BY ED DUPREE
SALISBURY POST

CHAPEL HILL — “Ground Jordan” came to town here Saturday and ran into the North Carolina defense.

Coach Carl Torbush’s Tar Heels held Maryland’s star running back in check and UNC took a 13-10 Atlantic Coast Conference football victory at Kenan Stadium.

The victory kept UNC (5-5 overall, 2-5 ACC) in the running for a winning season, which would make Torbush’s team bowl eligible with a win over winless Duke next Saturday.

Maryland(5-5, 3-4) also has a shot at a bowl game, but must win at home against Georgia Tech next weekend to be eligible.

Carolina’s defense, led by linebacker Brandon Spoon’s 15 tackles, yielded 101 yards in 27 carries to Jordan, but the Tar Heels stopped him at crucial times and kept the 225-pounder from crossing the goal line.

“He’s a great running back,” said Spoon, a 245-pound senior from Burlington. “We gave it to him all game and attacked him all game.”

Jordan, who has rushed for 895 yards this season, moved into third place on the ACC’s career rushing list with 4,122 yards.

“I thought overall we tackled LaMont Jordan very, very well and had a lot of people around him,” said Torbush. “He is big and strong. He is hard to bring down one on one. He’s got great speed. ... Lamont Jordan, I think, over half his carries were 2 yards or less, so anytime you do that, you’ve got to feel pretty good about it.”

Maryland, which dominated time of possession (37:42 to 22:18), had 309 total yards to 283 for the Heels. Torbush still thought his defensive unit, which didn’t get much rest for three quarters, gave a solid effort.

“I bet you half of that or more was probably made on three or four plays. So, defensively I felt like overall we played well. We made some really, really key plays, especially in the red zone inside the 5, places we had to make them or we don’t win the ballgame,” said the UNC coach.

The Tar Heels’ best goal line stand came in the second quarter, after the Terps had driven from their own 8 to the Carolina 2. Quarterback Shaun Hill was stopped for no game on a fourth-and-one play by linebacker Quincy Monk.

Late in the third period, Maryland, down 6-0, had to settle for a 25-yard field goal by Brian Kopka after having a first-and-goal situation at the UNC 5.

The Terps did take the lead at 10-6 about six minutes later on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Hill to wide receiver Guillan Gary with 3:17 left in the third period. That play climaxed a seven-play, 40-yard drive that followed a UNC punt.

Carolina’s offense had managed only four first downs in the first half and none in the third quarter before quarterback Ronald Curry and freshman tailback Willie Parker led a 66-yard drive for the winning touchdown in the final period.

A key play in the drive came with the Tar Heels facing a third-and-two situation at the maryland 33. Carolina had failed to convert its first 10 third-down opportunities. However, Curry got 5 yards on a keeper for a first down.

Three plays later, on third-and-7, Curry went 25 yards on a quarterback draw for the touchdown and, following Reed’s conversion, a 13-10 lead with 7:24 to play.

“It was a quarterback draw. We ran it a couple of times,” said Curry. “I just gave an outfake and acted like I was running, trying to get around this man to the outside. He took a bad angle, so I cut back in on him. It was just that one man to beat. We draw plays — 11 men on the field. There’s going to be one man unaccounted for, so that’s the guy I had to make miss.”

Maryland managed only one first down in its final two possessions, and Carolina’s Derrick Johnson intercepted a desperate Hill pass in the closing seconds.