The Daily OrangeDuke-UNC rivalry takes on greater meaning in football
By Brett LoGiurato
Posted: 11/10/09, 2:35 AM EST Section: Sports
Twice a year, fans and students of Duke and North Carolina make the eight-mile trip down Tobacco Road between the schools, braving hours upon hours of waiting in line to watch their teams square off on the basketball court.
Little did they believe they'd be making a third trip this year to watch a matchup of equal importance on the football field.
"I think it's great for the area that there's interest on both sides for this ballgame," Duke head coach David Cutcliffe said last week in the Atlantic Coast Conference coaches' teleconference. "It certainly has a chance to be a great football game."
The Blue Devils and Tar Heels battled Saturday for their annual rights to the Victory Bell, which UNC won, 19-6. The two schools renewed their rivalry earlier than usual and with more at stake, leading to an increased interest in the rivalry a whole three months before Duke-North Carolina basketball fever usually grips the area.
Saturday's game marked only the fifth time in the last 96 years in which both teams have had winning records going into the contest, as each was at 5-3.
For North Carolina, it has been the hiring of head coach Butch Davis that brought it within one win of a second straight bowl appearance, which would be the school's first consecutive bowl appearances since a six-year stretch from 1992 to 1998. Davis is now in his third year with the program.
Davis, who previously coached Miami (Fla.) before a stint with the NFL's Cleveland Browns, has transformed the Tar Heels' defense into arguably the best in the conference. They rank first in the ACC in total defense (249.4 yards-per-game) and points allowed per game (16.5). On top of those numbers, they rank fifth nationally against the pass, letting up only 157.78 yards per game.
"They're big and they're fast," Cutcliffe said of the Tar Heels' defense. "Sometimes you can't run it and you can't throw it, but you still have to score points. That's about what it is when you play that kind of defensive team."
Little did they believe they'd be making a third trip this year to watch a matchup of equal importance on the football field.
"I think it's great for the area that there's interest on both sides for this ballgame," Duke head coach David Cutcliffe said last week in the Atlantic Coast Conference coaches' teleconference. "It certainly has a chance to be a great football game."
The Blue Devils and Tar Heels battled Saturday for their annual rights to the Victory Bell, which UNC won, 19-6. The two schools renewed their rivalry earlier than usual and with more at stake, leading to an increased interest in the rivalry a whole three months before Duke-North Carolina basketball fever usually grips the area.
Saturday's game marked only the fifth time in the last 96 years in which both teams have had winning records going into the contest, as each was at 5-3.
For North Carolina, it has been the hiring of head coach Butch Davis that brought it within one win of a second straight bowl appearance, which would be the school's first consecutive bowl appearances since a six-year stretch from 1992 to 1998. Davis is now in his third year with the program.
Davis, who previously coached Miami (Fla.) before a stint with the NFL's Cleveland Browns, has transformed the Tar Heels' defense into arguably the best in the conference. They rank first in the ACC in total defense (249.4 yards-per-game) and points allowed per game (16.5). On top of those numbers, they rank fifth nationally against the pass, letting up only 157.78 yards per game.
"They're big and they're fast," Cutcliffe said of the Tar Heels' defense. "Sometimes you can't run it and you can't throw it, but you still have to score points. That's about what it is when you play that kind of defensive team."
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