If there ever was a tale of two football teams’s direction we saw it Saturday between Duke and North Carolina.
When Duke’s 21-20 victory was over, the Blue Devils moved to 5-0 under new head coach Manny Diaz. UNC fell to 3-2, Mack Brown’s seat gets even hotter, and Geoff Collins is looking like a disaster as a DC many expected. Last week UNC gave up a whopping 70 points in a loss to James Madison. Against Duke, UNC had a 20-0 lead mid-way through the 3rd quarter and the defense had a complete collapse in the final quarter and a half.
The teams have arguably comparable talent, and maybe UNC may even have more. The difference between the two teams is Duke is a tough and gritty team that now has multiple second-half comebacks. UNC we thought displayed some of that in their opening win over UNC, but it hasn’t been seen in these last two games. It’s a common theme though for UNC. The recent Mack Brown teams have never been known as tough. The frequent second-half-season collapses have started early this year after a 3-0 start. Judging by recent years once it starts going bad to the Heels, they don’t recover. UNC’s season is on the brink, and with 4-0 Pitt next, it could totally freefall.
Duke on the other hand can think really big now. Mike Elko’s was known for making Duke physical and tough, and Manny Diaz has continued that. QB Maalik Murphy is a gamer at quarterback who seems to play his best football late in games, just ask Northwestern and UNC. RB Star Thomas has played the running back position as well as just about anyone in the ACC over the last three games and has become a real problem for defenses.
The games just get bigger now. A game at Georgia Tech will be a test, but get through that and the Blue Devils could head into the BYE week 6-0 and hosting a reeling Florida State team.
UNC fights for season survival, and Duke is thinking just how far this already surprising season can go.
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