DURHAM — With the game on the line and special teams reeling, UNC football coach Bill Belichick made one thing clear in the closing minutes of a 24-20 win against rival Duke: the Tar Heels weren't going to punt again.
Following a disastrous botched punt attempt from UNC that contributed to the Blue Devils’ go-ahead touchdown in the latter stages of the fourth quarter, the Tar Heels faced a fourth-and-4 situation from their own 28-yard line with 3:48 on the clock.
UNC (4-2, 2-1 ACC) had timeouts remaining if it wanted to punt the ball back to Duke (4-2, 1-2) with hopes of getting a defensive stop for another shot. But Belichick wasn’t going to put freshman punter Adam McCann-Gibbs in another critical situation with the game hanging in the balance.
“I wasn’t punting again. It hadn’t gone well for us, so unless it was like fourth-and-30 or something, I didn’t want to give the ball back,” Belichick said after the Tar Heels reclaimed the Victory Bell.
“I thought we’d go down, take our best shot.”
The gamble paid off.
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On the fourth-down play from his own 28-yard line, quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. found tight end Jelani Thurman for a 12-yard gain to move the sticks.
“We had run that play a few times throughout the night,” Edwards said.
“They covered it well once; they didn’t cover it well the other time. Jelani popped right open, he made a good catch for me and we were able to move the sticks. … Just trying to find my best playmakers and get them the ball.”
Following 20 rushing yards from running back Jaylen McGill on the plays following the fourth-down conversion and a 16-yard catch and run by wide receiver Trech Kekahuna, McGill sprinted toward the left side on a stretch run play that resulted in a 24-yard touchdown for the go-ahead score.
“We hit a lot of quick-timing passes, and I thought Billy did a good job of distributing the ball. It’s a battle. They’re a good pass-rushing team. It was a battle to keep them off the quarterback,” Belichick said.
“I thought he did a really good job of stepping up in the pocket and kind of taking the ends out of the rush. Our tackles were able to ride them by, but it wasn’t easy. But yeah, I wasn’t going to punt that last series.”
He didn't, and the Tar Heels took the Victory Bell back to Chapel Hill.
Rodd Baxley covers North Carolina Tar Heels athletics for The Fayetteville Observer as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his ACC coverage on X/Twitter or Bluesky: @RoddBaxley. Got questions regarding UNC? Send them to rbaxley@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: 'I wasn't punting again': Bill Belichick describes defining moment in UNC win vs Duke