No. 24 UNC is chasing a fifth straight win against rival Duke when they meet Saturday
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/11/2023 (1046 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Duke (6-3, 3-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) at No. 24 North Carolina (7-2, 3-2, No. 24 CFP), Saturday, 8 p.m. (ACC Network)
Line: North Carolina by 14 1/2, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
Series record: The schools differ. Duke says UNC leads 64-41-4, UNC says its lead is 63-40-1.
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
It’s the latest renewal of a longtime instate rivalry between charter ACC members. The winner gets the Victory Bell, a cart carrying a former railroad engine bell used in the rivalry in the late 1940s. The winner typically paints the cart its shade of light or dark blue. UNC has won all four meetings in Mack Brown’s second coaching tenure with the Tar Heels.
KEY MATCHUP
UNC’s offense against Duke’s defense. The Blue Devils play with physicality and toughness, and that’s made them one of the nation’s top defenses all season. They currently rank inside the top 10 of the Bowl Subdivision ranks by allowing 15.7 points per game. That unit will be tested by a UNC offense that can push downfield with star quarterback Drake Maye or a power-running game led by Omarion Hampton. Maye is third in FBS by averaging 339.7 yards of total offense, while Hampton is fourth in rushing by averaging 118.6 yards per game.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Duke: QB Grayson Loftis. Starting quarterback Riley Leonard is hobbled, so Loftis had to lead the offense as a true freshman in a tight win against Wake Forest. He could be in line for another start.
UNC: Pass rusher Kaimon Rucker. He’s tied for ninth in the FBS ranks with eight sacks on the season.
FACTS & FIGURES
The Tar Heels peaked at No. 10 in the AP Top 25 during a 6-0 start before plummeting out of the rankings following losses to Virginia and Georgia Tech. They returned to this week’s poll after an easy nonconference win against Campbell. … Hampton has run for four straight 100-yard outings, the first UNC player to do so since Gio Bernard in 2012. … Duke’s last series win in 2018 was led by eventual NFL quarterback Daniel Jones, who accounted for a program-record 547 yards. … All three of Duke’s losses have come against AP Top 25 opponents. … Duke hasn’t beaten a Brown-coached UNC team since an infamous 41-0 road win in 1989 that ended with Steve Spurrier’s Blue Devils taking a team photo in front of the scoreboard afterward during Brown’s first tenure in Chapel Hill. … UNC won last year’s meeting on a last-second touchdown pass by Maye. … The Blue Devils’ last win in Chapel Hill was in 2017.
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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football