coach Diaz installs in us every single day. So, basically it was just routine for us.”
7 – Vincent Anthony Jr. – Jr. – DE
On the feelings after the win:
“It’s just excitement, thrill. To bring the Victory Bell back home, bring it back to the Bull City – words can’t even really explain it.”
On the defensive mindset during the last drive of the game:
“Just get after them. Coach Diaz and Coach [Jonathan] Patke, that’s their thing. We had to get after their quarterback. That’s the one thing we had to do, get after that quarterback, so that was really just all of our mindsets.”
