CHAPEL HILL
At about 10:30 last Saturday night, it appeared that North Carolina and Duke were headed toward what would have been something of a historic meeting. Then history itself intervened.
Miami’s kickoff return for a touchdown, one that included eight laterals and four officiating mistakes, will be remembered as one of the craziest endings in college football history. It gave Miami an improbable victory, Duke a bitter defeat and it immediately changed the circumstances surrounding the North Carolina-Duke game Saturday at Kenan Stadium.
Without Miami’s return, Duke would have won. And if the Blue Devils had won, they likely would have remained ranked in the Associated Press top 25 poll.