UNC vs. Duke : Game Grades, Analysis for Tar Heels and Blue Devils
There's nothing quite like rivalry games in college football. If for no other reason, you have to love these kinds of games for their unpredictability. If you looked at the metrics coming into tonight's showdown along Tobacco Road, you'd honestly have to admit that Duke looked to be the far superior squad.
Well, like we said: These games are notoriously difficult to predict.
North Carolina came out swinging, landed some early body blows and never looked back. What's perhaps even more impressive is the fact that UNC rode its much-maligned defense to victory.
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Let's break it all down here in our game grades for both the Tar Heels and Blue Devils following North Carolina's 45-20 win.
| Pass Offense | B- | B |
| Run Offense | A- | A |
| Pass Defense | B+ | B+ |
| Run Defense | A- | A |
| Special Teams | Incomplete | B+ |
| Coaching | A | A |
UNC Pass Offense
We'll start with North Carolina's Marquise Williams. He's generally known as a dual-threat quarterback who can make big plays with his feet, but it was his arm on display tonight in Durham.
Williams unloaded on the Blue Devils secondary to the tune of 276 yards and two touchdowns. Ryan Switzer caught just three of Williams' 18 completions on the night, but Switzer had a game-high 109 yards. Bug Howard also hauled in three catches for 55 yards, while Quinshad Davis had six receptions for 44 yards and a score.
Mack Hollins had the other TD reception on his lone catch from a yard out.
Duke had been surviving much of the season by not giving up the deep ball. Tonight, Williams and his receivers killed Duke by having success with the deep pass—and when the Tar Heels were rolling, Duke looked utterly incapable of stopping them.
We aren't venturing higher than a B in the passing offense, however, mainly due to William's penchant for risky play with the football when under pressure. Rather than simply tacking the sack, Williams tried twice to make a move and throw the football late. The result was two fumbles that gave Duke a glimmer of hope in the first half.
Lucky for Williams, his defense bailed him out both times.
UNC Run Offense
Williams, true to form, had a team-high 21 carries on the night, but it was T.J. Logan's performance that really stood out. A 47-yard run that initially appeared to end in the end zone (but on review was ruled out at the one) was one of the most impressive running highlights of the evening for either team.
Logan is shifty in the backfield, able to avoid tackles near the line. But his amazing track star-like speed in the open field is what was really impressive. Logan finished the night with 116 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries.
In the end, UNC had three rushers with 96 yards or more—a number that will certainly please UNC fans and give Duke coaches fits when reviewing game tape tomorrow.
It's also worth noting, however, that Williams committed his third fumble of the evening in the run game.
UNC Pass Defense
North Carolina entered tonight's game with the 116th-ranked pass defense in the nation, giving up 283.4 yards per game. Holding Duke to 262 passing yards isn't a quantum leap in terms of improvement, but it's an improvement, nonetheless.
Additionally, UNC was able to get pressure on quarterback Anthony Boone all evening, thanks in large part to some lock-down coverage by the Tar Heels secondary. The defensive line played inspired and won the battles up front, and Boone never looked comfortable in the pocket. As the game wore on, Boone was quick to dance outside of the pocket, reacting to the pressure—real or imagined.
Duke's early inability to throw the ball (89 yards on 8-of-17 passing in the first half) led the Blue Devils to try and rely on their running game while trailing by several touchdowns.
Forcing Duke to run the ball would work well only if UNC's similarly bad run defense could stand up to the pressure.
UNC Run Defense
And stand up to the pressure it did. North Carolina, sporting the 115th-ranked run defense in the FBS (228.2 yards per game), limited Duke to just 116 yards on 37 carries.
There isn't much to say here except, "Wow!" What an improvement. If there's one position group that deserves the praises of head coach Larry Fedora, it has to be the front seven.
Not only did UNC bottle up Boone when he was in the pocket, but the front seven was able to contain any and all Blue Devils who dared carry the football. The Tar Heels also did an outstanding job of limiting the big plays, as the long rush for Duke on the evening was a 12-yard scamper from Thomas Sirk.
Run defenders aren't often the superstars of a performance, but anyone watching tonight's game knows just how important these guys were to this winning effort for UNC.
UNC Special Teams
There isn't much to complain about here, as special teams really didn't play a massive role in a pretty lopsided game.
Thomas Moore was perfect, going 1-of-1 in field goals and 6-of-6 on extra points. Tommy Hibbard averaged 42.3 yards on his three punts.
The lone exciting highlight for the special teams came from Switzer, whose 16-yard punt return early in the second quarter set UNC up with favorable field position near midfield, leading to a touchdown that put the Tar Heels up 28-7.
UNC Coaching
Let's face it: Larry Fedora didn't have much reason to hope his Tar Heels would be able to provide much in the way of defensive resistance. He really had to hope his offense could keep up with Duke.
Instead, his defense shut the Blue Devils offense down while his offense overcame numerous miscues to open up a huge early lead.
While the game certainly wasn't perfect, Fedora's game plan worked even better than he even likely hoped. The defense played inspired football, and the coaches kept the offense's head screwed on straight even after three fumbles by Williams.
| Pass Offense | C+ | C+ |
| Run Offense | C- | D+ |
| Pass Defense | B | B- |
| Run Defense | C+ | D+ |
| Special Teams | B | C |
| Coaching | Incomplete | C |
Duke Pass Offense
We really expected to see more from Anthony Boone. Sure, he's not the most prolific passer, having thrown for less than 2,000 yards coming into the evening. But he's been accurate when he's needed to be, and his on-field generalship of the offense has been a big part of the Blue Devils' success.
So we were more than a bit surprised to see a smidgen of panic in his eyes this evening, as the UNC defensive front was able to dial up consistent pressure.
After a few passes batted down at the line, a few sacks and a few more knockdowns, Boone began reacting early—too early—to pressure in the pocket. This resulted in hurried throws and passes on the run—never a good combination for a quarterback.
After passing for just 89 yards in the first half, Boone finished 22-of-40 for 202 yards, two touchdowns and an interceptions that looked more like an arm punt than anything else.
To be fair, UNC's defensive secondary played out of its mind tonight, but Boone was making bad decisions with the football even when he wasn't truly forced into such bad throws.
Duke Run Offense
When the passing game struggles, you're supposed to be able to rely on your run game. For Duke, that wasn't the case against North Carolina.
Five Blue Devils combined for just 116 yards—the exact same total yardage that UNC's T.J. Logan put up by himself. What's more, Logan needed just 18 carries to reach that mark while Duke took 37 attempts to get there.
Boone also managed to fumble twice in the first half while running with the football, and he led the team with a paltry 36 yards on the ground.
Again, we have to credit UNC's defense for getting early pressure in the backfield, disrupting plays before they could truly materialize. But if UNC was able to get into the Duke backfield so often, don't we have to start pointing some fingers toward the Duke offensive line?
You bet we do.
Duke Pass Defense
All things being equal, Duke's pass defense didn't play that poorly. Limiting an opposing quarterback to 276 yards and a pair of passing touchdowns isn't a stellar performance, but it's certainly not the end of the world.
The only problem is that the passing defense was the best part of the defense for Duke on the evening, and when 276 yards is the high point, you're in trouble.
Williams and his receivers were able to find holes in the Duke secondary, and the Tar Heels exploited the short routes every bit as much as they did the deep balls. Duke had been making a living off of limiting big plays by opposing offenses, but tonight, the Tar Heels had nearly a half-dozen plays of 20 or more yards just in the passing game, including a 62-yard pass from Williams to Switzer.
If your offense isn't playing well, the defense has to lend a hand by getting stops and preventing big plays. On both of those fronts tonight, Duke failed.
Duke Run Defense
Here is where it really gets ugly for Duke. The Blue Devils knew they would need to limit the runs from Williams and his compatriots. Knowing a thing and doing a thing are very different.
Duke was run over to the tune of 316 rushing yards and three scores in an absolute clinic on how not to defend against the run.
T.J. Logan was able to run past every defender Duke had on the field, and Williams had no trouble finding running room—even with Duke keying on the well-known rushing quarterback.
There's no other way to put this: The run defense was a complete failure this evening.
OK, not "complete failure," but close. The only reason we're giving a D+ to the group is for the forced fumble and three fumble recoveries the guys up front had in the first half.
Duke Special Teams
If you were hoping for some sort of spark from the Duke special teams, you were likely disappointed. That said, there really wasn't much opportunity for that badly needed spark. Duke forced just three UNC punts, only one of which was returned. That lone return went for 30 yards, but that drive ended in a fumble—one of two committed by Duke in the red zone tonight.
We are marking down for two things here. First, punter Will Monday was sadly able to down his own punt after kicking it almost straight up. The net result was a weak 15-yard punt for the Blue Devils.
Secondly, Duke's failed two-point conversion late in the game that forced the Blue Devils to try an earlier-than-expected onside kick (that failed). Sure, you can blame the offensive unit for that, but since it's technically a special teams play, we're mentioning it here.
And besides, that failed onside kick as a result is definitely a special teams play.
Duke Coaching
There just wasn't anything good about tonight's performance, and David Cutcliffe was visibly upset with his players and assistants on the sideline at times.
While there's a certain level of relying on the players to execute the plays (which the Blue Devils certainly failed to do over long stretches), we expected to see better adjustments to UNC's defensive pressure in the second half. Those adjustments never materialized.
Instead, Duke's offensive play-calling became even less imaginative, and the result was predictable.
We can't ignore all of the great things Cutcliffe has done at Duke over the past several years, but tonight wasn't one of his better moments.
Unless otherwise noted, quotes or references to quotes were obtained firsthand by the writer.
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