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ATLANTA (Ticker) -- Ronald Curry put a spectacular end to his career and coach John Bunting's first season at North Carolina. Curry scrambled 62 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter and the Tar Heels used a smothering defensive effort to record a 16-10 victory over Auburn in the Peach Bowl. While never living up to his vast potential, Curry went out a winner as North Carolina (8-5) overcame an 0-3 start and extended its bowl winning streak to five games. The Tar Heels had not played a postseason game since the 1998 Las Vegas Bowl. The Tar Heels had a 10-0 lead when Curry turned a busted play into the clinching touchdown with the longest run of his career. "We had a screen pass called and everyone was covered," Curry said. "I turned it up the middle and just ran between two guys and had to cut back. And I ran out of gas." Once a win away from playing in the Southeastern Conference championship game, Auburn (7-5) did not reach the end zone until late in the fourth quarter, when Daniel Cobb threw a 12-yard touchdown toss to Lorenzo Diamond. But fullback Richard Moore recovered the ensuing onsides kickoff and North Carolina ran out the clock. "We had a long wait in between games, but we played relentlessly," Bunting said. "There are some things in a game you can't control, but you can control how you play. I'm extra proud of how we played and I'll never forget this team in my first season back in Chapel Hill." The Tar Heels limited Auburn to 176 total yards, including just 31 on the ground. "They're a good football team. They made the plays and we didn't," Tigers coach Tommy Tuberville said. "They know what they're doing on defense, they have been winning with defense all year. If you can't run the football, you can't win. Offensively, we didn't execute at all. We just didn't make any plays." "I think we did about all we wanted to do. We couldn't do much better," North Carolina defensive end Julius Peppers said. "We were back in the backfield almost every play and we were better up front than they are." Cornerback Michael Waddell forced Tim Carter to fumble early in the first quarter and defensive end Joey Evans returned it 18 yards to the Auburn 9. Two plays later, Willie Parker scored from the 10 to put the Tar Heels ahead for good, 7-0. North Carolina covered 84 yards essentially in two plays late in the second quarter. Parker broke off a 43-yard run and freshman Darian Durant connected with Sam Aiken for a 41-yard pass, but the Tar Heels had to settle for Jeff Reed's 22-yard field goal and a 10-0 halftime lead. Curry's keeper extended it to a 16-point advantage, but Auburn finally got on the board on a 34-yard field goal by Damon Duval 1:44 into the fourth quarter. Parker rushed for 131 yards on 19 carries and Curry added 67 on 10 attempts. But he completed 5-of-6 passes for just 65 yards while Durant was 7-of-14 for 76 yards and an interception. Cobb split time with freshman Jason Campbell split and was 6-of-10 for 71 yards. Campbell completed 12-of-18 passes for 74 yards before bruising his rotator cuff. "We tried to throw it downfield, but we just didn't have time," Tuberville said. "You have to be able to run the ball against a team like that to give your offensive line a chance. It wasn't a lot of fun for our offensive linemen or our backs." |
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