CHAPEL HILL — The fans jumped during “Jump Around.” They put their hands in the air during “All I Do Is Win.” They sang every word of “Mr. Brightside” as loudly as they could.
Eventually the music on the P.A. system stopped, but the party didn’t.
The game ended just before midnight. As 12:30 approached, there were still hundreds of fans on the Kenan Stadium turf. They sat in small circles, talking. They lay on their backs, seemingly willing to spend the night instead of letting the evening be over.
UNC survived against visiting Duke in an utterly unhinged fourth quarter and overtime, beating the Blue Devils 47-45 in double OT.
It was just the second overtime game in the series, and it was one for the ages.
Duke started their third string quarterback, Grayson Loftis, in just his second career start. The only other quarterback available was a freshman named Donald Tomlin, who didn’t even have a recruiting page on any of the major services.
It gave depth chart a new meaning as Duke dug deep to run the offense, but Loftis played like a veteran, leading the Blue Devils to 22 fourth quarter points. Through three quarters, Loftis was 4-of-9 passing for 46 yards. In the final 15 minutes and two overtimes, he went 12 of 19 for 143 and two touchdowns, finishing the night with three.
“We tried to keep it close to the vest and protect him,” coach Mike Elko said, “but in the fourth quarter, we cut it loose.”
Elko went as deep into his bag of tricks as he did the quarterback depth chart. Duke pulled off a fake punt. The Blue Devils went 4-for-4 on fourth downs, and they pulled off a surprise onside kick to help wipe out a 12-point UNC lead in the final quarter.
It was almost enough.
“I’m hurting so bad for those kids in the locker room,” Elko said. “They made a lot of plays tonight. They’re resilient as hell, but at the end of the day, we didn’t make enough.”
UNC had Drake Maye, the all-ACC quarterback likely making his final start at Kenan before he leaves for NFL riches. Maye completed 28-of-43 passing for 342 yards and an touchdown. He ran for two more scores, and he simply found a way to move the team, completing passes and pitches as he was being tackled to keep plays alive.
“What did he convert, five plays when he was going down and managed to make something happen?” Elko asked.
“Drake played as well as I’ve ever seen him play,” UNC coach Mack Brown said. “There were two or three plays in the game you just don’t see people make. He’s as good a quarterback as there is in the country, period.”
Duke took the lead three times in the fourth quarter, the last with 41 seconds left. Maye led the Tar Heels on a six-play, 50-yard drive to set up the tying field goal at the gun, and for the first time since 2007 and the second time ever, the two teams went to overtime.
Each team exchanged field goals, and, in double overtime, Maye carried it 5 yards for the go-ahead score and then hit John Copenahver for the two-point conversion. Loftis matched him with a 6-yard pass to Jordan Moore, but the two-point pass was off the mark, and the fans leapt barriers to storm the field.
UNC also got help from Omarion Hampton, who rushed for 169 yards, and Tez Walker, who caught seven passes for 162 yards. Duke was led by Jordan Waters, who rushed for 113 yards.
There were star performances on both sides, from headliners and unheralded players stepping up.
“It was one of those games,” Elko said. “No one’s going to stop playing. No one’s going to stop trying to make plays.”
And it’s entirely possible that no one is ever going home.
