5 Memorable UNC Wins In Victory Bell Games

North Carolina and Duke are known much more for exciting games on the basketball court, but the football rivalry between the neighbors has had its moments, too.

So, with the Tar Heels set to renew their 132-year-old feud again this weekend at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, it’s only fitting to take a historical tour of their series. On tap today, five memorable UNC wins over Duke to get back or retain the Victory Bell.

Note that UNC is 60-41-4 all-time against the Blue Devils. Carolina won 21 out of 22 versus the Blue Devils from 1990-2011, but since then, the Devils have won five of the last eight meetings. Duke’s longest winning streak in the series is seven games, from 1950-56.

First played in 1888, when Duke, then called Trinity, defeated Carolina 16-0.

The teams play annually for the Victory Bell, which started in 1948 when head cheerleaders for both schools came up with the idea they should play for it on the football field each season.

Here are those five games:

The 1957 Duke Blue Devils spent more than half the season ranked in the Top 10, including four weeks in the top five. But when the Devils hosted UNC in late November, they owned a 6-1-2 mark and were looking to clinch the ACC championship. Carolina had plenty to play for and came through.

UNC actually rose to No. 14 in the rankings at one point that season, but quickly dropped out and concluded the season with a 6-4 record. It was 5-4 heading into the Duke game.

A crowd of more than 40,000 filled Wallace Wade Stadium on a cold, rainy day, as Duke opened up a 13-0 lead in the second quarter. Carolina turned a pair of Duke fumbles in the third quarter into touchdowns to take the lead and held off the Blue Devils stopping them on downs at the UNC 14-yard-line late in the game.

The win ended a seven-game losing streak for UNC in the series.

Duke entered the 1960 game owning a 7-1 record, ranked No. 6 in the nation and a few days earlier accepted an invitation to play in the Cotton Bowl. The Blue Devils soared in the rankings a few weeks earlier after defeating then-No. 4 Navy and eventual Heisman Trophy winner Joe Bellino.

The Tar Heels were headed in the opposite direction, sitting at 1-6 going into the home date against one of their rivals.

An uneventful game through three scoreless quarters turned into a thrilling final period. Carolina blocked an extra point attempt late in the game, and while it stalled on fourth-down well into Duke territory on its ensuing possession, UNC got the ball back and drove for the winning score. Quarterback Ray Farris ran it in from three yards out on fourth down with just more than two minutes left to play and the Heels converted the extra point for the victory.

In what is generally regarded the wildest game ever played between the Devils and Heels, the high-octane Tar Heels edged Duke when Mike Thomas connected with Octavus Barnes for a 71-yard catch and run touchdown with 2:01 remaining for the win.

The teams combined for 26 points in the fourth quarter and combined for three touchdowns in a 4:24 span off the clock in one stretch. Duke made a push inside the final minute, but Fuzzy Lee intercepted a pass at UNC’s own 19-yard-line. Carolina took a safety a few plays later when Thomas ran out of the end zone with 12 seconds remaining. Duke missed a 58-yard field goal attempt as time expired.

Barnes, a freshman, caught six passes for 165 yards and also threw a touchdown pass, hooking up with Marcus Wall for a 49-yarder. Carolina lost to Texas in the Sun Bowl and finished the season 8-4.

Unlike the first three games noted, neither team was ranked heading into this one. Both clubs were struggling, as the Tar Heels were 2-9 overall and 0-7 in the ACC and the Blue Devils were 2-9 and 0-7. One of these clubs was going to pick up their first and only ACC win of the season.

Basically, the story of this game came down to its last play, when UNC kicker Dan Orner converted a 47-yard field goal as time expired to win it for the Heels.

Orner, who has been a well-respected kicking instructor for years, had missed a pair of field goals and an extra point earlier in the game after turning in a pretty good season to that point. Even the 47-yarder didn’t look good at first but hung high enough to soar over the crossbar to give the Tar Heels the victory setting off perhaps the wildest celebration in the history of the series.

Orner ran the other direction into a massive balloon-style Duke football helmet that was situated just outside the corner of the end zone on the Devils’ side of the field at Wallace Wade Stadium. Many of the Tar Heels followed and they pretty much destroyed the helmet.

“I had a good practice on Thursday, and I may have been a little overconfident today,” Orner said afterward. “I was leaving my hips open. The missed extra point was a reality check. But my teammates kept assuring me I'd make the next one when I got the chance.”

Carolina entered the game a week after falling in six overtimes at Virginia Tech. Mack Brown’s first team of his second term at the helm badly needed a win, and in front of a full house at Kenan Stadium in a rare night game between the rivals, the team battled through a physical affair.

Noah Ruggles booted a 40-yard field goal with seven minutes left to give UNC a three-point lead and it appeared several game minutes later the Tar Heels were primed for a game-winning score when Javonte Williams fumbled at Duke’s 2-yard-line giving the Devils life.

Duke then marched 92 yards on 14 plays to the Carolina 2-yard-line, when the Devils tried a trick play. Running back Deon Jackson’s jump pass was intercepted at the goal line by UNC’s Chazz Surratt giving the Heels the ball with 14 seconds left and the victory.

Carolina knew what play Duke was going to run.

“Before the play, we got in the huddle and (Defensive coordinator Jay) Coach Bateman said to expect the pop pass,” Surratt said. “It’s kind of the formation they were giving us, so that’s what we did. We just kind of played it. I think Strow (Jason Strowbridge) got a good hand on the running back to make them throw a bad ball and I was able to make a play on it for the team.”

The win ended a three-game Duke win streak in the series. UNC finished the season 7-6 after beating Temple in the Military Bowl.