by Lee Pace, Extra Points

Thirteen years ago this week, the inaugural season of Extra Points concluded with me playfully spelling the name of the Tar Heels' football opponent that weekend Dook University. Thirty-two times in four pages--DOOK. (I fouled up in one spot and misspelled it Duke.) I thought it a proper little dagger to the Devils' sides to commemorate the return of the Victory Bell back to Chapel Hill after a three-year hiatus in Durham.

That Saturday morning, Nov. 17, 1990, the Tar Heels arrived to their cinderblock dressing quarters at Wallace Wade Stadium to find little posters in each locker with a photo of the Blue Devils celebrating the previous year's 41-0 victory in Kenan Stadium, the one where Steve Spurrier was running trick plays late in the game and trying to post the largest winning spread ever in the Carolina-Duke rivalry. Alongside the photo were salty comments from Spurrier and the Blue Devils--none of them complimentary toward the Tar Heels and the rebuilding efforts of coach Mack Brown.

"I hope the bell will serve as a symbol to the freshmen this year," Tar Heel junior cornerback Doxie Jordan said after the victory. "I hope they'll understand what it stands for and never let it go again."

They didn't let it go.

At least not for 13 years.

Carolina's longest consecutive-year win streak over one opponent in school history is now officially over. A focused and driven Blue Devil squad came into Kenan Stadium Saturday and dominated a tight and pressing Tar Heel team, jumping to a 23-0 halftime lead and thwarting a late Carolina rally for a 30-22 win. The Victory Bell now gets a coat of royal blue paint and there's a corner in the Tar Heel locker room that needs some decoration--a nice plant, maybe.

"It feels miserable to be the team that lost the bell," defensive lineman Chase Page said.

"It was embarrassing," Tar Heel coach John Bunting said. "It was no way for a team to finish a year that's been very difficult, to finish a year in a game that is so important. For 13 years we've been beating Duke. It was embarrassing to play this way."

Just as Brown reached into a bag of psychological gadgets 13 years ago, Duke coaches Carl Franks and Ted Roof tweaked their players' psyches over the last 365 days with acerbic reminders of, one, Carolina's 486-227 domination over 13 years and, two, the Heels' 23-21 win a year ago. That victory was punctuated by place-kicker Dan Orner's impromptu victory sprint across the field and into the Blue Devils' inflatable helmet after his game-winning kick at the final gun. First Franks programmed the pass code to enter the Duke football building with the numbers 2321 at the end of last year. The Blue Devils were reminded of that score every time they entered the building. Then Franks was fired Oct. 19 with Duke languishing with little pulse and a 2-5 record and replaced by Roof, the defensive coordinator. The interim head coach--who certainly hopes to be soon named full-time coach--began team meetings last week by showing a taped clip of the celebration by Orner and his teammates.

"Coach Roof didn't talk about it much," said Blue Devil Ryan Fowler. "He wanted to let it boil up and keep it bottled up and release it on the field today."

That emotion did indeed burst on an Indian summer afternoon--and the sounds of suffering told the story.

There was the ringing of the bell as the Tar Heels took the field for warm-ups, each position coming from the locker room at designated intervals and each group having a go at the bell.

"That bell was driving me nuts, it was driving me crazy," Duke cornerback Kenneth Sanford said.

There was the silence of the home folks as a normally potent Tar Heel offense turned flaccid the first half--exactly one first down, 39 yards of production and eight minutes of possession.

"We did not play as hard as we could the first half," tailback Jacque Lewis said.

"Maybe it was a lack of focus," receiver Brandon Russell said.

"We were not in a rhythm offensively," tackle Jeb Terry added. "We'd get something going and then get a fumble or a penalty, things to throw you off rhythm, things that cost you games."

There was a murmur of boos as the first half ended.

"That hurt me a lot," Lewis said. "I couldn't believe our fans were booing us."

"I don't know what was happening the first half," said quarterback Darian Durant, who fought off a sore shoulder last week in practice and was noticeably off-target on his first-half passing. "To tell you the truth, I don't know."

There was raucous and somewhat sarcastic cheering--even a standing ovation--as Durant hit Mike Mason with an 11-yard pass on the Heels' second play of the third quarter. Carolina got untracked from there, marching quickly on an 80-yard scoring drive.

"That drive was a confidence booster," Terry said. "We had done that all year. There was no reason we couldn't keep moving the ball. I think that gave the whole team a lift."

There was more crackle in the stands and more vigor on the Tar Heel sideline as the second half evolved--particularly when the defense made a big play. Tommy Davis made a diving tackle for a third-down stop, Jacques Dumas made a third-down sack, and Larry Edwards snuffed a third-and-one.

"It was contagious," Lewis said. "One person would make a play and it would go on to someone else. Everyone started to do nice things in the second half. We came up a couple of plays short at the end."

Then the bell was clanging again--only now at the behest of the giddy Blue Devils. And that led to the hushed voices of the Tar Heels and their head coach as they digested the day's events.

"We did not come out with enough energy," Page said. "We did not match their intensity until the second half. By that time, it was too late."

"We will not stay down," Bunting said. "We will get right back up, starting tomorrow. The 2004 season starts tomorrow."

Saturday's proceedings in truth were not that difficult to handicap in advance. It was clear the Blue Devils would have the emotional edge. I'm not close to the Duke program, so I have no idea what Roof did in a short period of time to help the Blue Devils hang close to N.C. State and then blast Georgia Tech. But you can't do much with personnel or Xs-and-Os at mid-season, so the buttons he pushed were emotional and psychological. And he clearly was hitting the right triggers. His players were buying into Roof's style and the Blue Devils coalesced into making a statement. But there's no pressure in playing to help a coach land a job he doesn't yet have. Or to win back something you've not had for 13 years--what's one more year without it? The Blue Devils were in a nothing-to-lose, everything-to-gain mode last week.

It was different at Carolina.

Duke players celebrate with the Victory Bell after the game.

Though Carolina athletic director Dick Baddour has made it clear as this 2-10 season has inched along that Bunting was in no danger of losing his job, there's no question the specter of staff changes loomed over the program. The atmosphere was muted and tight last week. My worst fear was that Duke would post a few early points, the offense would commit a turnover and the Heels would get behind the eight-ball in the first half. Then the Tar Heels would start pressing and things would get worse.

That script unfolded precisely.

Durant gets a pass tipped on third-and-two on Carolina's first possession.

Ronnie McGill fumbles on drive No. 2.

Durant almost has a screen pass picked for a touchdown on the next series.

Tackle Willie McNeill jumps pre-snap, putting the Heels behind the chains on Carolina's fourth possession.

"We needed to turn the tide, we needed to make a play, we needed to change the negative momentum and we just were not able to do it," Bunting said. "I do not have an explanation for it. I would never have believed that would happen to our offense. At halftime we talked about it being a matter of focus and concentration and getting some energy to go out there and play."

So now a painful two years of Tar Heel football is mercifully laid to rest--five wins, 19 losses. You could make that six years as well--29-42 since the beginning of the 1998 season. Things haven't been so dismal since, well, that 1989 season that ended 1-10 with Duke running flea-flickers in the fourth quarter. There was a good ending to that story, though, as Brown was recruiting well and the program was solid beneath the surface. There are lots of similarities between then and now.

"Losing is no fun," Page said. "You put so much into it, your blood and sweat, and then you lose and don't have anything to show for it. It's not fun at all."

By the time you read this, the Tar Heels will already have convened Monday morning at 6:30 to begin off-season strength and conditioning training. Two of the leaders from now until Sept. 4, 2004, will be Page and Lewis--both rising seniors, one on defense and one on offense.

"Losing makes you even more ready to get started to get better," says Page. "It makes you hungry to get back into the weight room, to get back to running and all that stuff. Our record doesn't show that we're better, but as far as our performances in a lot of games, we were a better team. I think next year we'll continue to improve and have a winning record."

Lewis's voice was clear and resonant late Saturday as he talked about the future.

"I can promise you right now that I'm not going to let my team go down my last year here," he said. "We're going to win a lot more games next year, I promise you that. Everyone believes it. We've come a long way this year. The scores may not reflect how we improved, but we have gotten better just about every game. That's going to carry over during the off-season to spring and into the summer and into the season. We're going to get better every day.

"I have to be the No. 1 leader. A lot of guys look up to me. I may be one of the smallest guys on the team, but they know my heart. I am going to try to get this program turned around."

Funny, that's exactly how the Tar Heels talked 14 years ago when they were so tired of losing. Most things in life, including Victory Bells and payback, go around and come around.