BY DAVID SHAW
SALISBURY POST

DURHAM — There was no need for a recount Saturday afternoon at Wallace Wade Stadium.

In a record-setting performance, the North Carolina football team scored seven first-half touchdowns en route to a 59-21 wipeout win over host Duke in the ACC finale for both schools.

More importantly, the victory gave UNC a 6-5 overall record — making it bowl-eligible — and may have saved head coach Carl Torbush’s neck for the second straight year.

“There are lots of scenarios out there,” Torbush said after the Tar Heels earned their third straight win and closed the league season with 3-5 mark. “Lots of what-ifs, lots of opinions, and they’ll be lots of discussion. Going into the season we said we weren’t gonna let this thing get out of hand like it did last year. Right now I feel pretty confident it won’t.”

He should. Torbush, still sporting those Marlboro Man good looks, was greeted with cheers of “Aloha” when he emerged from the UNC dressing room afterward. The reference was to a Christmas day bowl game in Hawaii, one of several second-tier venues the Heels may or may not be visiting.

“We’ve put ourselves in position to be selected,” said tight end Alge Crumpler. “We accomplished our goal. We were sitting there at 5-5 and we had to win this game to at least have a chance. Now we’ve got that.”

They have it largely because quarterback Ronald Curry was a football Evil Kneivel. The 6-foot-2 junior passed for 218 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 105 yards and two additional scores.

“Just one of those days,” he said humbly, then deflected the spotlight. “We finally put a complete game together. All three aspects were working — the offense, defense and special teams. It doesn’t get much better than what you saw today.”

Especially the offense, which amassed 465 total yards against a Duke defense that seemed relieved to end its season-long nightmare. “This was a growing experience for us,” coach Carl Franks said after the Blue Devils (0-11, 0-8 ACC) put their second winless season since 1996 in the rearview mirror. “Unfortunately, it was an experience for them to learn how to handle a lot of adversity.”

They faced a ton of it in the first two quarters when UNC mounted a 52-7 lead and set an ACC record for points in a half.

“Everything we did in the first half was right,” said Torbush. We didn’t make any mistakes. We caught it well. We ran it well. We threw it well. Defensively, we sacked the quarterback and made big plays. We did everything you could possibly do to dominate a team.”

The rout began, oddly enough, on a first-quarter broken play that looked like it had been drawn up in the dirt. The score was tied 7-7 when Curry dropped back in the pocket, pumped a couple of times and eluded a couple of pass-rushers. Suddenly he burst through a massive hole in the middle of the field and raced 43 yards for the go-ahead touchdown.

“We wanted to jump out on them and take away their confidence early,” said Curry, the first UNC quarterback since Ricky Lanier in 1969 to surpass 100 yards passing and rushing in the same game. “I think that play did the trick.”

After Jeff Reed’s 37-yard field goal extended the lead to 17-7, Carolina exploded for five second-quarter touchdowns. One came on Bosley Allen’s 63-yard punt return and another on a 27-yard interception return by defensive end Julius Peppers, who did a bit of showboating by diving headfirst into the end zone.

“I didn’t want to get caught,” said Peppers, who cost the Heels 15 yards on the ensuing extra point attempt. “I just wanted to make sure I got in. You can never be too sure at a time like that.”

Making sure. That’s what this game was all about for the Heels. Making sure they won a lunch-on-the-line contest. And making sure their well-liked coach won’t go down without taking a hard swing.

“He’s done a helluva job,” said Crumpler. “He’s let us correct our mistakes on the field and play ball. You don’t get rid of a coach like that.”

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NOTES: It will be at least two weeks before the possible bowl game invitations go out. The Micron PC Bowl in Miami is another potential destination for the Heels. ... Peppers’ touchdown was his second of the year. He returned a fumble for a score against Wake Forest on Sept. 9. ... The victory was Carolina’s 600th since the school began a football program in 1888. ... Both Curry and Peppers said they will report for UNC basketball practice on Monday. ... Duke’s Brian Morton punted six times, giving him 282 career punts for 12,000 yards — both ACC records. ... Duke quarterback D. Bryant completed only 3 of 13 passes for 18 yards before suffering a hand injury in the second quarter. Spencer Romine relieved and threw a third-quarter TD pass to Ben Erdeljac.