North Carolina put down a budding East Carolina rally Saturday night with the help of a spectacular touchdown catch by Dwight Jones and took a 35-20 victory.
Jones' catch came on the last play of a 14-play drive, right after the Pirates had cut the Tar Heels' lead to 28-13. On third down and goal at the Pirates' 4-yard line, quarterback Bryn Renner lofted the pass to the left side of the end zone.
Jones was blanketed by ECU cornerback Emanuel Davis, a former UNC commitment. Jones is 5 inches taller, however, and he leaped, extended his right arm and grabbed the ball with one hand in the end zone in front of 50,610, the largest crowd in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium history.
It was the second touchdown catch of the game for Jones.
"He's one of the best receivers in the country," Renner said. "It was a great catch. I hope it gets on SportsCenter."
Thomas Moore's extra point gave the Tar Heels a 35-13 lead with 6:55 left. The touchdown also was set up by a gamble by coach Everett Withers.
North Carolina had fourth down at the East Carolina 48 and needed 1 yard to keep the drive going. Withers went for first down, sending in bullish back Ryan Houston.
But Houston was a decoy. Offensive coordinator John Shoop called for a pass, and Renner hit tight end Nelson Hurst over the middle for 24 yards.
"I wanted to let our offense know that I trust them," Withers said. "And that we were going to pick up the first down."
North Carolina improved to 4-1 and bounced back from last week's loss at Georgia Tech. East Carolina fell to 1-3.
Renner threw four touchdown passes, and wasn't intercepted or sacked. Freshman tailback Gio Bernard rushed for 146 yards and scored a touchdown.
Quarterback Dominique Davis of ECU passed for 417 yards and two touchdowns, completing 41 of 58. He was intercepted twice, and ECU had two other turnovers, all in the first half to help UNC to a 28-3 halftime lead.
The Tar Heels were dominant in the first half, forcing the turnovers and building the lead. The 25-point halftime difference was the Pirates' biggest since Sept. 22, 2007, when they trailed West Virginia 27-0.
The turnovers came after ECU made a school-record seven last week in a 28-23 win over UAB. In a span of six quarters, ECU committed 11 turnovers, at least one in each quarter.
The Tar Heels couldn't score after the first turnover, a fumble recovery, but started scoring after the second. Cornerback Tim Scott intercepted Davis at the ECU 18 and returned the ball to the 14, and UNC scored in two plays.
Renner connected with Jheranie Boyd on an 11-yard pass for UNC's first touchdown. Moore's point-after kick, his first of four in the half, gave UNC a 7-0 lead.
North Carolina scored on its next three possessions.
It went up 14-0 on after Renner connected with Erik Highsmith on a 75-yard touchdown pass, and 21-0 with 12:57 left in the second quarter after Bernard scampered 10 yards into the end zone.
UNC drove 92 yards on the ground for the touchdown, and Bernard had seven carries for 82 of the yards.
The most important touchdown came after ECU cut the difference to 18 on a field goal with 7:40 left in the half.
Renner had UNC back in the end zone four plays after the kickoff, connecting with Jones on a 47-yard scoring pass.
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