To North Carolina head coach Larry Fedora’s credit, his Tar Heels are still fighting. They just fell to 1-8 following a 42-35 loss to rival Duke in Durham, but they obviously haven’t quit. Their last five losses have all been by 10 or fewer points, and they didn’t let the Blue Devils run away with the game, holding them scoreless over their final four drives and getting the ball with a chance to tie late.
North Carolina just got Lamar Jackson’d by Duke’s Daniel Jones
The Heels rallied and nearly upset their bitter rival. And they might have pulled it off if not for Jones.
Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
So there’s that. He can at least say they’re an engaged, competitive 1-8.
They also just made Daniel Jones look like peak Lamar Jackson. There’s that, too.
Duke’s junior quarterback has had plenty of good games in his career. He threw for 396 yards and four touchdowns two weeks ago against Pitt, and early in 2017 he threw for 305 and rushed for 108 in a blowout of a ranked Northwestern. He’s had moments. But on Saturday, he painted his masterpiece, completing 31 passes for 361 yards and rushing 15 times for 186 yards (12 for 204 if you remove sacks).
Per College Football Reference, here’s the list of quarterbacks who has pulled off that yardage combo since 2000:
QBs with Daniel Jones production
Date | Player | School | Opponent | Pass. Yards | Rush. Yards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9/9/16 | Lamar Jackson | Louisville | Syracuse | 411 | 199 |
| 11/10/18 | Daniel Jones | Duke | North Carolina | 361 | 186 |
That’s it.
Fedora was dealt a tough hand this year. After four consecutive bowl seasons, he found himself with an incredibly young and banged up roster in 2017, and UNC fell to 3-9. A 2018 rebound was handicapped immediately by a deep set of shoes-related suspensions. And again, the Heels haven’t stopped fighting.
But damn.
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