University of North Carolina Athletics
Car-o-Lines: A Look at Some of The Top Carolina Wins Over Duke
November 15, 2000 | Football
Nov. 15, 2000
Read More Car-O-Lines
By Rick Brewer, SID Emeritus
North Carolina renews its classic football rivalry with Duke Saturday and don't be misled by either team's record.
Past performances suggest anything could happen when the two old rivals face off at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham.
This series has produced some sensational individual performances, close finishes and a few upsets, as well.
From a Tar Heel perspective, here are some of the greatest games the two schools have played:
1949
It was the last Duke game for Charlie Justice. He played on a bad leg, but was sensational just the same. He threw for one touchdown and caught another scoring pass himself.
Duke drove deep into UNC territory late in the game, but was apparently beaten, 21-20, when the clock ran out and fans stormed the field. However, Blue Devil athletic officials argued that the scoreboard clock, which was difficult to read, still had four seconds on it.
The game officials finally agreed. After a long wait while the field was being cleared, the game was finally resumed.
Mike Souchak, who would go on to fame as a professional golfer, lined up what would have been the winning field goal. But, Art Weiner rushed in untouched and smothered the ball before it ever left the ground to preserve the victory.
1963
Carolina had a 13-0 lead in the third quarter at Durham on touchdown runs by Ken Willard and Eddie Kesler. However, Max Chapman's second conversion attempt was wide left.
Duke came back on a 70-yard TD pass by Scotty Glacken and a 24-yard scoring run by Jay Wilkinson. When Steve Holloway added his second extra point, the Tar Heels trailed, 14-13, with just 4:38 to play.
Things really looked bad when a Junior Edge pass was intercepted on Carolina's next possession. However, the Tar Heels got the ball back after a punt with 1:23 left.
Two Edge runs and a pair of passes to Bob Lacey moved Carolina downfield. With just 21 seconds on the clock, Chapman kicked a 42-yard field goal that gave Carolina a 16-14 win and a berth in the Gator Bowl.
1976
Mike Voight ran for 261 yards and scored four touchdowns in a heart-stopping 39-38 Carolina victory. The Tar Heels needed that effort because Duke quarterback Mike Dunn was almost as good. He ran for 130 yards, passed for 109 and scored four times.
Duke led 22-21 going into the fourth quarter, but the offensive fireworks were just starting. The lead changed hands four more times until a Dunn nine-yard run gave Duke a 38-31 edge.
But, Carolina scored with 37 seconds left on an eight-yard pass from Matt Kupec to Billy Johnson. On the two-point attempt, Kupec ran right on an option and pitched to Voight who bolted into the end zone for the winning points.
1978
Carolina trailed in this game, 15-3, when the Tar Heels got the ball on their own 34-yard line with 4:14 to play. Kupec then directed a 66-yard, eight-play drive for a touchdown. Every play was a pass and Kupec completed eight of those throws. The biggest was a 12-yard toss to Bob Loomis in a fourth-and-six situation. Loomis later caught a 10-yard scoring pass.
The Tar Heels then elected to use their timeouts while Duke had the ball. The Blue Devils were forced to punt and Carolina regained possession at its own 39 with just 1:42 on the clock.
Faced with a third-and-12, UNC ran a sprint-draw and Amos Lawrence got 18 yards to the Duke 45.
Four players later Carolina had a fourth-and-one at the 36. Kupec planned to pass, but spotted a change in the defense and audibled at the line of scrimmage. Lawrence ran 21 yards to the 15.
Then with only 18 seconds left at the 11-yard line, Carolina again went to the sprint-draw. It was a risky call because if Lawrence didn't get out-of-bounds or into the end zone, it was unlikely there would be time for another play.
However, Lawrence exploded through a hole created by Ron Wooten and Rick Donnalley, broke a tackle at the two and spun into the end zone, completing one of the most incredible comebacks in school history.
1986
Carolina piled up 605 yards of total offense, but couldn't shake Duke in a see-saw battle at Durham. Three big plays-- an 82-yard pass from Mark Maye to Randy Marriott and 67 and 57-yard touchdown runs by Eric Starr-- gave the Tar Heels a 31-21 lead early in the third period.
However, Duke rallied for a 35-34 lead late in the game.
After an Anthony Dilweg punt backed Carolina to its own 15-yard line with 4:13 to play, the Tar Heels seemed in deep trouble. But two Maye completions, a short run by Brad Lopp and a personal foul penalty on Duke got UNC out of that hole and up to its 49-yard line.
From there Maye fired to Eric Lewis cutting across the middle and he outran the defense for a 51-yard scoring play. Maye threw to Eric Streater for a two-point conversion and a 42-35 lead with only 2:42 left.
That proved to be the final as Derrick Donald intercepted Slayden's first pass on the ensuing Duke possession.
1992
With Duke's defense stacked to stop Natrone Means, Carolina relied on the passing of Mike Thomas to pull out a 31-28 win at Wade Stadium.
Duke led, 21-17, at halftime before Thomas threw 29 yards to Bucky Brooks in the third quarter. However, the Blue Devils regained the lead when Steve Prince threw nine yards to Dan Clark.
After stopping Means on a fourth-and-one at the Duke four in the final period, the Blue Devils went on an 18-play drive. They didn't get any points out of that, but took 7:48 off the clock.
Beginning at his own 20 with less than four minutes left, Thomas went to work. The key play in the drive was a 46-yard tumbling catch by Brooks on the left sideline at the Blue Devil 23. Thomas ran for three yards and then hit Brooks again on a crossing pattern which he took into the end zone with 2:06 left. That clinched a Peach Bowl invitation for Carolina.
1994
The 1994 game was another defensive coach's nightmare. Carolina had 552 yards of offense and Duke piled up 458. The biggest Tar Heel stars were Marcus Wall with an 87-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, Leon Johnson who ran for 140 yards, including 131 in the second half, Mike Thomas who hit 10 of 14 passes for 210 yards, and Octavus Barnes with six catches for 165 yards.
It was Barnes who turned a short pass over the middle from Thomas into a 71-yard scoring play with 2:01 to go. That gave Carolina a 41-38 lead. Cornerback Fuzzy Lee's pass interception at the Blue Devil 15 halted a Duke comeback attempt with 1:10 to go. The Tar Heels took an intentional safety to make the final score, 41-40.
When asked, Carolina fans could point to a number of other wins against Duke as their most memorable--1940, 1959, 1960, 1970, 1971, 1980, 1983, 1990, 1991 or 1995.
And to many, the answer to that many question is an easy one. It's the last one they saw in this classic rivalry of schools only 10 miles apart.
