CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina coach Mack Brown was confident Drake Maye would find a way.
With 41 seconds remaining in regulation Saturday night, the Tar Heels trailed Duke by three points. Brown said his belief was such in that dire situation, he suspected Maye and the UNC offense would drive down the field and score a touchdown to win the game. Maye responded by moving Carolina in position to set up Noah Burnette’s 43-yard field goal as the final seconds of regulation expired.
Two overtime periods later at Kenan Stadium — extra sessions that featured Maye’s second rushing touchdown of the night and the decisive two-point conversion — the Tar Heels escaped with a 47-45 defeat of Duke, the latest thrilling chapter in the rivalry.
It was a closing sequence that could’ve mirrored recent ACC losses to Virginia and Georgia Tech. Late in those games, Maye had the ball in his hand in need of a touchdown to win. And in both instances, he came up short.
But against Duke, Maye engineered two clutch drives that produced 10 points during the last two minutes of regulation, before later twisting and powering his way into the end zone in the second overtime. On this night, when UNC needed it most, Maye rekindled his late-game magic.
“I think he’s as good as anybody I’ve ever been around,” Brown said Saturday night. “It’s unbelievable and I said that to the team in there. We have the best quarterback in the country. He is unbelievable and just so proud of the way it played tonight.”
Maye was put to the test after another fourth-quarter collapse by UNC’s defense. In that period, Duke gashed the Tar Heels for 209 yards and 22 points, and took its first lead of the second half with 5:21 left on Jordan Waters’ second rushing touchdown.
On the ensuing UNC drive, Maye found himself behind the chains several times. Inside the red zone and needing to pick up 14 yards on third down, Maye pumped once, scanning the field before sending a pass into tight coverage toward Bryson Nesbit.
The lanky tight end went up to grab the ball, which appeared to come down in the hands of both Nesbit and Duke cornerback Chandler Rivers. After a tussle between the two players and a conversation between the officials, Nesbit was awarded the catch to give UNC a critical first down.
“Bryson’s a ball player,” Maye said Saturday night. “He always tells me to put it up there and he’ll go get it, and he’s proven that time and time again. That catch to get us down there on the toggle, kind of a fistfight for the ball. I think he caught it. The DBs always try to come late, they always think they got it.”
Three plays later and facing another unfavorable situation on second-and-goal from the 15-yard line, Maye targeted Nesbit again. Fighting through contact with Duke defensive back Brandon Johnson, Nesbit reeled in a full-extension catch in the corner of the end zone, giving UNC a 33-29 lead with 1:55 to go in regulation.
Later, in the second overtime period, Maye converted the eventual game-deciding two-point play with a pass that saw him go airborne to find John Copenhaver, while Maye was being drilled by a pair of Blue Devils.
“It’s almost natural of Drake to make big plays and that rubs off on all of us as well,” Nesbit said. “So we’re just going to keep making plays and he’ll keep making his plays.”
Duke’s failed two-point pass secured the dramatic victory for UNC, prompting Carolina fans to rush the field. It marked the first field storming here since the 2021 season, and Maye joked that he didn’t know what to do as the sea of people poured onto the field. “I was just trying to get out of there,” he said.
“My freshman year they did it when we beat Wake (Forest),” Maye said. “But I was a nobody (then). I was Luke Maye’s brother.”
Weaving through the masses Saturday, Maye eventually made his way near the entrance toward UNC’s locker room. Before making his way up the tunnel, Maye found Corey Gaynor, one of the 30 players honored in UNC’s Senior Day recognition, and the two shared an embrace.
Maye reiterated during the week that he’ll wait until after the season to decide on whether to enter the NFL Draft. But at the stirring end of what likely will come to mark his final home game at Kenan Stadium, the star quarterback said Saturday night’s rivalry shootout couldn’t have concluded in a better way.
“It’s just a fairy-tale ending and I’m glad it ended this way,” Maye said. “Would have been heartbroken if it had went the other way. Like I said, no better way against a rival, with the fans storming the field, with Senior Night. Just a lot of emotions, but it’s why I came here to Carolina. To play in big-time games and to try to do my best to help us win. Just a dream come true playing quarterback here.”
