By BRYAN STRICKLAND

bstrickland@heraldsun.com; 419-6671

Heading into Saturday's game at North Carolina, Duke coach David Cutcliffe talked about the possibility of Tar Heels' tough defense creating a near-impossible situation for his Blue Devils.

"Sometimes you can't run it. Sometimes you can't throw it. But you've still got to score points," Cutcliffe said. "Go figure that out."

Cutcliffe's fear came true when UNC limited Duke's previously potent offense to 125 yards in a 19-6 victory, although the Blue Devils almost figured out a way anyway.

In fact, if there had been a Will -- as in starting kicker Will Snyderwine -- there might have been a way.

Snyderwine had hit 11 consecutive field goals, but he suffered a strained quad in warm-ups. Nick Maggio, the starter in 2008, filled in admirably, nailing field goals of 23 and 26 yards.

With the offense stymied, Duke got in position for those field goals thanks in large part to a blocked punt by special teams dynamo Jordon Byas and a poor punt on UNC's next attempt -- perhaps influenced by the earlier block.

It wasn't much, but it was enough to keep the score even for a long time.

UNC retook the lead at 9-6 on Casey Barth's third field goal on the final play of the third quarter, and then Duke seemed poised to again find a way to score via special teams.

Johnny Williams returned the ensuing kickoff 38 yards, and a late hit moved the ball to the UNC 41. Duke's offense could move the ball just six yards, leaving the Devils to either go for it on fourth down or try a 52-yard field goal to tie.

Cutcliffe said that had the stronger-legged Snyderwine been available, he would have kicked it, but without him Duke went for it and failed to convert.

UNC took over and then proceeded to take off more than half of the 13 minutes that remained with a grinding touchdown drive that put the game out of reach.

"Defensively we played really good at times, but we got pushed around a little bit there," Cutcliffe said. "That was a big turning point."

Despite the loss, Duke goes into Saturday's home game against No. 7 Georgia Tech with another shot at standing tied for the lead in the loss column in the ACC's Coastal Division. The game will kick off at noon and will be broadcast on ESPN2, the ACC announced Sunday.