Anderson Castle’s third 1-yard touchdown run of the day – one play after Duke’s successful trick play late in the game – helped the Blue Devils pull out a 32-25 victory against host North Carolina on Saturday in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Duke’s Darian Mensah threw for 175 yards and a touchdown on 20-for-33 passing as the Blue Devils (6-5, 5-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) became bowl eligible.
North Carolina (4-7, 2-5) won’t be going to the postseason in coach Bill Belichick’s first season at the helm. The Tar Heels finished 2-4 in home games.
Gio Lopez threw for a touchdown and ran for one for North Carolina. He was 21-for-27 passing for 204 yards.
With 2:26 left in regulation, Duke kicker Todd Pelino lined up for a potential go-ahead field goal but instead took a pitch from the holder and ran 26 yards down the left side on a fake, taking the ball to the North Carolina 1-yard line. After the Blue Devils went ahead on Castle’s score, they tacked on a two-point conversion on Sheppard’s catch.
North Carolina, which had come to life offensively in the second half, fizzled on its final possession and gave the ball back on downs at its own 14 with 1:18 left.
The fourth quarter began with North Carolina finishing a 91-yard drive on Davion Gause’s 12-yard TD run for a 25-24 lead with 13:13 remaining.
Duke reached North Carolina territory on its final two possessions, but the first of those went awry on a fourth-down sack.
All of Duke’s scoring drives included 10 or more plays.
The Tar Heels converted for a 49-yard field goal from Rece Verhoff in the final seconds of the first half. Duke led 17-10 at the break after controlling the ball for stretches and then recovering North Carolina’s attempted onside kick to begin the second half.
The Blue Devils used 11 plays to go 44 yards with Castle scoring on a 1-yard run, extending the lead to 24-10.
North Carolina responded with a 10-play march, with Lopez throwing for 20 yards to Jordan Shipp, who made eight receptions for 83 yards. With a roughing-the-passer penalty on the play, the Tar Heels opted for a two-point conversion and Shipp caught that as well.
Earlier, Duke’s second touchdown came one play after a roughing-the-kicker penalty on the Tar Heels as Pelino was missing a field goal.
