N. Carolina Uses Curry To Take Out San Diego St.

A successful end of one season for North Carolina in the Las Vegas Bowl might also have been the beginning of a new era under freshman quarterback Ronald Curry.

Curry’s 48-yard run for a touchdown on the final play of the first quarter put the Tar Heels ahead for good Saturday, and North Carolina held on in a wind-swept game to beat San Diego State, 20-13, in the first major college bowl game of the season.

“He’s a phenomenal athlete. There’s no other way to put it,” San Diego State Coach Ted Tollner said of Curry.

With North Carolina’s passing game grounded by winds gusting to 48 mph, Curry rushed for 93 yards and made a critical first down late in the game, with an ineffective Oscar Davenport on the bench and the fate of the Tar Heels in his hands.

Curry then added a possible game-saving tackle on the 22-yard line after Anthony Saunders fumbled the ball and Joseph Tuipala picked it up and was heading toward the end zone with 1:29 left in the game.

“I was just hoping he would fall over before he got to me,” Curry said.

The fumble gave San Diego State a chance to tie or win, but Keith Newman intercepted a pass tipped by teammate Brandon Spoon on the goal line to preserve the win with 59 seconds left.

“This is as tough of a win as I have ever been around,” North Carolina Coach Carl Torbush said.

North Carolina’s last score came less than three minutes into the second quarter, but the Tar Heels’ defense held the Aztecs to only a fourth-quarter field goal.

“The wind was a tremendous factor,” Tollner said. “We had to try to speed things up when the wind was at our back and slow it down when it was in our face.”

The punting of Brian Schmitz with the wind played a big part, as he put the ball inside the San Diego State 10-yard line three times.

Schmitz punted five times for a 44-yard average, while San Diego State had seven punts for a 24.1-yard average.

“I would have voted for Brian Schmitz for MVP,” Torbush said. “We won the kicking game. Everything else was balanced in a lot of ways.”

The win was the fourth straight in a bowl game for North Carolina, which salvaged a 7-5 season after beginning the year 0-3. San Diego State also finished 7-5 after starting 0-3.