UNC football’s victory over Duke amounts to ‘fairy-tale ending’ for Drake Maye, seniors
The game ended with the Kenan Stadium field a mosh pit of humanity, with Mack Brown in tears, with Drake Maye soaking it all in as best he could, with the Victory Bell again ringing and ringing in the midst of the din.
“What a game,” Maye said. “A fairy-tale ending.”
The scoreboard told the story: North Carolina 47, Duke 45.
But those were the final numbers. The stories were what mattered most Saturday, and will be repeated often about the double-overtime thriller.
Those who played in the game, watched it, and swarmed the field after it won’t soon forget it. Brown has been in many games in his Hall of Fame coaching career and won a national championship with Texas in the splendor of the Rose Bowl, but there he was after the game, a 72-year-old blinked back a tear or two before a postgame interview.
“I’m an emotional person,” Brown said. “I’m a crier, a screamer, all the things that you think I’m not. When you win a game like this, you’re so proud of your staff, so proud of those kids. Because that’s what everybody’s wanting to do.
“And you never know what’s going to happen. If we won this game 31-14, it would have been ‘good job.’ These kids, this game, down by three with 41 seconds left, that doesn’t happen in your life. That doesn’t happen.”
Of Duke, Brown said the Blue Devils “pulled everything you can pull.” There was a successful faked punt and an onside kick and the wildcat formation and any number of defensive sets and offensive formations.
“They hung in there. They did the things they needed to do to hang on there.,” Brown said.
But so did the No. 24 Tar Heels.
Twice in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, Maye led them on scoring drives, scrambling, completing tough passes, straining for yardage. The quarterback gave his all this night, once trying to hurdle a Duke defensive back.
“I saw Drake Maye do some things tonight that were unbelievable,” Brown said. “He made play after play after play. I think he has to be the best quarterback in the country.”
Brown said with 41 seconds left in regulation and UNC down by three points, Maye calmly looked at him and more or less said, “I’ve got this.”
And he did.
Carolina tied it up on Burnette’s kick. It went to overtime, then a second.
“And it was unbelievable that the coaches hung in there and were so positive,” Brown said. “And the kids. … It doesn’t happen many places in the country. And it’s what you want. You talk about toughness, you talk about character, you talk about culture, you talk about confidence. These things are hard to do. I’m just so proud.”
Noah Burnette, he of the ugly field-goal miss in overtime last year against N.C. State, made six field goals against the Blue Devils, who allowed a lot of yards but were tough and stingy once UNC was in the red zone.
Time and again Burnette came out on the field and made them. A 43-yarder as time expired in regulation was an all-or-nothing kick and the junior from Raleigh delivered, then had another field goal in the first overtime.
“Noah Burnette, how about him?” Maye said. “Player of the game in my opinion. Clutch.”
In the second overtime, Maye scored on a 5-yard run, then scrambled and found tight end John Copenaver open for the two-point conversion. Duke answered with a TD, but the UNC defense stopped the two-point pass by Grayson Loftis.
Within seconds, the field was covered with fans. It was quite the celebration and it continued in the UNC locker room, because there was much to celebrate.
On Senior Night, the UNC seniors were left happy. If it was Maye’s last game at Kenan before heading to the NFL, it was a keepsake memory.
Many UNC fans were chanting, “One more year!” at Maye, which he called “awesome.”
“I’m emotional because I love those kids and what they stood for,” Brown said. “To see them in that locker room, that’s why you coach. Because you want the kids to feel great about themselves.”
This story was originally published November 12, 2023 at 9:13 AM.
