Star Thomas scored two second-half touchdowns and Peyton Jones ran in from 20 yards out with 5:43 left as Duke overcame a 20-point deficit to beat visiting North Carolina 21-20 in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams Saturday at Durham, N.C.
Duke (5-0) scored back-to-back touchdowns to pull within 20-14 and kept the momentum, eventually getting the decisive dash from Jones.
Thomas had 166 rushing yards on 30 carries. Maalik Murphy of Duke threw for a touchdown on 15-for-34 passing for 209 yards.
North Carolina’s Jacolby Criswell threw for two touchdowns in his second start of the season. His lone interception came on Tre Freeman’s interception with 25 seconds left and the Tar Heels approached midfield, and shortly after Blue Devils fans rushed onto the field to celebrate the end of a five-game skid in the series with their chief rivals and giving first-year coach Manny Diaz a rewarding result.
Tar Heels running back Omarion Hampton gained 103 yards on 29 carries.
North Carolina (3-2) benefitted from a strange sequence across the first 61/2 minutes of the second half. The Tar Heels had a punt blocked, but the ball went beyond the line of scrimmage and was mishandled by the Blue Devils, with the Tar Heels recovering and ending up with Noah Burnette’s 37-yard field goal.
That put Duke in a 20-0 hole before scoring on its first second-half possession. Thomas turned Murphy’s short pass into a 29-yard touchdown play.
The Tar Heels were up 17-0 on Criswell’s 10-yard third-and-goal TD throw to Bryson Nesbit in the end zone following two penalties that threatened to doom a nine-play, 61-yard drive. Hampton had 46 yards (rushing and receiving combined) on the march.
North Carolina was burnt in a variety of ways in a 70-50 stunning defeat a week earlier at home to James Madison, but the Tar Heels limited Duke to 97 first-half yards of total offense. The Blue Devils’ lone scoring threat was doomed when Todd Pelino’s field goal attempt from 47 yards bounced off the right upright 58 seconds before halftime.
After holding Duke without a first down on the Blue Devils’ first two possessions, the Tar Heels opened the scoring on Noah Burnette’s 40-yard field goal.
On its next drive, North Carolina converted on two third-down plays before Criswell’s 24-yard touchdown pass to J.J. Jones on fourth-and-1.
–Field Level Media
