Victory Bell (Duke–North Carolina)

The Victory Bell is the traveling trophy given to the winner of the annual football game between the Duke University Blue Devils and the University of North Carolina Tar Heels. The game was worth two points in the now defunct, yearlong Carlyle Cup between the two schools.[1]

Victory Bell

Duke Blue Devils North Carolina Tar Heels
First meeting	November 27, 1888 Duke 16, North Carolina 0
Latest meeting	November 7, 2020 North Carolina 56, Duke 24
Next meeting	2021 in Chapel Hill, NC
Trophy	Victory Bell
Statistics
Meetings total	107 (72 trophy meetings)
All-time series	North Carolina leads, 63–40–4
Largest victory	North Carolina, 50–0 (1959)
Longest win streak	North Carolina, 13 (1990–2002)
Current win streak	North Carolina, 2 (2020)

🌍

Locations in Durham and Chapel Hill.

History

North Carolina and Duke first met in football in 1888, and the series has been renewed annually since 1922.

In the fall of 1948, UNC Head Cheerleader Norman Sper along with Loring Jones of Duke, likely inspired by other traveling trophies in college football, came up with the idea for the Victory Bell. Jones designed the frame and Sper obtained the an old railway bell from the Southern Railway.[2] North Carolina won possession of the first ever Victory Bell game with a 20–0 shutout victory at Kenan Memorial Stadium in 1948.[3]

At one time, the series was every bit as heated as the basketball rivalry between the two schools. But in the 40 years from 1970 to 2009, Duke only managed 7 wins, including a series record streak of 13 consecutive Carolina wins from 1990 through 2002.

However, this rivalry has been revived in recent years as Duke has again become competitive in the rivalry, with both teams having won five games each from 2010 through 2019.

Duke victories in the 2012 and 2013 games marked the first time Duke had won consecutive games in the series since winning three straight from 1987 to 1989.

After consecutive North Carolina victories in 2014 and 2015, Duke matched its longest winning streak in the last 30 years with wins in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

This streak for Duke was broken on October 26, 2019 as Carolina clinched a 20-17 victory when Chazz Surratt picked off Deon Jackson’s trick-play pass at the goal line with 14 seconds left. [4]

With Carolina's 56-24 rout on November 7, 2020, Carolina again has posted consecutive victories in the series. [5]

Traditions

It has been a tradition as of late for the winner to spray-paint the platform of the trophy to match their school colors--Carolina blue for North Carolina and royal blue for Duke. After losing the Victory Bell in 2003, North Carolina came back the next year and beat Duke 40–17 in Duke's Wallace Wade Stadium.[3] After the conclusion of the game, North Carolina football players immediately spray-painted the platform Carolina blue, leaving large amounts of Carolina blue paint residue on the track of the stadium.[6] Whenever North Carolina has been in possession of the Victory Bell, cheerleaders wheel it out while ringing the bell at the same time the live ram mascot, Rameses, is brought out onto the field. The bell is also displayed in front of the students' section.

Game results

While the two schools agree that North Carolina leads the series, they do not agree on the overall record. North Carolina claims an all-time lead of 61-38–4;[7] Duke claims North Carolina leads 59-39–4.[8] The dispute centers around an 1889 game where both teams stayed home because they believed they were the home team. As a result, both schools claim the game as a win by forfeit, 1-0. Most neutral recordkeepers credit the game to North Carolina.[3]

Both schools agree that North Carolina vacated its wins in 2008 and 2009. Both schools also agree that North Carolina leads the series since the introduction of the Victory Bell with a record of 44-23–1, with two vacated North Carolina wins.[1]

Note: Duke was known as Trinity College until 1924.

Duke victories

North Carolina victories

Tie games

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 November 27, 1888 Durham, NC Trinity 16–0 2 May 8, 1889 Raleigh, NC Trinity 25–17 3 1889 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 1–0† 4 November 20, 1891 Chapel Hill, NC Trinity 6–4 5 November 12, 1892 Durham, NC North Carolina 24–0 6 October 28, 1893 Durham, NC Trinity 6–4 7 October 24, 1894 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 28–0 8 October 12, 1922 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 20–0 9 October 12, 1923 Durham, NC North Carolina 14–6 10 October 11, 1924 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 6–0 11 October 10, 1925 Durham, NC North Carolina 41–0 12 October 16, 1926 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 6–0 13 November 19, 1927 Durham, NC North Carolina 18–0 14 December 8, 1928 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 14–7 15 December 7, 1929 Durham, NC North Carolina 48–7 16 December 6, 1930 Chapel Hill, NC Tie 0–0 17 November 21, 1931 Durham, NC Tie 0–0 18 November 19, 1932 Chapel Hill, NC Duke 7–0 19 November 18, 1933 Durham, NC Duke 21–0 20 November 17, 1934 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 7–0 21 November 16, 1935 Durham, NC Duke 25–0 22 November 14, 1936 Chapel Hill, NC #13 Duke 27–7 23 November 13, 1937 Durham, NC North Carolina 14–6 24 October 29, 1938 Chapel Hill, NC #11 Duke 14–0 25 November 18, 1939 Durham, NC #13 Duke 13–3 26 November 16, 1940 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 6–3 27 November 15, 1941 Durham, NC #3 Duke 20–0 28 November 14, 1942 Chapel Hill, NC Tie 13–13 29 October 16, 1943 Durham, NC Duke 14–7 30 November 20, 1943 Chapel Hill, NC #6 Duke 27–6 31 November 25, 1944 Chapel Hill, NC #11 Duke 33–0 32 November 24, 1945 Durham, NC #15 Duke 14–7 33 November 23, 1946 Chapel Hill, NC #14 North Carolina 22–7 34 November 22, 1947 Durham, NC #13 North Carolina 21–0 35 November 20, 1948 Chapel Hill, NC #5 North Carolina 20–0 36 November 19, 1949 Durham, NC North Carolina 21–20 37 November 25, 1950 Chapel Hill, NC Duke 7–0 38 November 24, 1951 Durham, NC Duke 19–7 39 November 22, 1952 Chapel Hill, NC #20 Duke 34–0 40 November 28, 1953 Durham, NC Duke 35–20 41 November 27, 1954 Chapel Hill, NC #20 Duke 47–12 42 November 26, 1955 Durham, NC #18 Duke 6–0 43 November 24, 1956 Chapel Hill, NC Duke 21–6 44 November 23, 1957 Durham, NC North Carolina 21–13 45 November 22, 1958 Chapel Hill, NC Duke 7–6 46 November 21, 1959 Durham, NC North Carolina 50–0 47 November 19, 1960 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 7–6 48 November 18, 1961 Durham, NC Duke 6–3 49 November 24, 1962 Chapel Hill, NC Duke 16–14 50 November 28, 1963 Durham, NC North Carolina 16–14 51 November 21, 1964 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 21–15 52 November 20, 1965 Durham, NC Duke 34–7 53 November 19, 1966 Chapel Hill, NC Duke 41–25 54 November 18, 1967 Durham, NC North Carolina 20–9 No. Date Location Winner Score 55 November 23, 1968 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 25–14 56 November 22, 1969 Durham, NC Duke 17–13 57 November 21, 1970 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 59–34 58 November 20, 1971 Durham, NC North Carolina 38–0 59 November 18, 1972 Chapel Hill, NC #16 North Carolina 14–0 60 November 24, 1973 Durham, NC Duke 27–10 61 November 23, 1974 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 14–13 62 November 22, 1975 Durham, NC Tie 17–17 63 November 20, 1976 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 39–38 64 November 19, 1977 Durham, NC #18 North Carolina 16–3 65 November 25, 1978 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 16–15 66 November 24, 1979 Durham, NC North Carolina 37–16 67 November 22, 1980 Chapel Hill, NC #15 North Carolina 44–21 68 November 21, 1981 Durham, NC #12 North Carolina 31–10 69 November 20, 1982 Durham, NC Duke 23–17 70 November 19, 1983 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 34–27 71 November 24, 1984 Durham, NC North Carolina 17–15 72 November 23, 1985 Chapel Hill, NC Duke 23–21 73 November 22, 1986 Durham, NC North Carolina 42–35 74 November 21, 1987 Chapel Hill, NC Duke 25–10 75 November 19, 1988 Durham, NC Duke 35–29 76 November 18, 1989 Chapel Hill, NC #25 Duke 41–0 77 November 17, 1990 Durham, NC North Carolina 24–22 78 November 23, 1991 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 47–14 79 November 21, 1992 Durham, NC #21 North Carolina 31–28 80 November 26, 1993 Chapel Hill, NC #13 North Carolina 38–24 81 November 19, 1994 Durham, NC North Carolina 41–40 82 November 18, 1995 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 28–24 83 November 23, 1996 Durham, NC #13 North Carolina 27–10 84 November 22, 1997 Chapel Hill, NC #8 North Carolina 50–14 85 November 21, 1998 Durham, NC North Carolina 28–6 86 November 20, 1999 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 38–0 87 November 18, 2000 Durham, NC North Carolina 59–21 88 November 17, 2001 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 52–17 89 November 23, 2002 Durham, NC North Carolina 23–21 90 November 22, 2003 Chapel Hill, NC Duke 30–22 91 November 20, 2004 Durham, NC North Carolina 40–17 92 November 19, 2005 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 24–21 93 November 25, 2006 Durham, NC North Carolina 45–44 94 November 24, 2007 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 20–14 95 November 29, 2008 Durham, NC North Carolina 28–20 ‡ 96 November 7, 2009 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 19–6 ‡ 97 November 27, 2010 Durham, NC North Carolina 24–19 98 November 26, 2011 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 37–21 99 October 20, 2012 Durham, NC Duke 33–30 100 November 30, 2013 Chapel Hill, NC #24 Duke 27–25 101 November 20, 2014 Durham, NC North Carolina 45–20 102 November 7, 2015 Chapel Hill, NC #21 North Carolina 66–31 103 November 10, 2016 Durham, NC Duke 28–27 104 September 23, 2017 Chapel Hill, NC Duke 27–17 105 November 10, 2018 Durham, NC Duke 42–35 106 October 26, 2019 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 20–17 107 November 7, 2020 Durham, NC North Carolina 56–24 Series: North Carolina leads 60–40–4

† Both schools claim this game as a win by forfeit; most neutral recordkeepers credit the game to North Carolina.
‡ North Carolina vacated wins from the 2008 and 2009 seasons. [9]

References

1. "UNC, Duke will battle for the bell for the 67th time". The Daily Tar Heel.
2. "A Rambling Ram and A Traveling Trophy". UNC Library. December 7, 2010. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
3. DeLassus, David. "North Carolina vs Duke (NC)". North Carolina Game by Game against Opponents. College Football Data Warehouse. Retrieved November 30, 2008.
4. "Surratt's goal-line interception lifts UNC past Duke 20-17". Associated Press. October 26, 2019. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
5. "Williams scores four TDs as Tar Heels rout Duke 56-24". Associated Press. November 7, 2020. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
6. Blank, Daniel (November 22, 2004). "Tar Heels ring bell by defeating Duke". The Daily Tar Heel. Retrieved November 30, 2008.
7. 2011 North Carolina Football Media Guide], p. 173-174
8. 2011 Duke Football Media Guide, p. 92
9. Tysiac, Ken (September 20, 2011). "UNC football takes a big hit". The Charlotte Observer.