University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Furman
Tar Heels Top Paladins, 45-42
September 16, 2006 | Football
Sept. 16, 2006
Final Stats | Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery 1 | Photo Gallery 2
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) -Ronnie McGill ran for 114 yards and had four touchdowns and Cam Sexton threw for two scores in his first career start to help North Carolina beat Furman 45-42 on Saturday night.
McGill ran for three scores and also had a 58-yard TD catch from Sexton on the third play for the Tar Heels (1-2).
Jerome Felton ran for 67 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Division I-AA Paladins (2-1). Furman bounced back from a horrible start and led 35-31 midway through the fourth quarter before the Tar Heels got some big plays in the final minutes to earn their first win of the season.
Sexton threw for 265 yards and found Jesse Holley downfield for a 50-yard touchdown strike that put the Tar Heels ahead to stay at 38-35 with 9:30 left. McGill then sealed it by leaping over the line for a 1-yard TD run with 1:53 to play.
Behind McGill and Sexton, the Tar Heels finished with 446 total yards and 20 first downs. That was just enough to offset an impressive showing from Furman's offense, which finished with 521 yards and 30 first downs. The teams combined to convert 16 of 24 third downs and punt just five times.
Furman was trying to repeat its surprising 28-3 win here in 1999, the program's only victory in 16 games against I-A opponents since 1987.
Sexton had only one interception and completed 14 of 20 passes, none bigger than his scoring toss to Holley on a third-and-14 from midfield.
Sexton confidently hit Holley around the 25, where Holley jumped to beat Austin Holmes to the ball before breaking free and racing to the end zone for the lead. Sexton also got off to a good start when he found McGill for the quick touchdown on a screen pass, part of an opening flurry that made it seem like this might be an easy victory.
Furman muffed the ensuing kickoff to give the Tar Heels the ball at the 8, and McGill ran it in two plays later for a 14-0 lead less than 3 minutes in. McGill also had a 30-yard TD run late in the third quarter.
But Furman - in an early indication of its offensive success - answered the early burst with a 65-yard scoring drive that ended with Cedrick Gipson's 11-yard touchdown. The teams traded scores, with Felton answering a 34-yard touchdown run from Barrington Edwards with the first of his three 1-yard TD runs early in the second quarter.
His last touchdown, a 3-yard score, gave Furman a 35-31 lead with 12:09 left.
Renaldo Gray threw for 310 yards and one TD for the Paladins.
