Durant Plays Beyond Years in Loss

Your senior starter's got a tender hamstring? Better start him anyway.

But North Carolina's Darian Durant is no ordinary freshman. Not after splitting time with Ronald Curry during the five games prior to Thursday night's game at Georgia Tech, a stretch in which the Tar Heels had gone undefeated.

No, this freshman has what most do not: experience, confidence, savvy and experience -- did someone mention that already?

It almost was enough Thursday night -- but not quite.

With a composure and tenacity that belied his years, Durant completed

22 of 37 passes for 286 yards and three touchdowns as the No. 22 Tar Heels suffered a 28-21 loss at the No. 23 Yellow Jackets.

His touchdowns cut into Georgia Tech leads of 7-0, 13-7 and 28-14, but in the end, there just weren't enough big plays to compensate for an anemic rushing attack.

"Darian is a gamer, and we've got some receivers who can make plays," said UNC coach John Bunting, who has maintained that Curry will reclaim his starting job when he's healthy. "We were very, very close to making other plays, and we did not."

Durant was filling in for Curry, who injured his left hamstring in the Tar Heels' 38-3 win at Clemson. It marked the first time that a freshman quarterback started for the Tar Heels since Luke Huard did it four times in the 1999 season after Curry ruptured his Achilles tendon against the Yellow Jackets. Durant also entered the game with 949 passing yards, leaving him 27 shy of Curry's UNC freshman record.

He completed his first pass on the game's opening drive, an 11-yarder to tight end Zach Hilton. That gave him 15 consecutive completions, going back to UNC's 30-24 win against Virginia on Oct. 13, which is believed to be a UNC record.

He nearly threw an interception during that series and had another close call on the next one. He finished the first quarter 3 of 8 for 14 yards.

"Early on, I was kind of tentative about my decision-making," said Durant, who was 26th in the nation in pass efficiency entering the game. "But I think as the game went on, I settled down, and I think I played pretty well."

In the second quarter, he led the Tar Heels on a 65-yard touchdown drive, capping the series with a 30-yard strike to wideout Kory Bailey. Durant had sustained that drive with an 18-yard toss over the middle to wideout Bosley Allen, a completion that secured him the freshman yardage record.

On his next drive, he hit Georgia Tech safety Will Glover in the chest for an interception when UNC wideout Brandon Russell slipped and fell.

But he would rally the Tar Heels' offense -- a couple times.

First, he found wideout Sam Aiken in the right side of the end zone for a

15-yard touchdown that gave the Tar Heels their only lead of the night, 14-13, with 9:59 left in the third quarter.

After being dragged down on a key third-and-two early in the fourth quarter, Durant drove the Tar Heels 76 yards on nine plays, hitting Aiken for a

21-yard score that sliced the Yellow Jackets' lead to 28-21 with 5:29 left in the game.

"They did a lot of things, as far as blitzing and stunts and things of that nature," said Bailey, who caught three passes for 51 yards. "And he did a great job of staying in the pocket when he needed to, moving around a little bit when he needed to, and he put the ball on target."

Although it would prove fruitless, Durant flashed another quality he has honed this season, one that bodes well for the Tar Heels' future: leadership.

"He was motivating everyone," said UNC wideout Bosley Allen, who had nine receptions for 114 yards. "We knew we had to step it up as an offense. He just had a lot of confidence in us, and we drove down. But we just didn't have enough time, I guess."

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