Marquise Williams is throttling the Duke Blue Devils after the first half in Chapel Hill, pushing the North Carolina football team to a 38-10 lead in Kenan Stadium.
After starting UNC's first drive with an 89-yard flea-flicker touchdown to Ryan Switzer — which took all of 12 seconds to unfold — Williams kept the gas pedal on the floor.
The redshirt senior rushed into the end zone for four yards on the Tar Heels' next drive, and then continued to show off his arm. He threw for two additional touchdowns and racked up 404 passing yards through the rest of the half on 18-for-28 passing. That mark broke Williams' previous school record for passing yards in a half. Against Old Dominion in 2013, he had 379 passing yards in the first half.
After Dominquie Green intercepted Duke quarterback Thomas Sirk on the UNC 36, it looked like the Tar Heels would enter the half with a 31-10 lead.
Nope.
With 19 seconds left, Williams threw a couple of passes to Quinshad Davis (one incomplete) before hitting Bug Howard with a 49-yard touchdown pass down the left sideline.
Numbers to know at the half:
82: With his first pass of the game to Switzer, redshirt senior quarterback Marquise Williams tied Darian Durant's school record of 79 career touchdowns. One drive later, Williams ran untouched for four yards into the end zone to claim his 80th career touchdown — setting the new UNC record. He has 82 touchdowns at the moment, and if the first half is any indication, that number is going to continue rising.
22.4: The number of yards per catch UNC receivers have managed so far. Mack Hollins is the big guy in this area, with two catches for 88 yards, including a 74-yard touchdown.
14.4: Maybe even more impressive is the number of yards per passing attempt from UNC. The Blue Devils' secondary has allowed Tar Heel receivers open field throughout the entire half, and Williams is taking advantage of it.
7.4: The number of yards Duke is averaging per rush. On several occasions so far, the Blue Devils have made extended drives and gotten into a nice tempo against Gene Chizik's defense, but have only managed a Jela Duncan rushing touchdown and a field goal.
6: The number of drives the UNC defense has forced a punt or turnover. While UNC has allowed 178 rushing yards, Duke has scored on just 2-of-8 drives and the Tar Heels have forced a fumble (Jeff Schoettmer) and an interception (Dominquie Green).
@CarlosACollazo
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