Tar Heels Gain 10th Victory

Gator Bowl

Oscar Davenport threw for one score and ran for another in a 17-point second quarter in his first career start as No. 12 North Carolina defeated No. 25 West Virginia 20-13 Wednesday in the Gator Bowl.

The victory gave the Tar Heels 10 wins for only the sixth time in 106 years of football and could land them in the final Top 10 for the first time since finishing No. 9 in 1981.

North Carolina 0 17 3 0 - 20 West Virginia 0 3 7 3 - 13

Second quarter

NC-Barnes 18 pass from Davenport (McGee kick), 1:55

NC-FG McGee 22, 4:16

WV-FG Taylor 47, 12:36

NC-Davenport 5 run (McGee kick), 13:45 Third quarter

WV-Saunders 34 pass from Johnston (Turner kick), 2:54

NC-FG McGee 20, 14:29 Fourth quarter

WV-FG Taylor 47, 6:42

A-52,103.

NC WV First downs 21 19 Rushes-yards 42-114 36-66 Passing 175 197 Comp-Att-Int 14-26-0 17-34-3 Return Yards 27 40 Punts-Avg. 7-38.3 3-41.0 Fumbles-Lost 3-1 1-1 Penalties-Yards 9-63 4-52 Time of Possession 28:28 31:32

Individual statistics

RUSHING-North Carolina, Johnson, 25-79, Davenport 14-31, Linton 2-4, Watson 1-0. West Virginia, Zereoue 21-63, White 6-16, Swoope 4-6, Johnston 5-(minus 19).

PASSING-North Carolina, Davenport 14-26-0-175. West Virginia, Johnston 17-34-3-197.

RECEIVING-North Carolina, F.Jones 4-32, Brown 3-62, Johnson 3-33, Stevens 2-25, Barnes 1-18, Watson 1-5. West Virginia, Saunders 9-130, Vanterpool 5-56, White 2-1, Swoope 1-10.