University of North Carolina Athletics
Turner's Take: Duke Week
November 5, 2015 | Football, Featured Writers, Turner Walston
By Turner Walston
The two-minute drill to close Wednesday's Carolina football practice was an intense one. There was barking back and forth between the Tar Heel offense and defense. There were coaches on either sideline, calling in plays, making corrections and adjustments and admonishments. There was wide receiver Mack Hollins, interspersing every play by shouting “Duke week!” over and over again, reminding his teammates on either side of the ball what awaits on Saturday.
“It's just Duke week to me, really,” Hollins said after Tuesday's practice. “I've got to get the guys up. This is a huge step on our journey for the Coastal, state champs and Coastal champs, so to win this is big and you can't have guys forgetting what this week means.”
It's not likely that they'll forget. Between Hollins' shouting and the rivalry's iconic Victory Bell ringing to signal the beginning of a new practice period, Duke week is everywhere.
“A lot of the young guys don't know what it feels like to have [the bell] taken away, and I don't want that feeling again,” Hollins said. “You're going to hear it all week. It's Duke week. They might get annoyed with it, but they'll figure it out when Saturday comes and you've got guys from eight miles away talking real bad to you. You'll figure it out why it's Duke week."
The high-energy rap and rock music that is so pervasive at Larry Fedora's football practices was silent for this final period of practice. Hollins didn't like that. He yelled to someone, to anyone that the music should be on - and loud. “It's a sellout,” Hollins said. “I need some crowd noise!”
The music never came back on, but there was noise on the field. The Tar Heels thudded up –no need to risk an injury at this point– but every juke or would-be hit was met with 'oohs' and more barking. Ryan Switzer caught a pass before ducking out of bounds just in front of Mike Hughes. One side of the ball was in awe of the receiver's move. The other side thought what might have been had Hughes unloaded in a live-ball situation. It was intense. It's Duke week.
“Coach Chizik always says that Tuesday and Wednesday should be harder than Saturday,” linebacker Jeff Schoettmer said. “Game day should be easy, because we work so hard on Tuesday and Wednesday, so that's how we kind of have to make it.”
Yes, the two-minute drill is offense vs. defense. Yes, there are bragging rights on the line, but in the end, these are all teammates, and the ultimate objective is to make each other better, to make the team better.
“I'd say in years past it was offense vs. defense,” Schoettmer said. “We wanted to beat them just to be able talk trash to them. But now, we've got to give them a good look and they've got to give us a good look to make the whole team better. That's the mentality that everyone's embraced. So when we're in anything and it's one on ones, it's competitive.”
The mentality that the team has embraced, the buy-in illustrated in a 7-1 record to date is what has the Tar Heels in the driver's seat in the ACC's Coastal Division. Yes, it's about scoring touchdowns and getting stops, but it's as much or more about team chemistry, about having one another's backs. And as the season progresses, these Tar Heels are playing for more than pride. In November.
“I don't know that it feels different, but it gives us more motivation,” center Lucas Crowley said of coming in to the Duke game at 7-1 as opposed to 5-5, as the team did a year ago. “I think this year our team's gotten a whole lot tighter. We say we've got your back, and everybody has each other's back. Everybody's close on the team. We're a tight-knit group and I think that helps a lot.”
Saturday's challenge comes in the form of the 6-2 Duke Blue Devils, who would be coming into this game with the same 4-0 ACC record as the Tar Heels were it not for a ridiculous eight-lateral kickoff return for a touchdown by the Miami Hurricanes (a play that resulted in a two-week suspension for the officiating crew due to multiple errors). The Blue Devils won the Victory Bell in 2012 and defended it in 2013. The Tar Heels took back the rivalry symbol last season. So now, the Tar Heels are the hunted as opposed to the hunter.
“ I think anytime you're defending, something it's a little bit different than when you're hunting to get it,” Larry Fedora said on Wednesday. “It's definitely different. I don't know if that's good or bad.”
“Obviously, I want to keep that bell,” said Schoettmer. “That's going to be for the rest of my life. It's going to stay with me my senior year.”
But even still, Schoettmer knows that the season is bigger than a bell, bigger than a senior game. It just happens that Duke is the next mile marker on the road to a state championship, an ACC championship game. Win the game, defend the bell, move forward.
“Last year (against Duke), we weren't fighting for something as big as the whole Coastal championship,” Hollins said. “So if the guys can't get up and realize what we have going for us, then it's a shame. That's why I scream 'Duke week.' You can't forget it.”
And that brings us back to the two-minute drill. After a Switzer reception brought the Tar Heel offense deep into the defense's territory, it all came down to 4th and goal, with time running down. Snap. Marquise Williams looked for a receiver in the short corner. The pass was delivered, but the reception was not clean. The ball bounced off a pair of hands and fell to the grass. The defense began to celebrate a win; the receiver immediately removed his helmet, slamming it onto the ground repeatedly and screaming in anger.
“You're going to need that helmet, bro,” a defensive back said to the receiver. “It's Duke week.”
Players Mentioned
