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DURHAM - North Carolina's players walked past the Victory Bell on their way to the visitors' locker room, and many stopped to give it a loud ring. After a tough, back-and-forth thriller with archrival Duke, the Heels felt like they earned it.

The Tar Heels escaped a dreary, damp Wallace Wade Stadium with a 28-20 victory Saturday afternoon in a game that wasn't decided until the final minute.

Carolina's Trimane Goddard picked off Thaddeus Lewis at the Tar Heels' 4-yard line with 27 seconds remaining to clinch the regular-season finale and ensure UNC maintained possession of the bell, given to the winner of the rivalry since 1948.

UNC has won 18 of the last 19 in the series and 10 in a row at Wallace Wade Stadium.

The Tar Heels (8-4, 4-4 ACC) avoided losing three straight to end the regular season for the first time since 1989.

"You go to the locker room every day and see the bell, and we don't take it for granted," said Goddard, who intercepted his seventh pass of the season. "We always want that bell to be Carolina blue."

Duke looked to be done when Carolina took possession with 2:43 left to play. But Duke had all three timeouts left, and the Heels' interesting clock management on the ensuing drive left an opening for the Blue Devils.

After Duke used two timeouts after rushing plays, the Heels called for a pass on third down. Yates' attempt fell incomplete and UNC was forced to punt after burning 12 seconds off the clock.

Duke took over at their 19 with 2:21 remaining. Lewis completed seven of his next eight passes to get the Blue Devils to the 16, but Goddard picked him off two plays later to seal it.

"That last drive, we gave them a lot of hope to get in that end zone," UNC linebacker Chase Rice said. "But Trimane Goddard has come up big for us all year."

"It somewhat defined our season, defined our November," Duke coach David Cutcliffe said. "I said at the start of the year that November would define our year and what we find out is that we're close ... and we are, real close."

Duke (4-8, 1-7) ended the season on a five-game losing streak (all in November) after beginning 4-3. As Carolina waits to see which bowl game awaits, Duke is already planning for next year.

"Like Coach (Cutcliffe) said, coming close is not acceptable here at Duke any longer," senior linebacker Michael Tauilili said, who had a career-high 20 tackles. "Words can't express how hurt I am to take the loss, but I'm just thinking about the greatness that's waiting around the corner."

The teams had eerily similar numbers in first downs (UNC, 20-19), total yards (UNC, 369-350) and plays from scrimmage (Duke, 71-66).

UNC quarterback T.J. Yates completed 15 of 19 attempts for 190 yards and tied a career-high with three touchdowns in his second game back from injury. He helped the Heels convert 11 of 16 third-down attempts after they went 4-for-22 in that department over their last two games - both losses.

"Certainly, the last few weeks we didn't play as well as we would like," Carolina coach Butch Davis said. "But this football team showed a lot of heart and courage here today."

UNC running back Shaun Draughn had 110 yards and a two touchdowns and receiver Hakeem Nicks caught three passes for 38 yards and a score, making him the first Carolina player to reach 1,000 yards receiving in a season. His first-half touchdown was his ninth this year, also a single-season school record.