To get to the visiting team’s football building at Duke, one has to exit the Wallace Wade Stadium press box, traverse half the concourse, descend some stairs and walk across an entire practice field.
It was about at the 50-yard line of that field that you could first hear the chiming.
UNC had won the Victory Bell back, and the Tar Heels were letting the whole world know about it. You could hardly blame them. In a game which, like the clapper inside that bell, swung back and forth with reckless abandon, Carolina got the last ring.
Duke had scored 20 unanswered points after the Tar Heels had built a 17-0 lead, with the comeback sparked by a Jordan Shipp fumble which was returned for a touchdown. A visibly frustrated Shipp, who time and again has spoken on the importance of rivalry games like these, had to be consoled by his teammates.
“Everybody came and picked me up,” Shipp remembered, “from the starting quarterback to some of the guys who didn’t even play. They saw my head down, and they came and picked me up. That just goes to our culture and our brotherhood.”
There were more redemption arcs still to be written before the day was done.
Jaylen McGill, the third running back on UNC’s depth chart, was pressed into more service than usual due to an early injury to starter Ben Hall. The sophomore had carried the ball only eight times in Carolina’s previous three games.
It was a McGill mistake which kept Duke’s comeback hopes alive in the third quarter. With the Tar Heels driving inside the Blue Devil red zone, McGill fumbled amid a pile of defenders, scuttling the precious scoring opportunity. No matter. Bill Belichick had confidence in his player, and entrusted him with the ball again on UNC’s most important possession of the season. McGill carried the ball three times for 44 yards on the Tar Heels’ game-winning drive, with the final 24 coming on the go-ahead touchdown.
NOTHING BETTER THAN BEING A TAR HEEL pic.twitter.com/wsp8fC977c
— Carolina Football (@UNCFootball) October 18, 2026
Quarterback Billy Edwards had gotten in McGill’s ear after the fumble, telling him his part in Saturday’s story wasn’t yet finished. It turned out the fifth-year senior had acquired some wisdom in his old age.
“A few minutes after the game, once we were all here by the locker room, he got my attention,” Edwards said of McGill, “and we shared a good moment together of, ‘Hey, way to step up when it was time to make a play.’”
One more play would have to be made to see out the win. And it would come from a rather unlikely source. Freshman cornerback Kenton Dopson – who like McGill was forced into action due to injuries ahead of him on the depth chart – had been beaten badly on Duke’s first play of the second half, his misplay only being forgiven by an inaccurate pass. On the Blue Devils’ final drive, Dopson was again beaten down the sideline and was forced to take a pass interference penalty to prevent a big play.
So of course it would be Dopson who would ice the game with an interception, the first of his collegiate career.
Linebacker Derek McDonald, an ACC veteran who has effectively become the spokesman of the UNC defense, couldn’t have been more impressed.
“It’s awesome for him to go make a play,” said McDonald, who finished with seven tackles. “He’s been tested, he’s been through a lot. Playing corner in the ACC as a true freshman is tough, especially in a hostile environment. And he stepped up to the plate and finished the game the right way.”
That’s now two straight weeks in which Carolina has faced a fourth quarter deficit on the road before making the plays it had to make to win the game. Belichick, in his own way, expressed admiration for what his team has been able to accomplish halfway through the season.
“These guys are very dedicated, tough,” Belichick said. “Football’s important to them, it means a lot. They put a lot into it, so when you put a lot into it, it’s a lot harder to give up. And it’s a lot harder to accept anything other than your very, very best effort all the time. They’ve been giving that.”
Belichick delivered his comments with the Victory Bell still ringing in the background. And just a few minutes before, Belichick himself had given the bell a good ring inside a jubilant Tar Heel scrum.
RING THAT BELL ALL THE WAY BACK TO CHAPEL HILL ? pic.twitter.com/e64cCDUvgm
— Carolina Football (@UNCFootball) October 17, 2026
Therefore, send not to know for whom the Bill tolls. He tolls for thee.
Featured image via Associated Press/Ben McKeown
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For Whom the Bill Tolls: Reactions to UNC Football’s Win at Duke Chapelboro.com.
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