Goddard's late interception seals win for UNC

By Bill Cole
JOURNAL REPORTER
DURHAM
North Carolina needed to stop another late drive near its end zone yesterday, and Trimane Goddard came through to seal a 28-20 victory over Duke at Wallace Wade Stadium.
Goddard intercepted a pass by Thaddeus Lewis at the UNC 4-yard line in the final 27 seconds and returned the ball to the 22. UNC took over with 15 seconds left and ran out the clock.
Lewis was running to his left on fourth down at the UNC 16 when he threw the ball toward the middle of the field, trying to hit Donovan Varner. But there were no Duke receivers in the area, and Goddard had an easy catch.
"I wanted to take it to the house," Goddard said. "I looked around me and made sure no one was around me, and I started running. Once I saw they had the angle on me I just went out of bounds."
Coach Butch Davis considered that a sound decision, even though he had wanted Goddard to down the play earlier so UNC wouldn't risk a fumble.
"I told him, 'I think if I had had a gun I might have shot you at the end of the game,'" said Davis, breaking into a smile.
The interception was the second turnover that UNC forced in the second half, when its defense dominated after Duke had closed to 21-20 on a field goal.
Quarterback T.J. Yates drove UNC to a touchdown immediately after the field goal, and UNC led by eight with 1:16 left in the third quarter. Duke ran three plays and punted on each of its next three possessions, and Davis considered those series crucial.
On its fourth possession in that stretch, Duke fumbled, and UNC's Aleric Mullins recovered at the Duke 35. Duke's next possession ended with Goddard's seventh interception of the season.
UNC (8-4, 4-4 ACC) defeated Duke for the 18th time in the last 19 games in the series and won its 10th straight at Duke. With eight wins in the regular season for the first time since 1997, the Tar Heels will await word on their first bowl berth since 2004.
"It's an unbelievable feeling because of the work we've put in," linebacker Chase Rice said. "I've been waiting for this since my freshman year. It's four years in the making."
Duke finished its first season under Coach David Cutcliffe with records of 4-8 overall and 1-7 in the ACC and a five-game losing streak but still had more wins than in any season since 2003.
The loss overshadowed outstanding performances by Michael Tauiliili and Lewis.
Tauiliili, a senior, had a career-high 20 tackles, 2.5 tackles for losses and an interception. He had more tackles in a game than any Duke player in five seasons, but that was of no comfort.
"Words can't express how hurt I am to take the loss," Tauiliili said. "It was a good, hard-fought game, but like Coach said, coming close is not acceptable here at Duke any longer."
Lewis played for the first time since injuring his left foot Nov. 15 in the first quarter at Clemson. He completed 34 of 49 passes for 278 yards and a touchdown.
He drove Duke to a touchdown on the opening possession, completing 5 of 5 passes for 63 yards, including an 8-yarder to Eron Riley for the touchdown. Nick Maggio's extra point gave Duke a 7-0 lead just 1:57 into the game.
Duke took a 14-7 lead but couldn't keep it because of Yates, who completed 15 of 19 passes for 190 yards and three touchdowns. With the help of running backs Shaun Draughn (110 yards) and Ryan Houston, Yates drove UNC to touchdowns that help force ties at 7-7 and 14-14.
Yates broke the 14-14 tie and put UNC ahead for good in the second quarter when he connected with receiver Hakeem Nicks on a 25-yard touchdown pass.
Yates, who was rusty last week in his first start since Sept. 20, helped UNC convert 11 of 16 third-down plays. In its previous two games, UNC was 4 for 22 on third-down plays.
"My coaches and teammates trusted in me, knowing that I could do the job," Yates said. "The running game opens up the passing game so much. We ran the ball amazingly. The protection was awesome.
"In going back and looking at film I was kind of throwing off my back foot last week. I wasn't really trusting myself. I just had to slow down and calm down a little bit. We started off the game with some quick throws, and that definitely helped me get comfortable."
n Bill Cole can be reached at bcole@wsjournal.com.

North Carolina 14 7 7 0 — 28
Duke 14 3 3 0 — 20
First Quarter
Duke — Riley 8 pass from Lewis (Maggio kick), 13:03.
UNC — Draughn 4 run (Barth kick), 8:26.
Duke — Rey 36 fumble return (Maggio kick), 4:55.
UNC — Draughn 11 pass from Yates (Barth kick), 1:41.
Second Quarter
UNC — Nicks 25 pass from Yates (Barth kick), 4:28.
Duke — FG Surgan 55, :00.
Third Quarter
Duke — FG Maggio 27, 4:59.
UNC — Ri.Quinn 32 pass from Yates (Barth kick), 1:16.
A — 30,322.
TEAM STATISTICS UNC Duke
First downs 20 19
Rushes-yards 47-179 22-72
Passing 190 278
Comp-Att-Int 15-19-1 34-49-1
Return Yards 37 0
Punts-Avg. 3-33.7 5-43.8
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 4-1
Penalties-Yards 2-29 6-65
Time of Possession 31:56 28:04
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — North Carolina, Draughn 29-110, Little 2-42, Houston 9-25, Foster 1-6, Team 1-(minus 2), Yates 5-(minus 2). Duke, Hollingsworth 9-50, Jackson 8-20, Lewis 5-2.
PASSING — North Carolina, Yates 15-19-1-190. Duke, Lewis 34-49-1-278.
RECEIVING — North Carolina, Little 4-67, Draughn 4-28, Nicks 3-38, Ri.Quinn 2-42, Rome 2-15. Duke, Varner 10-73, Hollingsworth 6-61, Riley 5-63, T.Robinson 4-14, J.Williams 3-26, Chestnut 3-21, Jackson 3-20.