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CHAPEL HILL -- It's not just that Bruce Carter swatted three Connecticut punts in North Carolina's 38-12 win over the previously undefeated and 24th-ranked Huskies on Saturday night. It's that he wasn't even trying. At least not officially.

"I was supposed to be holding up, but coach (Butch Davis) said if the situation presented itself, to go block it," said Carter, a sophomore from Havelock. "So that's what I did. Every time, I went hard."

Carter, the starting linebacker and burgeoning special-teams demon, was more disruptive than an inebriated heckler at an open-mike night. As a result, Carolina won handily while running 49 offensive plays to the Huskies' 84. It amassed its 38 points on a scant 263 yards of total offense.

While Davis didn't order the all-out assault on the unfortunate punter, a fellow named Desi Cullen, the coach secretly thought there might be opportunity for mayhem. The Tar Heels' coaches noticed that the Huskies' best personal punt protector, the guy who stands between the center and the kicker, was injured.

"Brand-new guy," Davis said. "We felt if we could confuse him with the alignments, we might be able to get pressure on the edge, and it just worked out. It wasn't anything spectacular in scheme. It was a matter of guys giving great effort, being the right edges and getting off the ball."

Carter's effort didn't even tie the NCAA record for single-game rejections. That number is four, established in 1992 and matched in 2001.

Carter's teammates didn't capitalize on his first two breakthroughs, but the third one left them no choice. Matt Merletti fell on the loose ball in the end zone and Carolina led 17-3 with 5:08 left in the first half.

Merletti had shown Davis a nose for the loose ball long before Saturday. Both were with the Cleveland Browns then. Davis was head coach; Merletti was the ball boy.

"The first two, they had the same guy on me," Carter said. "On the third one, they moved the (personal protector) to my side.

"What's funny is I went in the same spot all three times."

At that point, Carter had gotten a hand on four consecutive punts, a streak that began at Miami the previous week.

His efforts turned out to be quite important because the Huskies were, by some measures, in control of the game. When Tony Ciaravino made a field goal with 10:06 left in the third quarter, the Huskies had run 52 plays to the Tar Heels' 26 and had possessed the ball 23 minutes to 11. And they were down 17-6 and effectively out of it.

Asked if he felt like a guy whose unit had defended 84 plays, Carolina linebacker Mark Paschal said, "Hell, yeah. I'm exhausted. I couldn't even move for a little bit. But I don't care. I've still got enough energy to sit here and smile."

UConn, without injured quarterback Tyler Lorenzen, was going to be especially dependent on tailback Donald Brown, who entered with 906 rushing yards in five games. Brown got his numbers on Saturday, but his one and only long run was an inconsequential burst that helped cut his team's deficit to 38-12.

The win was Carolina's first over a ranked non-ACC team since a 28-17 verdict over No. 17 Stanford on Sept. 13, 1997. The Heels had dropped 10 such contests in the interim.

Now they have equaled their win total from all of 2007.

"We were just playing football," defensive end Marvin Austin said. "I never thought about how many plays we were on the field. We just went out there and did our jobs."

Contact Rob Daniels at 373-7028 or rob.daniels@news-record.com

Connecticut 3 0 3 6 -- 12

North Carolina 10 7 14 7 -- 38

Conn--FG Ciaravino 26

NC--FG Barth 31

NC--Houston 1 run (Barth kick)

NC--Merletti 0 blocked punt return (Barth kick)

Conn--FG Ciaravino 31

NC--Draughn 39 run (Barth kick)

NC--Austin 23 interception return (Barth kick)

NC--Nicks 13 pass from Sexton (Barth kick)

Conn--D.Brown 1 run (run failed)

A--59,500.

Connecticut UNC

First downs 23 13

Rushes-yards 40-168 33-146

Passing 210 117

Comp-Att-Int 24-44-3 9-16-1

Return Yards 5 97

Punts-Avg. 6-26.2 4-37.8

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-0

Penalties-Yards 11-97 6-57

Time of Possession 36:22 23:38

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--Connecticut, D.Brown 33-161, Campbell 1-4, Todman 4-2, Frazer 2-1. North Carolina, Draughn 19-109, Houston 3-39, Nicks 1-8, Little 3-6, Tate 2-1, Team 2-(minus 2), Sexton 3-(minus 15).

PASSING--Connecticut, Frazer 24-44-3-210. North Carolina, Sexton 9-16-1-117.

RECEIVING--Connecticut, Hernandez 7-103, D.Brown 5-4, K.Moore 4-36, Sherman 2-16, Smith 2-15, Gaulden 1-16, Kanuch 1-10, Bedard 1-7, Butler 1-3. North Carolina, Nicks 3-55, Elzy 3-38, Tate 2-17, Pianalto 1-7.