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CHAPEL HILL -- Ryan Houston ran for a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to help 19th-ranked North Carolina pull away from No. 22 Georgia Tech 28-7 on Saturday at Kenan Stadium.

Cameron Sexton threw two touchdown passes for the Tar Heels (7-2, 3-2 ACC), who picked up what could prove to be a critical win in the muddled Coastal Division race and ensured their first winning season in seven years.

North Carolina -- among the nation's leaders in turnover margin -- made some big plays defensively against the Yellow Jackets' triple-option offense and converted a pair of fumbles into Houston's touchdowns to break open the game.

"As I said throughout last week and this week, the buzz words were 'assignment football,' and with the exception of one big, long run near the end of the ballgame I was very, very pleased with our defense," said UNC coach Butch Davis.

Georgia Tech (7-3, 4-3) finished with 326 yards rushing and 423 total yards, but never could sustain a scoring drive nor could it push deeper than the Tar Heels' 23-yard line until Jonathan Dwyer's 85-yard scoring run -- the longest rush against North Carolina this season -- with six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

By then, the Tar Heels had a 21-point lead.

UNC's offense didn't give its defense much help, getting Sexton's touchdown pass to Zack Pianalto on the opening drive, but little else for the next two-plus quarters. That is, until Georgia Tech's Roddy Jones muffed a punt that was recovered by UNC's Matt Merletti at the Yellow Jackets' 30-yard line late in the third quarter.

The Heels converted quickly, getting an 8-yard run from Shaun Draughn to help set up Houston's 2-yard score and the extra-point kick that made it 14-0 with 13:57 to play.

On the ensuing possession, Robert Quinn stripped Yellow Jackets quarterback Jaybo Shaw on a keeper and Mark Paschal recovered the fumble.

Houston converted again, running four straight times before bouncing off a hit from Morgan Burnett at the goal line for a 3-yard score that pushed the lead to 21 points after the extra-point kick with 10:49 to play.

Draughn finished with 90 yards rushing, while Houston had a career-high 74.

"I thought Shaun Draughn and Ryan Houston were equally effective and a big part of the game being able to run the football, move the chains, make some first downs, punish the defense a little bit and punch it in," Davis said.

UNC's strong running game offset a shaky passing day by Sexton, who was 7-of-16 for 100 yards, but found Hakeem Nicks for an easy 31-yard score on fourth down with 4:11 left to seal it.

Nicks added a 22-yard catch late in the game on a pass from T.J. Yates, who was making his first appearance since suffering a broken ankle in September, to set the school's career receiving yardage record.

Dwyer, the league's No. 2 rusher, ran for 157 yards, but the Yellow Jackets had several miscues that kept them scoreless when the game was in doubt.

They failed to convert either of their fourth-down tries -- neither longer than 3 yards -- and Scott Blair missed on field-goal attempts of 40 and 52 yards in the first half.

The Tar Heels wore dark blue jerseys with white pants for the first time in recent memory.

Georgia Tech 0 0 0 7 -- 7

North Carolina 7 0 0 21 -- 28

NC--Pianalto 8 pass from Sexton (Barth kick)

NC--Houston 2 run (Barth kick)

NC--Houston 3 run (Barth kick)

GaT--Dwyer 85 run (Blair kick)

NC--Nicks 31 pass from Sexton (Barth kick)

A--59,000.

Georgia Tech North Carolina

First downs 20 13

Rushes-yards 54-326 42-186

Passing 97 128

Comp-Att-Int 10-23-1 8-19-0

Return Yards 22 31

Punts-Avg. 4-34.3 6-45.7

Fumbles-Lost 4-2 2-0

Penalties-Yards 4-40 3-15

Time of Possession 31:50 28:10

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--Georgia Tech, Dwyer 22-157, Nesbitt 15-62, Jones 6-56, Shaw 8-21, Thomas 1-15, Cox 2-15. North Carolina, Draughn 17-90, Houston 13-74, Foster 2-20, Little 1-17, Arnold 1-11, J.White 1-0, Yates 1-0, Team 2-(minus 7), Sexton 4-(minus 19).

PASSING--Georgia Tech, Nesbitt 10-22-1-97, Team 0-1-0-0. North Carolina, Sexton 7-16-0-100, Yates 1-3-0-28.

RECEIVING--Georgia Tech, Thomas 4-35, Earls 3-34, Jones 2-20, Fisher 1-8. North Carolina, Nicks 3-72, Foster 2-30, Draughn 2-18, Pianalto 1-8.