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CHAPEL HILL — The powerhouse offense started slowly, but it slipped past the powerhouse defense. Meanwhile, the struggling defense bent plenty but didn't break against the struggling-even-worse offense.

Such was the story of Florida State's 30-27 victory over host North Carolina at Kenan Stadium on a festive Thursday night under ESPN's bright lights.

In one matchup of extremes, quarterback Christian Ponder went 33-for-40 passing for 395 yards and three touchdowns, leading Florida State (3-4, 1-3 ACC) and the league's top-rated total offense to a come-from-behind effort against North Carolina (4-3, 0-3) and the league's top-rated total defense.

Ponder completed his last 16 pass attempts against the weary Tar Heels' defenders.

In the other matchup of extremes, North Carolina tailback Shaun Draughn ran 29 times for 126 yards as the ACC's worst-ranked total offense rediscovered its long-long running game. But Tar Heels quarterback T.J. Yates couldn't solve the ACC's worst-ranked total defense in the second half.

Yates finished 12-for-25 for 64 yards. He threw for one touchdown and ran for another, but his interception in the third quarter was the turning point.

Leading 24-13, North Carolina appeared headed for at least a field goal when Yates rolled out and threw an on-the-run pass toward Greg Little near the goal line. But the pass went into double coverage, and Florida State intercepted it.

On the Seminoles' next play, Ponder hit Rod Owens with a game-changing, 98-yard touchdown pass. North Carolina defensive back Charles Brown stumbled while running with Owens, then missed a diving attempt to trip the speedy receiver.

The teams traded field goals, and Ponder gave Florida State its first lead when he hit tight end Beau Reliford with an 18-yard touchdown pass with 6:20 left.

North Carolina had one last chance, getting the ball back at its own 21 with 47 seconds left. But Yates couldn't even get his Hail Mary off on the game's final play, sacked at his own 38 by Florida State's Markus White.

North Carolina owned the first half, building a 17-6 lead on a little trickery and a lot of defense.

The Tar Heels scored on their opening drive — just the second time this year they didn't go three-and-out on their first possession — thanks to a gadget play. On the eighth play of the drive, fullback Bobby Rome took a handoff, but pulled up before reaching the line of scrimmage and threw a strike downfield to Greg Little for a 31-yard gain. On the next play, slot receiver Little went in motion, took a handoff on sweep and dove into the end zone for a 5-yard touchdown run.

Leading 7-3, Carolina got the ball back when defensive tackle Marvin Austin recovered Ponder's fumble. The Heels lined up quickly and ran a play before any replay review could happen. Draughn lost a yard on the run, but on the next play Yates threw a 13-yard touchdown pass over the middle to wide open tight end Ed Barham.

Yates' biggest pass of the game didn't count. He hit Jheranie Boyd for an 81-yard touchdown catch and run, a play wiped out by a holding penalty against third-string tight end Christian Wilson.

Casey Barth's field goal made it 17-3, and Carolina's defense looked unbeatable. Florida State started 0-for-6 on third-down conversions, and had 10 rushes for minus-14 yards at halftime.

The Seminoles scratched out a field goal on the final play of the first half. Then they went to work in earnest in the second.

Contact Jeff Mills at 373-7024 or jeff.mills@news-record.com

Florida State 3 3 14 10—30
North Carolina 14 3 7 3—27

UNC—Little 5 run (Barth kick), 11:30.
FSU—FG Hopkins 48, 5:09.
UNC—Barham 13 pass from Yates (Barth kick), 2:28.
UNC—FG Barth 34, 9:26.
FSU—FG Hopkins 26, :00.
UNC—Yates 10 run (Barth kick), 11:38.
FSU—Easterling 6 pass from Ponder (Hopkins kick), 6:12.
FSU—Owens 98 pass from Ponder (Hopkins kick), 4:41.
FSU—FG Hopkins 40, 12:12.
UNC—FG Barth 26, 7:27.
FSU—Reliford 18 pass from Ponder (Hopkins kick), 6:20.
A—58,000.

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs — FSU 20, UNC 21
Rushes-yards — FSU 25-43, UNC 41-238
Passing — FSU 395, UNC 95
Comp-Att-Int — FSU 33-40-0, UNC 13-27-1
Return Yards — FSU 17, UNC 19
Punts-Avg. — FSU 5-44.0, UNC 5-45.4
Fumbles-Lost — FSU 1-1, UNC 0-0
Penalties-Yards — FSU 16-121, UNC 7-59
Time of Possession — FSU 30:40, UNC 29:20

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING
Florida St. — C.Thompson 6-18, Thomas 4-17, Ponder 12-14, Pryor 2-3, Givens 1-(minus 9).
North Carolina — Draughn 23-126, Little 4-48, J.White 3-40, Boyd 1-21, Houston 4-6, Yates 6-(minus 3).

PASSING
Florida St. — Ponder 33-40-0-395.
North Carolina — Yates 12-25-1-64, Rome 1-1-0-31, Team 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING
Florida St. — Owens 9-199, Reed 8-74, Easterling 5-16, Fortson 3-56, Thomas 3-22, Reliford 2-14, Givens 2-8, Pryor 1-6.
North Carolina — Little 6-60, Barham 2-18, Draughn 2-11, Highsmith 1-5,C.Wilson 1-2, Ramsay 1-(minus 1).