North Carolina’s Paige suffers broken right hand

North Carolina, the preseason No. 1 team in the country, is already dealing with injury woes.

Williams is back to even, atoning for his three interceptions against the Gamecocks with a solid all-around performance that would have been memorable for one play alone, when he shook off a Pittsburgh defender clinging to his facemask and lofted a long pass downfield for a Ryan Switzer touchdown. Duke is coming off an officiating-botched loss to Miami, but still controls its destiny in the division race. Thomas Sirk also had a great game with 258 yards and a TD through the air.

The Blue Devils did little to stymie the Tar Heels last season, but Duke’s Dwayne Norman, a senior linebacker, said he didn’t expect a repeat. Everything was going well for the Tar Heels on multiple fronts, until it wasn’t…

At their best, the Tar Heels will have no shortage of ways to attack the basket and no shortage of second-chance opportunities with those two inside. That’s a testament to the Tar Heels’ O-line efficiency – as well as Williams’ elusiveness – and UNC is averaging 36.9 points and 469.9 yards in total offense per game. They’ve forced eight turnovers in the last five games including two in a win over then-No. Coordinator Jim Knowles is once again doing an underrated job with the Blue Devil defense, which yields only 16 points per game.

First, there’s a collision Saturday with Duke’s defense, a strength-on-strength matchup between one of the ACC’s most explosive offenses and one of its hardest-hitting defenses.

North Carolina is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home. Plus, Carolina has scored just 26 points in each of the last two games, so it’s not as if Larry Fedora’s kids are erupting on opponents. You have to believe he does not want to miss that game at all.

Duke is 6-1 SU when leading at the half this season. North Carolina is 5-1 SU when taking a lead into halftime. While UNC isn’t a juggernaut, the squad – which returns 89 % of its scoring from last season – checks off sufficient boxes to be acknowledged by most as the closest to a consensus No. 1. This was supposed to be the first time since 1939 that Carolina and Duke would meet in football as ranked programs.