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Four Takeaways from UNC's Four-Point Win at Duke
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- Four Takeaways from UNC's Four-Point Win at Duke
(IMAGN Images via Reuters Connect)
The North Carolina Tar Heels did everything in their power to hold off a late Duke Blue Devils comeback.
It wasn't the prettiest victory, and head coach Bill Belichick knows he'll have plenty to go over, but in the end, UNC pulled out a crucial 24-20 victory on the road.
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Duke trailed 17-0 in the early parts of this game, and while they would score 20 unanswered, UNC had enough left in the tank to get the job done.
Duke was 44% on third down
Defensively, it seemed like UNC had it all figured out in the first 20 minutes of this game. Duke couldn't do anything offensively, and the Tar Heels dominated them possession after possession.
Then, the Blue Devils got rolling. In the end, they were 8-for-18 on third downs, and that was far better than UNC, who finished 4-for-12.
Both teams were 2-for-3 on fourth down conversions, but winning on third-down is crucial if UNC wants to make a bowl game.
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UNC has to protect the ball
Despite losing the turnover battle, the Tar Heels were able to stun the Blue Devils in Durham.
UNC fumbled not once but twice in this game, but Jordan Shipp and Jaylen McGill were lucky those didn't turn out to be game-changing plays.
Tar Heels weathered the Nate Sheppard storm
Coming into this game, Nate Sheppard was listed as a true game-time decision. Duke's star running back has been a huge part of why they got off to such a strong start this season, and he did indeed play against the Tar Heels.
In the end, he led Duke in seemingly every rushing and receiving category, but it ended up not mattering.
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The Blue Devils still ran the ball 30 times; 20 of those were from Sheppard, but having to throw 41 times threw everything off, and that was a direct impact of starting the game down by 17 points.
Jaylen McGill's breakout game
McGill's first two games saw him have 73 rushing yards on 10 carries, but then he had just 24 yards on eight carries in the three games to follow.
Against Duke, he led the Tar Heels with 75 yards and averaged 6.3 yards per attempt.
Sure, he coughed up the football once, but he also had a big rushing touchdown and looked far more explosive than Demon June, who finished with 13 carries for just 49 yards.
For reference, McGill's longest run of the night was for 24 yards, while June's was only seven.
