N. Carolina Proves It’s Bowlworthy

With a 6-5 record in the regular season, North Carolina knew it was fortunate to be in a bowl game.

The Tar Heels showed Saturday night the invitation was no mistake, breaking three Carquest Bowl records in a 20-10 victory over Arkansas at Joe Robbie Stadium.

“This is for everyone who thought we shouldn’t be here: ‘Hey, we won the game. So there,”’ said defensive tackle Marcus Jones, who had five tackles and a sack.

L.C. Stevens caught an 87-yard scoring pass, the longest in Carquest Bowl history, with 4:08 left in the third quarter to break the game open.

Stevens caught the pass from Mike Thomas near the 36 and shook off Tracy Cantlope en route to the end zone.

“I gave a good burst and gave him a good stiff arm,” said Stevens, who broke the record of 78 yards by Clarence Cannon of Boston College in 1994.

Carolina tailback Leon Johnson also set a bowl record with 195 rushing yards and was named the game’s most valuable player. West Virginia’s Robert Walker set the record at 132 yards last year.

“I’m just proud of myself. I’m proud of my team and our line,” Johnson said. “We overcame a lot of adversity tonight. Everything went really well for us.”

He had 29 rushes, breaking the record of 26 by Siran Stacy of Alabama in 1991.

Johnson’s 28-yard touchdown run in the third quarter made the score 14-10. Thomas ran 3 yards, then pitched the ball to Johnson at the 25. He made it into the end zone to cap a nine-play, 65-yard drive.

Thomas, making his third bowl start, was 10 of 23 for 177 yards.

“When something bad happens to our football team … we don’t know how to handle it,” Arkansas coach Danny Ford said. “It really took a lot out of our sail when they went ahead of us. We weren’t good enough to get back in it.”

Arkansas (8-5) scored its first touchdown in nine quarters on its first possession - a 26-yard pass from Barry Lunney Jr. to Anthony Lucas. The pass came on third-and-4 and was caught just over the ducked head of cornerback Fuzzy Lee.

Lunney finished 16 of 35 for 227 yards and two interceptions.

Carolina (7-5) responded on its next possession, capping an eight-play, 53-yard drive with an 18-yard touchdown pass to Darrin Ashford to make it 7-7.

Twice in the first half Arkansas reached field goal range but could not score. Todd Latourette’s first attempt from the 30 was blocked, and defensive end Greg Ellis got a hand on the second from the 21.

North Carolina 20, Arkansas 10

Arkansas 7 0 3 0 - 10

North Carolina 7 0 13 0 - 20

Ark-Lucas 25 pass from Lunney (Latourette kick)

NC-Ashford 18 pass from M.Thomas (Welsh kick)

Ark-FG Latourette 28

NC-L.Johnson 28 run (Welsh kick)

NC-Stevens 87 pass from M.Thomas (kick failed)

A-34,428.

Ark NC First downs 26 20 Rushes-yards 44-162 49-242 Passing 227 177 Return Yards 69 87 Comp-Att-Int 16-35-2 10-23-0 Punts 4-39 4-33 Fumbles-Lost 1-1 0-0 Penalties-Yards 3-36 4-31 Time of Possession 30:03 29:57

Individual statistics

RUSHING - Arkansas, M.Johnson 29-136, Lunney 14-19, Meadors 1-7. North Carolina, L.Johnson 29-195, Wall 2-15, Watson 6-13, M.Thomas 7-8, Paquet 3-6, Getter 1-3, McGregor 1-2.

PASSING - Arkansas, Lunney 16-35-2-227. North Carolina, M.Thomas 10-23-0-177.

RECEIVING - Arkansas, Meadors 7-101, Eubanks 3-45, Heringer 3-42, M.Johnson 2-14, Lucas 1-25. North Carolina, Ashford 3-38, Barnes 3-21, Stevens 1-87, Brown 1-19, Watson 1-12, L.Johnson 1-0.