{"id":937190,"date":"2026-10-18T03:58:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T03:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/937190\/"},"modified":"2026-10-18T03:58:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T03:58:12","slug":"mcgills-late-td-lifts-north-carolina-past-duke-24-20-winnipeg-free-press","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/937190\/","title":{"rendered":"McGill\u2019s late TD lifts North Carolina past Duke 24-20 \u2013 Winnipeg Free Press"},"content":{"rendered":"

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) \u2014 Jaylen McGill ran 24 yards for a touchdown with 1:53 remaining for North Carolina\u2019s first points since early in the second quarter and the Tar Heels recovered to beat Duke 24-20 on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Billy Edwards Jr. threw for 191 yards and a touchdown plus a key fourth-down completion on the winning drive as North Carolina (4-2, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) won as a road underdog for the second straight week.<\/p>\n

\u201cFortunately, we were able to make a couple more plays than they did,\u201d Tar Heels coach Bill Belichick said. \u201cI thought our guys earned it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Duke's
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDuke’s CJ Campbell (0) carries the ball as North Carolina’s Jalon Thompson (4) attempts a tackle during the first half of an NCAA college football game in Durham, N.C., Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ben McKeown)<\/p>\n

Duke (4-2, 1-2) took its first lead when Nate Sheppard scored from 7 yards out by reaching the end zone off a short pass from Walker Eget with 4:39 left.<\/p>\n

Two years ago in the same stadium, Duke rallied from a 20-0 deficit to beat the Tar Heels.<\/p>\n

Sheppard, the nation\u2019s leading rusher in yards per game, was held to 77 yards on 20 carries, though he netted 98 yards on 11 receptions.<\/p>\n

North Carolina went more than 41 minutes without scoring before McGill burst through the line with an open path to the end zone.<\/p>\n

Edwards, a first-year Tar Heel, said he felt \u201cthe weight of this game\u201d because of the importance to each university.<\/p>\n

The Tar Heels led 17-0 after Demon June\u2019s 4-yard run on the third play of the second quarter.<\/p>\n

Duke began its comeback with safety Andrew Pellicciotta\u2019s 9-yard fumble recovery return for a touchdown in the second quarter.<\/p>\n

The takeaway<\/p>\n

North Carolina: The Tar Heels managed only about 100 yards after scoring the game\u2019s first 17 points until they marched 78 yards on their final full possession with the outcome on the line. That included a fourth-and-4 conversion from their own 28-yard line with 3:48 left when Edwards connected with Jelani Thurman over the middle for 12 yards.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t punting again,\u201d Belichick said. \u201cI wanted to take our best shot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Edwards said, \u201cWe had run that play a few times throughout the night.\u201d<\/p>\n

Duke: The Blue Devils had won eight consecutive games against in-state opponents. But just like a week earlier at Georgia Tech, they couldn\u2019t hold on after gaining a late lead and gave up the winning touchdown inside the 2-minute timeout.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told the team in the locker room that there\u2019s a good football team that\u2019s had two very tough results,\u201d coach Manny Diaz said.<\/p>\n

Belichick\u2019s Bell<\/p>\n

North Carolina players rushed across the field at game\u2019s end to reclaim the Victory Bell, which goes to the winner of the annual matchup.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt amazing,\u201d said receiver Jordan Shipp, whose 5-yard catch in the first quarter marked the game\u2019s first touchdown. \u201cThat\u2019s why you come to Carolina, for a rivalry game like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Belichick spoke to reporters in a small room outside the visiting locker room, sounds of the Victory Bell ringing threatened to interrupted him a few times. He already had his moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did ring, absolutely,\u201d Belichick said. \u201cI\u2019m sure it\u2019ll be out there on \u2018MyFace\u2019 or whatever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Up next<\/p>\n

North Carolina: Hosts Syracuse on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

Duke: Friday night at Virginia<\/p>\n

\n Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here. Visit the Top 25 here and see AP\u2019s full college football coverage here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DURHAM, N.C. (AP) \u2014 Jaylen McGill ran 24 yards for a touchdown with 1:53 remaining for North Carolina\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":937191,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194296],"tags":[49,48,22073],"class_list":["post-937190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-winnipeg","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-winnipeg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/937190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=937190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/937190\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/937191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=937190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=937190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=937190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}