Duke, North Carolina To Renew Football Rivalry

Duke takes the field against UNC Thursday with the Coastal Division on the line: win this one and it's going to be very hard to lose to Wake Forest, a team which is in serious rebuilding mode (last weekend, State gained more yards on the ground than Wake has all season. You can never rule out an upset, but Wake would have to play way beyond what they've shown so far).

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Essentially, the title is on the line.

On top of that, the game will be on national TV in prime time. That's never happened with a Duke-UNC game before and hasn't happened in Wallace Wade since 1994.

Duke is coming off a poor performance vs. Virginia Tech. It was a winnable game that Duke lost on turnovers - every Hokie score came off of a Duke turnover. How the Devils turn around in just a few days will be key.

For the Tar Heels, a bowl bid is on the line and a chance to stick it to a hated rival. The biggest concern?

Easily defense. UNC has given up nearly 40 points per game this season.

Fedora, like Cutcliffe, is a skilled offensive coach, but giving up that many points makes life a lot more difficult.

After last weekend's miscues, we'd expect that Duke, a team which has played as cleanly as any, and with a divisional title in sight, will be keenly focused.

Kickoff is at 7:30 on ESPN.

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