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CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Butch Davis and his players can't stop talking about the North Carolina defense.

After what has happened the last four weeks, can you blame them?

"I thought the story for us again, as it often has been all season, was the play of the defense," the UNC football coach said after Saturday's 31-13 win over Boston College.

The Tar Heels, winners of four straight (their longest such streak since 2001), are fighting for a possible Chick-fil-A Bowl berth in Atlanta. UNC (8-3, 4-3 ACC), also on the radar of the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, Fla., can make it five in a row and move a step closer to Atlanta with a win at N.C. State next week.

Boston College (7-4, 4-3) needed to win to stay in contention for the ACC championship game, which will now match Clemson and Georgia Tech. The Eagles came into Saturday's game 6-0 at home this season.

After UNC's Kendric Burney had three of his team's four interceptions and set a record for return yards in last week's win over Miami, the junior cornerback had a 30-yard return for a touchdown Saturday -- a key play on a day when safety Deunta Williams, playing on his 21st birthday, pick off three passes as part of a six-turnover "Thanksgiving dinner" in the words of Burney.

In the four-game winning streak, UNC has turned the other guys over 14 times -- 11 on interceptions. And the return yards keep piling up for this athletic group (171 more Saturday).

On top of the turnovers, BC was 0-for-13 on third-down conversions.

"We're a little bit greedy on defense," said Williams, who came up less than a yard short of UNC's third defensive touchdown of the day when he was tackled after his third pick. "Once we started getting those turnovers, everybody else was trying to get one, so that's kind of how it was on the defensive side of things."

The Tar Heels stunned BC with three touchdowns in the first 9:46, one on a long offensive drive and two on defense. E.J. Wilson sacked 25-year-old freshman quarterback David Shinskie and Cam Thomas picked up the ball and ran it 20 yards for a score and, just 46 seconds later, Burney made it 21-0.

But the Tar Heels started giving away the ball, too, with two picks and a fumble, and BC scored 13 straight points before the half -- a number that would have been higher if the UNC defense hadn't held the Eagles (7-4, 4-3) to field goals after two of the turnovers.

"I don't think I've ever been in a game where there were as many sudden-change situations as there were today," Davis said. "It really tests the character of your football team."

When it was over, Williams was taking all kinds of abuse from his teammates for not getting into the end zone.

"They'll crucify him because of everybody getting in the end zone last week and stuff like that, but he's gotten in the end zone and I'll tell you what -- he made some really, really spectacular plays on the ball," Davis said.

Williams said he had three interceptions in a game in high school and added, "I should have had four" in the opener against The Citadel this season. He had two picks in that game and said he dropped a third and saw another pass fall at his feet.

"God just blessed me with two gifts and I had to go up and get another one," he said of Saturday's picks. "It was a good birthday present."

The Tar Heels are on a roll heading toward Raleigh (noon, ESPN2).

"The winning streak definitely is a boost ... (but) going into next week, throw out all the records, throw out anything you can possibly throw out," Williams said. "It's N.C. State. It's going to be a heated battle. We don't like them, they don't like us, so you can throw out everything because it's definitely going to be a fight."

UNC quarterback T.J. Yates was 23-of-43 passing for 182 yards with three interceptions, but he had some big completions -- to the right team -- in the second half. Ryan Houston fought for 45 yards and two close-in scores on 18 carries. He left with a leg injury in the second half, but returned to rush the half-yard Williams left on the field after his 48-yard interception return that iced the game.

North Carolina 21 0 0 10 — 31
Boston College 3 10 0 0 — 13

UNC—Houston 1 run (Barth kick)
UNC—Thomas 20 fumble return (Barth kick)
UNC—Burney 30 interception return (Barth kick)
BC—FG Aponavicius 28
BC—FG Aponavicius 20
BC—Gunnell 2 pass from Shinskie (Aponavicius kick)
UNC—Houston 1 run (Barth kick)
UNC—FG Barth 29
A—41,272

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs — UNC 18, BC 12
Rushes-Yards — UNC 38-96, BC 30-97
Passing — UNC 182, BC 101
Comp-Att-Int — UNC 23-34-3, BC 12-30-5
Return Yards — UNC 181, BC 22
Punts-Avg. — UNC 7-33.7, BC 7-46.3
Fumbles-Lost — UNC 1-1, BC 2-1
Penalties-Yards — UNC 4-37, BC 3-20
Time of possession — UNC 33:52, BC 26:08

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING
North Carolina — Houston 18-45, Elzy 8-25, Little 4-15, J.White 6-8, Yates 1-3, Boyd 1-0.
Boston College — Harris 23-132, Smith 2-9, Shinskie 5-(minus 44).

PASSING
North Carolina — Yates 23-34-3-182.
Boston College — Shinskie 12-28-4-101, Marscovetra 0-2-1-0.

RECEIVING
North Carolina — Little 7-69, Highsmith 6-38, Pianalto 5-35, J.White 2-2, Rome 1-22, Elzy 1-14, Boyd 1-2.
Boston College — Gunnell 6-60, Pantale 3-24, Harris 2-9, Jarvis 1-8.