SportsDirect Inc. staff
Nov 30, 2013
No. 24 Duke 27, North Carolina 25: Ross Martin kicked a 27-yard field goal with 2:22 remaining and DeVon Edwards sealed the victory with a last-second interception as the visiting Blue Devils clinched a trip to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game with their school-record 10th victory of the season.
Anthony Boone passed for 274 yards and two touchdowns and Jamison Crowder finished with five catches for 54 yards and two touchdowns to give him 88 receptions on the season, breaking the schoolกฏs single-season record set last season by Conner Vernon. Shaquille Powell rushed for 57 yards for the Blue Devils (10-2, 6-2 ACC), who will meet No. 2 Florida State in the title game next Saturday in Charlotte, N.C.
Eric Ebron caught five passes for 121 yards for North Carolina, breaking the single-season ACC record for receiving yardage by a tight end. Marquise Williams completed 17-of-36 passes for 223 yards and a touchdown and added 104 rushing yards and two touchdowns for the Tar Heels (6-6, 4-4).
Thomas Moore gave North Carolina a one-point lead with a 37-yard field goal with 7:03 remaining, but Martin came back with his 27-yarder that sailed just inside right upright. Williams scrambled 10 yards on fourth-and-5 to put the ball at the Duke 49-yard line with 25 seconds left, but Edwards stepped in front of his pass two plays later to seal the win.
Ebronกฏs career-long 79-yard reception set up the first touchdown of the game for North Carolina and a muffed punt by Duke set up a second 1-yard touchdown run by Williams, followed by Mooreกฏs two-point catch from punter Tommy Hibbard, giving the Tar Heels a 15-10 lead. Edwards returned the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown to give Duke a two-point halftime lead, and an interception by the Blue Devils on the opening series of the second half led to Booneกฏs 7-yard touchdown pass to Crowder for a 24-15 advantage.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Ebronกฏs 895 receiving yards this season bettered the previous ACC tight end record of 871 set by Vernon Davis of Maryland in 2005. กญ Duke had scored touchdowns on all 22 goal-to-go situations this season before settling for a 22-yard field goal by Martin midway through the second quarter. กญ The Blue Devils came in with a plus-76 point differential in the fourth quarter, tops in the FBS, while North Carolina was at minus-19, tied for 93rd.