<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=02MRen_0vj3ZEra00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=02MRen_0vj3ZEra00" width="1080" height="608" ><figcaption>Duke quarterback Maalik Murphy (6) passes the ball during the MTSU Homecoming game, on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. / HELEN COMER/The Daily News Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images</figcaption></figure>All I know is pain.The UNC football program has had a few days to come to grips with the disaster it presented last Saturday afternoon on the ACC Network in a loss so bad it <a href="https://keepingitheel.com/posts/amidst-the-rumors-mack-brown-isn-t-leaving-the-unc-football-program">led to rumors of Mack Brown's imminent departure</a>. North Carolina's head coach isn't going anywhere, so it is time for his players to rally around him. What better opponent to show the world you're a serious football program than hated rival Duke?The Blue Devils are enjoying sunnier days than their better neighbors from Chapel Hill. New coach Manny Diaz has Duke off to a 4-0 start. They've beaten FCS Elon, Northwestern on the road, Connecticut, and Middle Tennessee on the road. It's not exactly a murderers row, and Duke is just 1-3 against the spread, but they've won the games they were supposed to win. That's more than Carolina can say.Duke is led by Texas transfer quarterback Maalik Murphy. Murphy is a 6-foot-5 signal-caller, and doesn't seem to be much of a running threat. He has thrown 11 touchdowns in four games but also has an interception in every game this season. It is imperative that Geoff Collins gets his coverage schemes fixed so that Murphy doesn't tattoo North Carolina the way Alonza Barnett did and get some turnovers to feed the offense. Remember, when Jacolby Criswell was on the field, he was moving the ball and scoring points. Most of the time.Mack Brown seems to have it in for Manny Diaz, whom he fired as Texas's defensive coordinator in 2013 after a humiliating loss to BYU. Could Mack summon the strength to give his former charge another paddling? The last time the two faced each other, Diaz was the head coach at Miami, and this happened:Let's hope the Tar Heels can summon up enough magic to get their head coach off the hot seat.</div></body>

Mountain View, CA

NewsBreak

Previewing the UNC football program's first ACC matchup against Duke

The UNC football program has had a few days to come to grips with the disaster it presented last Saturday afternoon on the ACC Network in a loss so bad it led to rumors of Mack Brown's imminent departure. North Carolina's head coach isn't going anywhere, so it is time for his players to rally around him. What better opponent to show the world you're a serious football program than hated rival Duke?