The Tar Heels returned to dominating Duke like they had over the last quarter century while showcasing a football program that looks like it could finally be reaching long-awaited new heights.

On a day when only an 80 percent chance of rain kept every seat in sold-out Kenan Stadium from being filled, the raucous near-capacity crowd and a crazy, overflow student section created the wild atmosphere UNC has been seeking for years, but never has been able to sustain.

The home team, clad in light blue and Alexander Julian argyle, demolished what was supposed to be the ninth-best total defense in the country from its very first snap and, despite how competitive Duke has become, made beating the Blue Devils for the 23rd time in the last 26 years look easier than ever.

What was billed to be a close game turned no contest in a hurry.

The day proved UNC fans will come out in droves if they have a football team worth supporting, and they go well beyond the elite group that can demand the limited supply of season basketball tickets to the Smith Center.  No one would like that more than Roy Williams, a UNC alumnus who bleeds Carolina Blue but also wants football to succeed to take the pressure off his program.

Carolina fans love a good game and a good party to follow. They watch the game, they know the game. On the Tar Heels’ first offensive snap, when Marquise Williams got the flea-flicker back from Elijah Hood, they were up screaming, “He’s Open! He’s Open!” as Ryan Switzer raced past the Duke secondary. The 89-yard bomb took 12 seconds, and the Blue Devils never recovered.

Later, the fans easily spotted, and yelled for, a holding penalty that nullified a Duke first down.

The gray skies never opened up once the old rivals kicked off. It kept from putting a damper on anything and everything that was planned.

During timeouts, UNC also put on a good show, introducing its latest Nobel Prize winner, Aziz Sancar, who shared the spotlight with a fellow Dukie chemistry scientist; the six Tar Heel beauties on the women’s World Cup soccer team, who glowed as much as the trophy they held; and Carolina legend Don McCauley, who 45 years ago this month rushed for 279 yards and scored five touchdowns in a 59-34 win over Duke. Saturday’s 66 points surpassed that day and were the most the Tar Heels had ever scored in Kenan Stadium, against Duke and any other ACC foe.

The Blue Devils gained more than 500 yards (compared to Carolina’s 704 in less than three quarters with the regulars in) but were never in the game after the Tar Heels scored with ease on their first three possessions. For UNC alumni and fans, who clamor to beat the Blue Devils in basketball and other sports, it further restored order to a football series they owned until losing two straight on the last possessions of those games in 2012 and ‘13. The Heels pushed the reset button a year ago, and have now outscored Duke 111-51 in the last two matchups.

The outcome was not in doubt at halftime, or earlier, but the Tar Pit kids and much of the crowd stayed around to the sweet end, some obviously hoping the Tar Heel reserves could crack 70 points, which would have added to the Blue Devils’ embarrassment. Both teams quit trying to score midway through the fourth quarter, using up entire play clocks and keeping the ball on the ground. UNC had had enough time to score nine touchdowns by seven different players plus a Nick Weiler field goal.

The Heels’ eighth straight victory keeps them ahead in the championship race that continues this Saturday on Senior Day against Miami. Should they win, and Duke helps out by defeating Pitt, they will earn their first Coastal Division title since the ACC split up 10 years ago. Carolina would play Atlantic Division champion Clemson, which eliminated lone contender FSU later in the day, on December 5 in Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium.

For a program that has not won more than eight games since 1997, and has never won 11 in the regular season, the Tar Heels’ emergence will surely move them up from No. 21 in the polls and put them into the College Football Playoff rankings for the first time. That recognition comes easier with a tradition of winning, which Carolina football does not have on the national level.

But thanks to a record-shattering quarterback and more scoring weapons than the New England Patriots, UNC is about to get those football props. Capturing the Coastal is within reach and running the table will require winning at Virginia Tech and N.C. State the last two weeks of the season. Such road games are always dicey, and Carolina could still fall from the national spotlight.

But, thus far, how Coach Larry Fedora managed to get this team there with the clouds that have hung over his program like they did over Kenan Stadium Saturday conjures up this question: What could Fed do if the skies ever cleared?

That result, by going back to the future, was on preview for all their fans and a national television audience to see and celebrate; fans who are obviously willing to help turn Carolina Football into a very big deal, if given the reason.