Maryland Runs Through UNC's `D'

For John Bunting, it was a bitter disappointment, a depressing start to his first year as North Carolina's football coach.

Sweet redemption for the Terrapins, a squad whose doubters were many and loud.

Stinging defeat for the Tar Heels, suddenly weary faced with the long and difficult season ahead.

As the Tar Heels trudged off Byrd Stadium's field to gather in the locker room, to puzzle over what had gone so wrong and to ponder when a win would come, Friedgen and the Terps ran in front of the student sections, singing the fight song, laughing at the coach's uncharacteristic display.

The rotund Friedgen climbed on top of a platform to lead the song as the 23-7 Maryland victory burned into the scoreboard and into the Tar Heels' hearts.

"No, we certainly can't feel very good about it," Bunting said. "I don't think there's a guy in there who feels good about what just took place. I know I feel horrible about it."

Two games into the season, and North Carolina finds itself in a 0-2 hole, with Texas, Southern Methodist, Florida State and N.C. State looming in the near future. If the Tar Heels made any progress from its opening day 41-27 loss to defending national champion Oklahoma, no one could tell.

The running game could not get going. The passing game was not much better. Even North Carolina's talented defense struggled -- in the fourth quarter, they became tired and allowed Maryland to put the game out of reach.

Bruce Perry, a redshirt sophomore, debuted in his role as successor to LaMont Jordan and rushed for 116 of Maryland's 161 running yards. Perry has been learning to run North-South instead of his East-West style because of Friedgen, a former offensive coordinator at Georgia Tech.

Perry ran at North Carolina's defense, going with the philosophy that it was better to run at them than have Julius Peppers and Ryan Sims in pursuit. Peppers was one of UNC's bright spots -- he sacked Maryland quarterback Shaun Hill three times for a loss of 19 yards.

With Perry blazing a path to the goal line, pressure was lifted off of Hill, who went 10 of 26 for 86 yards. He struggled in the early goings to find his receivers but got in a groove in the second half. He tossed two TDs to Jafar Williams and Scooter Monroe. The 6-foot-3, 225-pound Marc Riley scored the Terps' last touchdown on a one-yard run. Although Perry (5-9, 190 pounds) did the lion's share of getting the ball in the red zone, he said he understood why he finished the day without a TD.

"You know, the situation calls for a big back," Perry said of Riley's score. "When you're down in the red zone. goal line, you need someone big to get it in there."

Perry's UNC counterpart, Willie Parker, opened the game for the Tar Heels in spectacular fashion.

Maryland punter Brooks Barnard kicked a 27-yarder out of bounds, leaving the Tar Heels on their 23. For the first offensive play of UNC's afternoon, quarterback Ronald Curry dropped straight back and handed off to Parker, who took off for a 77-yard run, scoring North Carolina's only touchdown of the afternoon with 13:12 left in the first quarter. Parker's run was the longest since a 90-yard carry by Curtis Johnson in 1993.

"It was a momentum setter," UNC center Adam Metts said. "We were real excited. Everybody executed. It was a perfectly executed play. We broke their backs on it, I thought. I thought, maybe we can set the tone of the game."

But North Carolina's offense could not repeat Parker's feat. Parker finished the game with 114 yards on 13 carries -- or 37 yards on 12 carries after that first offensive series.

Tailback Andre Williams gained a mere 10 yards on nine carries, while Curry ran for 24 yards.

"Right now, we're not doing a good enough job up front executing," Bunting said. "I don't think we're getting between the lead blocker on the offensive line. I don't think we're creating enough space for our runners to make plays.

"Once again, that is not a total surprise. They're young kids. That's why we played at Oklahoma. That's why I was hoping we'd see a big improvement this week."

Of course, it was not just youth on the Tar Heels' offensive line that kept the running game on the ground. The Maryland defense matched up well against the Tar Heels, and the Terps were able to turn their anger about Parker's touchdown into defensive fuel. The defense recorded 4.5 sacks, including one of Curry for a safety in the second quarter.

After Parker scored, Friedgen turned around and looked at his team. He didn't yell at them, or accuse the defense of missing assignments. Instead, he made a promise to them. He said, "That's the last time they are going to score today."

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