Why life in the ‘sewer’ is a good thing for Duke football, and helped it finally beat UNC

As Duke’s coaches and players gathered in their locker room at halftime Saturday, the Blue Devils were in a dark, desolate place in their game against rival North Carolina.

The Tar Heels, having won the past five games and 28 of the past 34 against Duke, were having their way again, leading 17-0 at Wallace Wade Stadium.

If there’s a football equivalent of a sewer, that’s where the Blue Devils found themselves.

But you’d never know it by listening to them.

“There was no throwing helmets,” Duke coach Manny Diaz said. “There was no loud voices. We just, we refocused. We had to get the mindset that the way to come back was going to be through body blows.”

By doing that, the Blue Devils turned the tables and pulled their rivals through the sewer, which is a phrase they used all summer while building up the strength and stamina needed to complete a historic 21-20 win.

Through the ‘sewer’

Never in the long history of the Duke-UNC football rivalry had the Blue Devils come back from a 20-point deficit in the second half to win.

But the Blue Devils were confident even in their darkest moments Saturday, because they’d heard strength coach David Feeley yell those words over and over and over again.

“The sewer is basically our offseason workout,” Duke defensive end VJ Anthony said. “With Coach Feeley, we put ourselves through the sewers for moments just like this. And so we know teams can’t compete with us when we drive them through the sewer. The sewer is the whole game, and we really drag them through the deep end in the fourth quarter.”

Duke backs up that talk with results. The Blue Devils have outscored their opponents 40-6 in the fourth quarter this season, and have yet to allow a touchdown.

Feeley arrived at Duke when Mike Elko became its coach for the 2022 season. Counting the past two seasons and the first five games of this one, the Blue Devils have outscored their opponents by 100 points in fourth quarters.

It’s a big reason why Duke is 22-9 over that stretch.

Against UNC, Duke trailed 20-0 early in the third quarter after the Tar Heels used their opening possession of the second half to drive and add a field goal.

Even after that happened, with its offense sputtering, the Duke sideline remained filled with hope.

Duke still trailed 20-7 entering the fourth quarter, then scored two touchdowns while shutting out UNC.

“As a team mindset, we drag them through the sewer in the fourth quarter,” Anthony said. “It’s not allowing points, scoring two or three touchdowns. So, yeah, that’s the sewer for you.”

Such a vile place never smelled so good.

Duke’s comeback win gives it the program’s first 5-0 start since the 1994 team won its first seven games.

Finally ending a losing streak to UNC means the Blue Devils took possession of the Victory Bell on Saturday night. Its clanging had been absent from the school’s Yoh Football Center since 2019, when Duke surrendered it to the Tar Heels after UNC won 20-19 in Chapel Hill.

But the players took turns ringing it on the field and in the locker room as the Tar Heels slumped off the field.

UNC had the game under control, or so it thought and so it appeared.

Ground and pound

Duke started the game attempting to establish the run but could only muster 37 rushing yards on 18 attempts over the first two quarters to average a meek 2.1 yards per carry.

Whether Feeley deserves all the credit or not, the Blue Devils were the stronger team in the second half. Duke pushed UNC around to finish with 185 rushing yards. In the second half, Duke gained 148 yards on 23 carries — an average of 6.4 yards per carry.

Running back Star Thomas ran for 166 yards, his third consecutive game with 100 rushing yards or more. He gained 122 of those yards in the second half, when he scored two touchdowns (one on a pass catch and run, another on a 2-yard plunge).

“We just came into the locker room (at halftime) and Coach said,`We have got to run the ball,’” Thomas said. “We’ve just got to be better and I just took it upon myself. It starts with me. Starting right now I’ve got to be physical. We’ve got to set the tone coming out.”

While Thomas and Duke’s offense did that, Duke’s defense stopped UNC running back Omarion Hampton like no team this season. A preseason All-American, Hampton averaged 6.53 yards per carry over UNC’s first four games to lead the ACC with 555 rushing yards.

Against Duke, he gained 103 yards but did so on 29 carries to average just 3.6 yards per attempt. In the second half, Hampton carried the ball 12 times to gain just 32 yards (2.7 yards per carry).

“We challenged our offensive line and our defensive line at halftime to take over the game,” Diaz said. “And I thought, without a shadow of a doubt, that’s exactly what happened. And I thought we dominated the launch scrimmage in the second half.”

That allowed Duke to not only stun its rival, but also to move within one win of becoming bowl eligible for the third consecutive season. The Blue Devils play at Georgia Tech at 8 p.m. Oct. 5, looking to collect their important sixth win.

Given how Duke went three consecutive seasons without making a bowl from 2019-21, falling to the bottom of the ACC and losing 13 consecutive league games at one point, assuring itself another postseason trip remains important.

But doing so in the manner it has so far this season, and Saturday night against UNC in particular, is extra sweet.

“Coach Diaz said at halftime,” Duke wide receiver Eli Pancol said, “he’s like, this is going to be something that we’re going to look back on in, like, so many years and it’s going to be something special. So I can’t wait 20 years down the road I’m going to be watching the highlights. It’s awesome.”