Clash of Titans
Games featuring a future Hall of Fame coach on each sideline.
November 23, 1946: Duke @ North Carolina
Wallace Wade vs Carl Snavely
North Carolina was weary of losing to its rival from Durham. Since 1930, UNC had scored only 10 touchdowns against Duke, had been outscored 237-70, and won only three games and tied three in the last 17 meetings.
Wallace Wade's 12th Duke team entered the game with a 4-4 record. Fall to the Tar Heels and finish with the first losing season in Wade's twelve years as head coach starting in 1931 with a four-year hiatus 1941-45 while Wade served in the military during World War II.
Aided by the addition of a sensational 22-year-old freshman back named Charlie "Choo Choo" Justice, Carl Snavely's fourth Tar Heel team was 8-1-1, ranked 14th in the Associated Press poll and hoping for an invitation to the school's first bowl game. It was reported that UNC had already rejected a Gator Bowl bid in hopes of landing a more lucrative Sugar or Orange Bowl opportunity.
The Tar Heels could clinch the Southern Conference crown with a victory since their only conference blemish was a first game tie against Virginia Tech.
As was true across the nation, both rosters included older players who were returning from military service. 25 Tar Heels were older than 22, the average age of college graduates.
Carl Snavely and Wallace Wade shake hands after the game.
(University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Yackety-Yack Yearbook Class of 1947)
Featured Player
Charlie Justice created a sensation in North Carolina even while in high school. Justice graduated in 1943 from Asheville High School after leading his team to undefeated seasons his last two years, outscoring the opposition 487-7. He averaged an unbelievable 25 yards per carry his senior year. Charlie made All-State and All-Southern both years and led the entire South with 172 points. With World War II raging, Charlie had to serve in the military instead of accepting one of the 12 scholarship offers to play college football. He reported to the Bainbridge Naval Training Center in Maryland in the summer of 1943. The base fielded a football team composed mostly of college guys and even a few NFL veterans. |
 Charlie "Choo Choo" Justice |
| Justice joined 98 others in trying out for the team but didn't immediately impress Coach Joe Maniaci. Over time, Justice got a chance to show what he could do with the ball in his hands. After two weeks, he got cleats and made the team. | |
Maniaci put him in during the sailors' scrimmage with the nearby Washington Redskins. Justice intercepted two passes, made four tackles, averaged 5y per carry, and ran 46y for Bainbridge's only touchdown. Observers couldn't believe that Charlie had played only high school football. Maniaci became a big fan. "He's got everything. He can run, tackle, block, and boot that ball a country mile." When Charlie left the Navy after the war ended, he got offers not only from countless colleges but also pro teams. He accepted an offer from North Carolina and joined Coach Carl Snavely's second Tar Heel team as a 22-year old freshman. |
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Duke's George Clark tries to find running room.
(Duke University Chanticleer Yearbook Class of 1947)
Duke Dominates Early Play
An overflow Kenan Stadium crowd of over 43,000 gathered on a perfect late Fall day to watch the 32nd meeting of the neighborhood rivals.
The Tar Heels got off to a bad start. On the first play after the kickoff, a signal mixup caused C Chan Highsmith's snap in the single wing formation to zip between the backs. FB Walt Pupa scrambled after the bounding ball back to the two where he was buried by a host of Devils. But Carolina escaped disaster when Justice punted to his 44, and the defense held.
But UNC didn't fare as well on their third possession. WB Jim Camp fumbled the handoff on a reverse, and Ernie Knotts for Duke recovered on the Carolina 19.
After FB Leo Hart's 3y run, TB George Clark, the hero of the 1945 Sugar Bowl win over Alabama, scampered 12y to gave Duke a first-and-goal on the four. Long gained two at left guard and almost two more at right guard to put the ball inches from the goal. But two more leaps over the pile resulted in nothing as guards Ralph Strayhorn and Sid Varney led the Tar Heel stand.
North Carolina took over, and Justice immediately tried to punt out of danger but in tight quarters got the ball only to the 20.
Duke quickly made a first down on WB Buddy Mulligan's 1y plunge and Clark's 9y gain to the 19. Howard Hartley failed to gain as the first quarter ended.
The Blue Devils fared no better at the other end of the field. Long got two and Mulligan and Hartley gained four each, but the pigskin was still just short of the line to gain, and UNC took over.
Amazingly, Duke was given another chance to score when FB Walt Pupa was hit, and the ball squirted high into the air. Long grabbed it to give the visitors the ball on the 14.
The third time was the charm as WB John Clements carried to a first down on the four where Strayhorn downed him to prevent a touchdown. But that only prolonged the agony. It took three tries from there, but Long leaped over right guard on fourth down for the final yard. Bob Hartley, Howie's brother, booted the point. Duke 7 North Carolina 0 (10:50 left in second quarter)
Tar Heels converge on Clark.
(University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Yackety-Yack Yearbook Class of 1947)
Tar Heels Tie Score
Justice electrified the home crowd on second down with a pass rather than a run. With the safety man playing deep all day expecting Carolina quick kicks, Charlie threw to Fitch down the middle between the halfbacks and in front of the safety for a 38y gain to the Duke 38. But the drive fizzled, and Justice punted into the end zone.
It was Duke's turn for a defensive stand later in the period. Choo Choo took a reverse from Pupa and threw a pass to Fitch for a 17y to the Duke 28. Then Justice got loose over left tackle behind Pupa's block and sped to the four. From there, he gained three before losing two. A pass to Filch was low, and John Montgomery broke up a fourth down heave into the end zone intended for Bob Cox.
After both defenses had made goal line stands, the Tar Heels finally scored on a lightning bolt play. It started with Duke's Fred Folger punting out of bounds on his own 32. Justice then staged one of his patented across-the-field runs, starting left, then reversing his field for 11y to the 21. It looked like the drive would stall when UNC faced fourth down on the 24. But Justice faked a run to the right, sucking the entire Duke defense his way. Then he stopped cold and threw a perfect pass to E John Tandy wide open to the left of Long. Touchdown! Cox's PAT tied the score.
Halftime score: Duke 7 North Carolina 7
Carolina Finally Takes Lead
UNC's first possession of the second half gave Duke another chance to stage a goal-line stand. Justice faked a quick kick and gave the ball to Camp on a reverse for 20y to the Carolina 44. After three runs gained another first down, Hosea Rodgers threw to George Sparger for 14y and a first down on the Duke 27. After three plays gained only a yard, Rodgers threw on fourth down to Sparger in the left flat. As Long and Mullins closed in for the kill, Sparger lateralled to Camp who ran 15y to the four. But the intrepid Duke defense held yet again when four runs gained just three yards.
On the last play of the third quarter, Long intercepted a Rodgers pass and returned it to the Duke 29.
After an exchange of punts, UNC started a scoring march from their 28. The big gainers were Justice's 31y pass to UNC and successive ends runs by UNC of 11 and 16y to put the ball on the nine. A quick pass to Cox ended just short of the goal line. UNC then piled up UNC for no gain, and T Louis Allen broke through and spilled Choo-Choo for a loss of two.
That set up fourth down from the three. Rather than bang into the middle of the line, the Tar Heels ran a double reverse—Pupa to Justice to Fitch, who ran wide to his left. Tandy blocked the Blue Devil end while C Dan Stiegman pulled to block defensive back Hartley. Fitch crossed the goal line just inside the flag. Cox kicked the PAT.
North Carolina 14 Duke 7
North Carolina 14 Duke 7
UNC Extends the Lead
Disaster struck the Blue Devils on their first play from scrimmage after the kickoff. Don Hartig intercepted Clark's pass and returned it 7y to the Duke 34. Justice and Pupa hurried back into the Carolina lineup. Pupa gained four and Justice 11 for a first down on the 19. After Fitch gained three, Justice faked a pass, ran to his right past Milner and followed Sparger's block on the safety man into the end zone. Montgomery blocked the PAT try. North Carolina 20 Duke 7
Tar Heel fans in the stands and listening on the radio could now taste their school's first bowl invitation.
The Tar Heels quickly tacked on two more points to their lead. Duke decided to punt on third down after Bobby Weant threw Buddy Luper for a 9y loss on first down. Mulligan dropped back into his end zone but got a high pass from center which squirted through his hands and bounced out of the end zone for a safety.
FINAL SCORE: NORTH CAROLINA 22 DUKE 7
When the game ended, the Southern Conference champions carried Justice and Fitch from the stadium on their shoulders.
Aftermath
North Carolina defeated Virginia 49-14 in a non-conference game the next week to finish the season ranked #9 in the AP poll. They received an invitation to the Sugar Bowl to play #3 Georgia. The Bulldogs, led by their own sensational halfback Charlie Trippi, won 20-10.
References
Battle of the Blues: Duke vs Carolina, Bill Cromartie (1992)
North Carolina Tar Heels’ Greatest Football Games (Kindle), Robert Porter (2010)
Battle of the Blues: Duke vs Carolina, Bill Cromartie (1992)
North Carolina Tar Heels’ Greatest Football Games (Kindle), Robert Porter (2010)