University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Duke
Tar Heels Roll Over Duke, 52-17
November 17, 2001 | Football
Nov 17, 2001
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By JOHN MARSHALL
Associated Press Writer
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) - Ronald Curry threw three touchdown passes and ran for another score as North Carolina beat Duke 52-17 on Saturday, extending the nation's longest major-college losing streak to 22 games.
North Carolina (6-5, 5-3 Atlantic Coast) beat Duke for the 12th straight time, winning the last six by a combined score of 254-68. The Tar Heels, which had less than 300 total yards in four games this season, had 315 by halftime and season-high 560 overall.
Duke (0-10, 0-7), which finished with just 231 yards, has the eighth-longest losing streak in Division I history.
Curry, who didn't play last week because of a death in the family, completed 11 of 19 passes for 217 yards and had touchdown passes of 72, 18 and 30 yards.
His rushing touchdown in the second quarter was officially 11 yards, but it covered about 30.
Curry dropped back to pass on a third-and-goal, then took off up the left side when no one was open. He dodged three Duke defenders around the 8, ran to the opposite side of the field and juked two more defenders near the 3 before stumbling into the end zone.
Duke stuffed North Carolina on its first drive of the second half, then moved 39 yards in eight plays for a 1-yard touchdown run by Alex Wade to pull to 24-17.
It was as close as the Blue Devils would get.
North Carolina, which blew a 24-point halftime lead in a 32-31 loss to Wake Forest last week, put the game out of reach with touchdowns on three straight drives in the third quarter.
Aiken, who had seven receptions for 156 yards and two touchdowns, scored on an 18-yard pass from Curry when he out-leaped Duke cornerback Kenneth Stanford in the end zone.
Curry then threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Kory Bailey, who walked in after eluding a Duke defender at the 1. Jacque Lewis followed with a 28-yard touchdown run up the middle to put North Carolina up 45-17 with 3:07 left. The two drives covered 59 seconds.
Duke has not won since beating Wake Forest 48-35 on Nov. 13, 1999 and could tie Northern Illinois for Division I's seventh-longest losing streak with a loss to Clemson next week.
North Carolina scored 50 points against an opponent in consecutive games for just the third time and first since doing it against VMI in 1969-70. The Tar Heels beat Duke 59-21 last season.
