UNC-Duke Bill Belichick Q&A: 'Came Up a Few Plays Short'

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina couldn’t muster up a final counterpunch against Duke, falling 32-25 in the rivalry contest on Saturday at Kenan Stadium. 

UNC (4-7, 2-5 ACC) scored 15 unanswered points in the second half to take a 25-24 lead early in the fourth quarter. But the Blue Devils (6-5, 5-2 ACC) would respond, using a fake field goal scamper by kicker Todd Pelino, to set up the go-ahead touchdown with two minutes remaining. The loss eliminates the Tar Heels from postseason bowl eligibility and ensures they will finish with a losing record.

Gio Lopez completed 21-of-27 passes for 204 yards and one touchdown. Jordan Shipp hauled in eight catches for 82 yards and one touchdown, and Kobe Paysour provided five catches for 63 yards. Davion Gause rushed for a season-high 63 yards on eight carries. 

Here are the key quotes and full video from head coach Bill Belichick following the loss … 

Opening Statement

“Really proud of the effort everybody gave all week, and tonight, obviously came up a few plays short. And it’s disappointing. Give Duke credit, they made a few more plays than we did at critical times, and ultimately that was the difference in the game. So just keep grinding here, go back to work and be ready for NC State next week. But just made too many mistakes, too many bad plays, obviously, too many penalties. So that’s about the story.”

Did you ever think there was a chance Duke would fake the field goal?

“There’s always a chance they’d fake it.”

What do you think was the biggest mistake on that play?

“We didn’t have it covered.”

Duke converted multiple fourth downs and third-and-longs. What was the consistent problem in those scenarios?

“He (Darian Mensah) stepped up in the pocket or they hit a draw, up inside a couple times. So we did better on that in the second half. But look, Mensah is a good player, and he got us a couple times on that third or fourth down. We got him some.”

On UNC’s 12 penalties as a team:

“There were defensive penalties, there were offensive penalties. We had them both. We had too many penalties on everything. Personal foul on offense, we had two personal fouls on offense. We had an illegal formation on offense. We had a holding penalty on offense. There were some penalties on defense. Too many penalties on special teams, just too many penalties.”

What were you guys doing differently in the second half on offense that allowed your team to fight back and give you a chance to win?

“I think they made some adjustments after the first drive, and then we made some adjustments in the third quarter. It’s kind of how football goes, back and forth. If you hurt somebody with something, then they usually try to do something to compensate, and vice versa. So that’s football. Manny’s a good coach, and he does a good job. And they gave us some problems, we gave them some problems, and they made more plays than we did.”

How disappointing is to know this team won’t be bowl eligible and have the ability for those extra practices?

“We’re just playing one game at a time, not worried about anything in the future. We’re worried about Duke, prepared for Duke. Now, we’ll go for NC State.”

Javarius Green (a redshirt freshman) was out there participating in senior night. Can you provide some clarification on that?

“The graduation or the senior night’s really is based on academics. So there’s multiple eligibility situations that may or may not materialize. That’s all NCAA regulated, not UNC regulated. So I’m not sure.”

Was that a situation where he asked to participate in it?

“Again, it was academic. It was an academic qualification for that. It’s not about eligibility, it’s about graduating seniors. That was the classification, right or wrong? Whether you agree with it or not, that’s what it was. So I’m not commenting on what any of those players eligibility is or isn’t going forward. It’s players that academically, that was the classification. I don’t even know what that was. I mean, I don’t know what everybody’s academic status is. That was done through the university.”