2-QB System Works Well for UNC

The latest installment Saturday featured the first look at the Tar Heels' new scheme to play backup redshirt freshman Darian Durant earlier in the game.

The result was 301 yards of total offense, 232 of them in the air, as the Tar Heels defeated No. 6 Florida State 41-9.

In the first half, senior starter Ronald Curry and Durant alternated series, with Curry running five and Durant three.

Durant then played the first three series of the second half, with the Tar Heels trailing 9-7, before he sprained his ankle and kicked a pooch punt backward three yards. Curry directed UNC's final four drives.

Curry threw his first touchdown of the season -- a 53-yard strike to wideout Kory Bailey -- near the beginning of the third quarter to give UNC a 27-9 edge. He was 4 of 12 overall for 93 yards and rushed for the Tar Heels' last score in leading them to 24 of their points.

"It felt great," Curry said of breaking his touchdown drought. "This is my fourth game, that's my first touchdown pass. It feels like the monkey's off your back. I really had fun today playing, and after I threw that touchdown pass, I just felt like I was really a part of it."

Durant, meanwhile, directed the Tar Heels to their first 21 points, tossing two touchdown passes, including a 52-yarder to wideout Chesley Borders on the first series of the second half, giving UNC the lead for good.

He also threw two interceptions but finished 9 of 16 for 115 yards and was impressive enough to make the Tar Heels' two-quarterback system look like a long-term solution for the offense's woes instead of a one-game project.

"It was exciting for me just to know that coaches have confidence in me to get me out there early," Durant said.

FSU coach Bobby Bowden was impressed with North Carolina's quarterbacks, praising Durant in particular.

"They did a good job. Number 11 gives them what they need," Bowden said. "He gives them a missing link. Together they give a pretty good mix up. You've got to have 11. Got to have 11."

UNC coach John Bunting said he and offensive coordinator Gary Tranquill will talk about the scheme more this week but that after a victory against a top 10 team, chances are Durant will see similar playing time -- or maybe more.

"We're probably competing, but I'm not going to let something like this come between us," Curry said. "I don't know what he's thinking, but I don't have anything against him. If I had any animosity, it'd be toward the coaches, and I don't even have any animosity toward them.

"I understand I haven't played well, and he comes and does well, maybe he's the best that day. Not to say I need to hang up my hat, but I feel like I can play better than what I've been playing."

The Sports Editor can be reached to be at sports@unc.edu.