Maryland loses a close one in Chapel Hill, NC (US Presswire)
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) - Bryn Renner tied a
school record with five touchdown passes, while Gio Bernard ran for 163
yards and a score to help North Carolina beat Maryland 45-38 in the
finale for both teams Saturday.
Freshman Quinshad Davis had nine catches for 135 yards and two touchdowns for the Tar Heels (8-4, 5-3 Atlantic Coast Conference
),
who blew the game open with a dominating third quarter en route to
another big scoring output in their first season under Larry Fedora.
North Carolina won eight games for the second time in three seasons but
is banned from a bowl due to NCAA sanctions.
Brandon
Ross ran for 141 yards and a touchdown for the Terrapins (4-8, 2-6),
who closed their second straight bowl-less season under Randy Edsall.
They led 35-21 after Stefon Diggs' 99-yard kickoff return to open the
second half, but UNC scored 24 straight points to take back control.
Renner
connected with Davis for a 50-yard scoring pass to start UNC's
game-turning charge, then found Erik Highsmith for a 15-yard scoring
pass on the next possession to tie the game. Thomas Moore put the Tar
Heels ahead to stay with a 22-yard field goal midway through the third,
then Bernard - who tallied his fifth 100-yard rushing game this season -
scored from 1 yard out to make it 45-35 late in the quarter.
While
Renner and the Tar Heels heated up, Maryland's offense - led by
converted linebacker Shawn Petty due to a rash of injuries at
quarterback - couldn't sustain any drives or come up with a
momentum-killing answer. After racking up 304 yards by halftime,
Maryland had 14 plays for minus-7 yards with just one first down in the
third quarter.
The Terrapins managed a field
goal to make it a one-possession game with 3:12 left, but the Tar Heels
moved the chains behind Bernard to run out the clock and send Maryland
into the offseason with six straight losses.
As
the final seconds ticked away, UNC defensive tackle Sylvester Williams -
one of the seniors who stuck around instead of transferring after the
NCAA sanctions were announced - doused Fedora with a cooler of water to
celebrate the win.
There were also a few chants of "ACC! ACC!" from North Carolina fans, a jab at Maryland's announcement earlier this week that it would move to the Big Ten in 2014.
Renner
completed 28 of 39 passes for 305 yards for UNC, and nearly had his
sixth TD pass of the day when he found Davis for what appeared to be a
10-yard score. But officials reviewed the play and determined Davis was
down inside the 1, leading to Bernard's short scoring run.
Petty,
Maryland's fifth QB this year, finished with a career-best 208 yards
passing in his fourth straight start. Diggs also threw an 8-yard scoring
pass on a trick play with 21 seconds left in the first half, the first
of three touchdowns in 34 seconds that seized momentum for the
Terrapins.
UNC muffed the ensuing kickoff
and Petty connected with Kevin Dorsey for a 28-yard score with 4 seconds
left in the half, then Diggs capped the flurry with his long kickoff
return coming out of halftime.