This is the first "meaningful" football game that Duke and North Carolina have played since about 1939. By meaningful, I mean this game has Coastal Division title possibilities on the line and a spot in the ACC Championship game. Duke-North Carolina will always have the Victory Bell and it is Duke-North Carolina no matter what the sport but if it was not for Duke's loss to Miami last week that came right out of the Twilight Zone, they would both be nationally ranked.
Duke Coach David Cutcliffe has really turned Duke's program around and has made them relevant again and it looks like North Carolina Coach is finally starting to see some relevance in his fourth season. Fedora needed to get by that "we made it to a bowl game" hump and start playing for something more meaningful and this is it.
The Duke-North Carolina game shapes up to be classic football. UNC's offense versus Duke's nationally ranked defense. Most experts believe defense wins championships. North Carolina has played two opponents- Illinois and Wake Forest that have had nationally ranked defenses. The results were 48-14 and 50-14, both North Carolina blowouts.
Duke is a little more battle tested than Illinois or Wake Forest and they very well could be playing on a wet field. Duke's offense is very similar to North Carolina's and North Carolina's defense utilizes a "bend but don't break" philosophy. North Carolina's defensive stat line is never going to blow you out of the water with a lot of sacks, three-and-outs, or tackles for losses but they play solid fundamental football.
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