Is there a path for Duke football to beat the Tar Heels Saturday?
Some thoughts on what Duke needs to do to come out on top
Sometime in November 1889 Trinity College [Duke’s precursor] defeated UNC in a football game. By forfeit.
Sometime in November 1889 UNC defeated Trinity in a football game. By forfeit.
Same game. Or non-game actually. The game was never played and both schools claim a victory.
Still claim a victory.
Cannot make this stuff up.
I’m sure many of my readers remember now-retired Dr. Bill King, the longtime university archivist. Awhile back he took a deep dive into this and gave me permission to quote.
Here are some salient points.
“The evolving new rules complicated scheduling but they were also used to not play a game if one of the teams appeared weaker than its opponent. In 1889 Wake Forest defeated UNC and Trinity defeated Wake Forest. Trinity proposed several dates for the game [against UNC] before exams and the deadline for the end of the winter season on Jan. 15. Trinity also agreed to a game in Chapel Hill because the UNC faculty ruled that the team could not play games away from campus.”
Sounds pretty simple.
Apparently not.
“The game was never scheduled and never played. Carolina claimed that the Jan. 15 end-of-season date was unconstitutional [under the rules of the North Carolina Inter-Collegiate Football Association.] Trinity claimed otherwise. Carolina claimed a forfeit victory. Trinity did the same.”
And that’s where it stands, 134 years later, each team still claims a forfeit victory for a game that was never even scheduled.
And, yes, Dr. King says he tried to get this fixed but never got any traction.
Now, that’s a rivalry.
I don’t know what’s going to happen Saturday night in Chapel Hill but I strongly suspect the scheduled game will actually be played and no one will claim a forfeit victory.
Can Duke win the game the old-fashioned way, on the field?
Talking to the media on Monday Mike Elko sure made it seem like a steep hill to climb.
“When you look at them, they are an extremely talented football team on offense. They're first or second in basically every category in the ACC. I think it all starts with a quarterback Drake Maye, who's an extremely talented young man and plays the game really well. He's extremely competitive, he's athletic and can throw the ball all over the place.”
This isn’t coach-speak. As sick as Duke fans may be of the Maye family, Drake Maye projects as a top-five pick in the next spring’s NFL draft. He’s passed for 2,803 yards this season, with 20 touchdown passes against five interceptions.
Plus the Tar Heels can run. Omarion Hampton is already over 1,000 rushing yards this season. Those of us of a certain age have not so fond memories of Tar Heels like Ken Willard, Don McCauley, Mike Voigt and Amos Lawrence gouging Duke’s defense on the way to victory. Hampton is good enough to replicate that.
Carolina has games of 40 or more points six times this season.
The key to slowing this down?
“Our main focus is playing Duke football,” defensive tackle Aeneas Peebles says. “Gritty, tough, just play as hard as we can and let the chips fall where they may. Just handle our business. Our job as a defensive line is to contain this guy [Maye] and get after him.”
Elko says Duke is not backing down.
“It's certainly a clash of strengths. We've been really good on defense this year. I think we're number one in the ACC in scoring defense. I think we're in the top 10 in the country. I think they're number two in the league in scoring offense and they're top 10 in the country.
“When you have a lot of really talented players on the field, it's one heck of a battle. So, we have a lot of respect for them. They're certainly dangerous and they certainly can hurt us, but we also have a lot of confidence in who we are. I think it's a challenge that we're excited to take on.”
Still, Duke is not beating this team 7-3.
Can Duke win a shoot-out?
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to JimSumnerSports to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.