One Moment that will Haunt Each North Carolina Team Forever

Duke Loses to Miami (FL) on Kickoff Return Touchdown

It’s a play that will forever be etched into Duke football fans’ memories – because it never should have counted.

With six seconds left in the game and Duke leading by three, the Blue Devils kicked off to the Hurricanes, starting a crazy eight-lateral play that ended with defensive back Corn Elder in the end zone and Miami (FL) leaving Durham with a 30-27 win. But as every Duke fan knows, there were several egregious mistakes made by the officiating crew that should’ve ended the game with a Duke win instead.

In total, the officials made four errors on the final play of the game, costing Duke the victory:

• Current Miami Dolphin Walton should’ve been called down on one of the laterals, which could’ve been caught on the field or on replay
• The Hurricanes committed an illegal block in the back that was not called
• A Miami (FL) player left the bench illegally during the return
• The official incorrectly communicated why the illegal block in the back foul was not called

The ACC officially suspended the referees but never reversed the outcome, ending a four-game winning streak and kickstarting a four-game losing streak for the Blue Devils after a 6-1 start.

Scariest of all? It happened on Halloween.