Manny Diaz and his first Duke football squad appeared dead in the water at halftime of their home bout against rival UNC in Wallace Wade Stadium on Saturday. At the time, the Blue Devils trailed, 17-0, to a Tar Heel team that allowed 70 points in a home loss to James Madison the previous week.
And Duke's deficit grew to 20-0 early in the third quarter.
But as it turns out, the Blue Devils' uninspiring start simply set the stage for the second-biggest comeback in program history, as Duke (5-0, 1-0 ACC) bounced back via three unanswered touchdowns and a win-sealing interception to defeat UNC (3-2, 0-1 ACC), 21-20.
It marked Duke's first victory over UNC since 2018 and first over Mack Brown since 1989 — also, the Blue Devils' first 5-0 start in 30 years — leading to a stormed field and aggressive recapture of the rivalry's Victory Bell.
Ring ding dong!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/KFyglBts3m
— Matt Giles (@MattGilesBD) September 28, 2024
Speaking of aggressive, the Duke football social media team was not at all concerned with sparing the feelings of Tar Heels afterward.
The celebration at UNC's expense began with the posting of a Duke blue screen:
— Duke Football (@DukeFOOTBALL) September 28, 2024
Then came the following "Silence of the Lambs" graphic to immortalize "the terrifying events of Sept. 28, 2024":
— Duke Football (@DukeFOOTBALL) September 28, 2024
Two hours later, Duke social media decided it wasn't finished rubbing it in, as the account proceeded to pretend as though it had reported UNC football's Instagram account for impersonating "a good football team":
♂️ pic.twitter.com/wxsPOgw7ch
— Duke Football (@DukeFOOTBALL) September 29, 2024
Before calling it a night on the taunting, Duke capped it off by poking fun at the size of Carolina's recently installed deck, which pales in comparison to the first-year Devils Deck in Wallace Wade:
You vs. the deck she tells you not to worry about pic.twitter.com/6j6mJl7KQP
— Duke Football (@DukeFOOTBALL) September 29, 2024
Harsh. Yet that's what makes the Duke-UNC rivalry stand out from all the rest.
Diaz's energized Blue Devils, who now boast the ACC's longest active winning streak at seven games dating back to last season, must guard against a letdown when they travel to Atlanta for a showdown against Georgia Tech at 8 p.m. Saturday (ACC Network).
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