North Carolina Blows a 17-0 Lead, Then Wins It Anyway
North Carolina led Duke 17-0 in the second quarter, trailed 20-17 in the fourth, and won 24-20. If you are going to do it the hard way, do it all the way. Jaylen McGill's 24-yard touchdown run with 1:53 left was the winning score, and it came 2:46 after Duke had taken its first lead of the day.
The Tar Heels started fast. Rece Verhoff kicked a 28-yard field goal, Billy Edwards Jr. found Jordan Shipp from 5 yards, and Demon June ran in a 4-yarder early in the second quarter. That was 17-0. Then Duke's Andrew Pellicciotta returned a fumble 9 yards for a touchdown with 8:37 left in the half, and North Carolina did not score again until 1:53 was left in the game. Gavin Strange kicked field goals of 22 and 21 yards, and Walker Eget hit Nate Sheppard from 7 yards with 4:39 left to put Duke up 20-17.
Take away that fumble return and Duke has 13 points, not 20, and North Carolina wins 24-13. In real life the Tar Heels lost two fumbles (Shipp's and McGill's) and were outgained 373 yards to 327. Duke threw one interception, Eget's.
Duke also ran 30 times for 124 yards to North Carolina's 38 for 136, so the ground game was a wash. The Tar Heels lost the turnover battle 2-1 and still won, which is the kind of thing that does not usually work twice. Both teams finish 4-2. For fantasy owners, Sheppard was the day's best skill player by a wide margin, catching 11 passes and carrying 20 times, and he is the best argument against sitting a running back in a close game.