Duke made its fans wait 18 years for another bowl trip, but they didn't even have to wait until November to lock this one in.
The Blue Devils (6-2) are going bowling. Quarterback Sean Renfree led Duke 87 yards and threw the game-winning touchdown with 13 seconds remaining Saturday to beat rival North Carolina (5-3), 33-30.
"To watch it unfold before my eyes like that, after three years, a game like this against North Carolina -- you couldn't write a better script," senior receiver Conner Vernon told reporters afterward. "Someone needs to make this a movie."
To fully grasp the storybook nature of Duke's milestone, just look at the program's recent history before coach David Cutcliffe's 2008 arrival. Since going 8-4 and reaching the Hall of Fame Bowl in 1994, the Blue Devils have endured four winless seasons, two one-win seasons and three two-win seasons. Cutcliffe's predecessor, Ted Roof, went 6-45 from 2003-07. Roof's predecessor, Carl Franks, went 7-45. Despite upgrading the program's depth and talent over the past few years, Cutcliffe still endured consecutive 3-9 seasons prior to the 2012 campaign.
Not that Saturday was completely un-Duke like. Just like a week earlier, when the Blue Devils raced to a 20-0 lead over Virginia Tech only to lose 41-20, Duke saw a 23-9 third-quarter lead evaporate after three fourth-quarter Tar Heels' touchdowns. With 3:12 left and the Blue Devils clinging to a 30-26 lead, star cornerback Ross Cockrell appeared to recover a North Carolina fumble, thus staving off danger -- but the ball squirted out of his hands and into those of Tar Heels running back Gio Bernard, who took it in four yards for a touchdown.
And if that wasn't enough drama, Renfree's game-winning throw came on a do-or-die fourth down. "It's much sweeter to do it this way," he said later.
Duke has already doubled its win total from each of the past two seasons, and it still has five games to go. In fact, at 3-1 in conference play, the Blue Devils sit alone in first place in the ACC's Coastal Division. Staying there seems unlikely, especially with remaining games against the ACC's lone ranked teams in the AP Poll, No. 11 Florida State (7-1) and No. 14 Clemson (6-1). But with this charmed team, don't completely rule the possibility out.