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CHAPEL HILL — Ronald Curry grew up before our eyes Saturday night.
The North Carolina quarterback kicked off the training wheels and steered the Tar Heels to a crucial 20-15 victory over Marshall at sold-out Kenan Stadium.
“Ron’s making great strides,” coach Carl Torbush said after the junior passed for 292 yards and a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns. “He shows great resiliency. He takes adversity, forgets about it and moves on. That’s what makes him a special young man.”
So was this: Curry completed 24 of 39 passes and topped the 200-yard mark for the second straight week. More importantly, he led Carolina (3-1) to an absolutely necessary comeback win by hitting Kory Bailey and Bosley Allen with TD strikes within a 2:22 span early in the final period. Then when the situation called for ball control, he engineered a decisive 13-play drive that melted the game’s final 7:09 off the clock.
“All year I’ve been telling myself, ‘Just put the team in position to win,’” Curry said. “If I do that I feel like I’ve done my job.”
Like any leading man, Curry had plenty of help from his supporting cast. There was a defense that limited Marshall (1-2) to 305 yards total offense and forced eight punts. This from a still-shaking prevent unit that was waffled by nationally ranked Florida State a week earlier.
“We knew we played terrible last week,” said linebacker Brandon Spoon. “A lot of people were saying our defense is soft, but we just had a bad game.”
This one, against a better-than-advertised Thundering Herd, was an exercise in frustration for the better part of three quarters. UNC’s first eight possessions produced only two Jeff Reed field goals and a pair of Curry interceptions. The Heels trailed 9-6 entering the fourth quarter.
“It didn’t look good,” said tight end Alge Crumpler. “But our only mission tonight was to bounce back. We weren’t going to let down. Nothing was going to get in our way.”
Instead, Curry capped an eye-opening drive when he slipped a 16-yard touchdown pass between two defenders and into Bailey’s waiting arms with 12:05 to play. Reed’s extra point gave Carolina a 13-9 lead it would never relinquish.
Following a defensive hold, the Heels regained possession on their own 38-yard line. Handoffs to Andre Williams and Anthony Saunders advanced the ball to Marshall’s 49. Then on first down Curry launched a home run ball to Allen, who sprinted down the left side into the end zone.
“It’s always fun to play with Ron when he’s on like that, knowing he can make the big play at any time,” said Allen. “It seems like he’s learning every game. He critiques himself after every game, win or lose.”
Marshall responded with a gap-closing touchdown when tailback Brandon Carey took a handoff from quarterback Byron Leftwich and scored on a 12-yard burst with 7:18 to play. Ironically, the drive was interrupted by a 14-minute delay when two of the four light banks rimming the stadium went dark.
“That didn’t bother us,” said Curry. “It’s like playing in the back yard when the street lights come on. You’re not gonna stop the game because you still got one big light. As long as you can see the ball, you’re fine.”
Curry was better than that on the game’s closing series. Aware that Marshall had spent its final timeout late in the third quarter, he carefully piloted the Heels from their own 21 to the Marshall 8, mixing a variety of runs with over-the-middle completions to Sam Aiken and Crumpler.
“Running the clock out like that was a huge key,” said Torbush, whose team has matched its 1999 win total. “I didn’t want to give them the ball back because if we did, they had a chance to make big plays and no one wanted that.”
No one wearing Carolina blue & white, anyway.
“That was our chance to finish them off,” said left tackle Louis Marchetti, who helped UNC produce 142 yards rushing and a season-high 434 total yards. “It was our time, our time to shine. We knew that was our shot and we made it count.”
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NOTES: Curry came within 12 yards of matching his most-prolific all-time passing game. He had 304 in his 1998 debut against Stanford. “We let him make too many big plays,” said Marshall coach Bob Pruett. “He was the difference in the ballgame.” ... This was the first of four straight home games for the Tar Heels, who meet ACC rival Georgia Tech next Saturday (3:30 p.m./ABC). ... Reed’s 48-yard field goal to close the first quarter was the longest of his UNC career. ... Defensive tackle Will Chapman had two of Carolina’s four sacks.
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