Duke retains Victory Bell. What we learned in Blue Devils’ thrilling win over UNC

When North Carolina tackled Duke’s Que’Sean Brown on a trick play late in the third quarter, UNC senior Will Hardy celebrated by sprinting, full speed, to the sideline to celebrate with his teammates.

It looked like a game-losing call for Manny Diaz’s squad, and marked the first time Duke had failed to convert on fourth down on Saturday afternoon.

It wouldn’t happen again.

Because in the eventual 32-25 win for the Blue Devils, Duke attempted another trick play on its next drive — this one successful — on a fourth-and-three that saw kicker Todd Pelino rush for a 26-yard gain. That set up Anderson Castle’s 1-yard run for the game-winning touchdown.

A few minutes later and the Blue Devils were dragging the Victory Bell out to the UNC logo, celebrating their second-straight win over North Carolina and a bowl-eligibility clinching sixth win on the season.

“What a game, right,” Diaz said. “We said all week Duke-Carolina has come down to the last play of the game. It’s come down to the fourth quarter, no matter how it looks in the first three.

“It felt like we had control of the game. Credit to them, they made us fight back, which you would expect in a rivalry game.”

UNC, meanwhile, will finish its first season of the Bill Belichick era with a losing record. This loss also means North Carolina will likely end its season in Raleigh next weekend.

The last time the Tar Heels failed to make a bowl game was 2018.

“Tonight, obviously came up a few plays short,” Belichick said following the loss. “It’s disappointing, but give Duke credit. They made a few more plays than we did at critical times.”

Here’s what we learned about both teams from the latest Victory Bell matchup:

Tar Heels are architects of their own demise

Manny Diaz coined the Blue Devils the “architects of our own demise” after mistakes and penalties cost Duke a game against then-No. 11 Illinois in early September.

But the roles were reversed on Saturday, with the Tar Heels’ defense and special teams, in particular, standing out as sore spots.

One moment stands out: Marcus Allen’s roughing the kicker penalty. That came after North Carolina stopped Duke on a fourth-and-14. A Blue Devils’ unnecessary roughness penalty pushed Duke back and caused Pelino to attempt his field goal from 46 yards out. He missed, but Allen bailed Duke out.

The 15-yard penalty put the Blue Devils in a first-and-10 scenario. From there, Duke quarterback Darian Mensah easily connected with tight end Jeremiah Hasley, who waltzed into the end zone untouched on a 14-yard touchdown catch to put Duke up 14-7.

But Allen wasn’t the only Tar Heel defender to commit a penalty on that drive, which carried over from the end of the first quarter. With less than a minute remaining in the opening quarter, UNC defensive back Thaddeus Dixon was called for pass interference on a deep pass to Duke wideout Cooper Barkate, resulting in a 15-yard penalty.

Another Allen miscue later in the second quarter — a pass interference on a third-and-3 and Duke’s 35-yard line — extended a Blue Devil drive that led to a field goal to pad Duke’s lead. Allen’s pass interference call was one of two UNC penalties on that drive, along with a substitution infraction.

North Carolina ended up committing 12 penalties on the game for 103 yards, eight of those penalties called on the defense. The Tar Heels were called for three unsportsmanlike penalties in the fourth quarter alone.

“We had a lot of mistakes,” UNC wide receiver Jordan Shipp said. “A lot of penalties out there in tonight’s game. I feel like that’s something that we can’t do... we can’t let the emotions get high.”

Gio Lopez puts together best performance of season

Lopez followed up one of his best drives in recent memory — six-of-six passing for 65 yards in the air and rushing for a touchdown — with a steep, but temporary drop-off in productivity.

Lopez was 3-of-7 passing for the rest of the first half, managing just 21 yards in the air during that stretch.

Earlier this week, Belichick identified passing yardage and decision-making as two areas he’d seen tangible improvements from Lopez through 10 games. Through the first half on Saturday, there was little evidence to back up Belichick’s claims.

“That really starts with him, including some decisions he makes in terms of run-pass options or plays that could go either way,” Belichick said earlier this week, later adding, “it’s not perfect. We’re not there yet, where we want to be. But it’s certainly gotten a lot better quickly.”

And Lopez got a lot better quickly on Saturday. Lopez opened the second half by captaining two back-to-back touchdown drives for a combined 166 yards. The 91-yard drive that began in the third quarter and ended in the fourth was North Carolina’s longest offensive drive on the season in terms of total yards.

“I thought Gio played well tonight,” Belichick said on Saturday. “He took some hits. He showed a lot of toughness, showed a lot of accuracy throwing the ball.”

Lopez finished the night with 21 completions on 27 attempts (a 78% completion rate) for 204 yards and two touchdowns (one passing and one rushing).

Duke overcame defensive problems

Before the game, Duke linebacker Nick Morris Jr. and safety Terry Moore stood side-by-side, watching the Blue Devils go through their warmups. Moore, All-ACC last season, has not played as he continues to rehab an ACL injury suffered in the Gator Bowl. Morris was lost for the 2025 season in the N.C. State game with a leg injury.

The Blue Devils have since lost linebacker Elliott Schaper for the season and had Tre Freeman, an emotional defensive leader, miss time with injuries.

Freeman was not available Saturday. Neither was cornerback Landan Callahan, who has gotten more playing time as the season progressed.

Injuries have resulted in some of the Devils’ defensive inconsistencies, topped by their insistent problems getting off the field on third down. In UNC’s touchdown drive to start the game, UNC converted four straight times on third down – the fourth a short TD run by Gio Lopez.

The Heels converted another two third-down plays in a 75-yard scoring drive in the third quarter as UNC made it a 24-18 game on Lopez’s TD pass to Shipp and then a two-pointer to Shipp. They took the lead in the fourth after converting a third-and-8 play at the Duke 45 in going 91 yards for the go-ahead score, UNC’s longest drive of the season.

But with the game in the balance, the Devils made key defensive stops in the fourth quarter. They sacked Lopez twice on one possession, then stopped the Heels on a fourth-down play to seal it.

“It’s two years in a row when it came down to winning time at the end of the game, the Duke guys were the ones making the plays at clutch time,” Diaz said.

Devils had the edge in kicking game

The kicking game has been a little feast and a little famine for the Blue Devils this season.

The Blue Devils had the best of it Saturday, the biggest play being Pelino’s 26-yard run on a fake field goal with 2:20 left in the fourth quarter. Pelino made it to the UNC 1 before knocked out of bounds, and Castle scored his third TD of the game to push the Devils back ahead.

After the Tar Heels had taken the opening kickoff and gone 75 yards for a 7-0 lead, the Blue Devils needed a jumpstart. Sahmir Hagans provided it, jetting the UNC kickoff 40 yards to the Duke 47 as the Blue Devils then answered for a 7-7 tie.

In the second quarter, Duke’s Todd Pelino was leveled by UNC’s Marcus Allen as he attempted a 46-yard field goal. After the 15-yard penalty, Mensah immediately went to tight end Jeremiah Hasley for a 14-yard TD.

Pelino added a 33-yard field goal for a 17-7 lead late in the first half, which UNC did offset on Rece Verhoff’s 49-yarder in the final minute of the half.

The Tar Heels attempted an onside kick to begin the second half, but the ball was touched by a UNC player before going 10 yards – Duke taking possession at the UNC 44 and scoring on a short Anderson Castle run.

This story was originally published November 22, 2025 at 7:08 PM.