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CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina (Ticker) -- Ronald Curry threw a touchdown pass in the first quarter and Willie Parker ran for another in the third as North Carolina secured a Peach Bowl bid with a 19-10 triumph over SMU in an interconference matchup. The Tar Heels (7-5, 5-3 ACC) will compete in their fifth Peach Bowl on December 31, when they will face a yet-to-be-determined Southeastern Conference team. UNC's last Peach Bowl appearance came after the 1992 season, when the school edged Mississippi State in the first edition played at the Georgia Dome. "Our guys really deserve this. It's been a long road, but we're there. ... They fought through one of the nation's toughest schedules," Tar Heels coach John Bunting said. "Personally, it will be great to go back to the Peach Bowl after playing in that game 31 years ago as a player at North Carolina." Only the second UNC coach to guide his team to a bowl game in his first season, Bunting was a linebacker for the Tar Heels when they earned their first Peach Bowl bid. But on December 30, 1970, Arizona State handed UNC a 48-26 defeat. Curry connected with receiver Chesley Borders on a 43-yard score as this year's Tar Heels matched the school record for touchdown passes in a season with 25. Curry recorded eight and freshman Darian Durant tallied 17. Curry completed 8-of-14 passes for 116 yards and had six carries for 42 yards. Durrant, who set four school records for freshman quarterbacks this season, threw for 96 yards on 7-of-13 passing and gained 14 yards on the ground with his lone rushing attempt. Parker scored on a two-yard run with 55 seconds remaining in the third quarter to give North Carolina a 16-7 advantage and propel the Tar Heels to their seventh win in the last nine games. Defensive end Juliuis Peppers, a finalist for the Nagurski Trophy as the nation's best defensive player and the Lombardi Award as the best lineman, recorded one sack on Saturday to improve his career tally to 30 1/2. The junior, who is expected to enter the 2002 NFL draft, remains two sacks shy of Greg Ellis' school career sacks record. SMU freshman ShanDerric Charles ran for 77 yards on 17 carries, including a 12-yard touchdown run. But the Mustangs (4-7, 4-4 WAC) had their two-game winning streak come to an end. The Mustangs also fell to 0-2 all-time against the Tar Heels. The only previous meeting came on October 1, 1994, when SMU suffered a 28-24 defeat at Dallas.
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