CHAPEL HILL - Senior tailback Ronnie McGill played as if he were angry Saturday -- shrugging off tackles, dragging defenders and diving over piles during North Carolina's 45-42 survival at Kenan Stadium.

And perhaps, at times, he was.

Carolina needed all four of McGill's touchdowns and each of his 174 hard-fought total yards to overcome his team's abysmal defensive play and hold off I-AA Furman.

It was the Tar Heels' first victory of the season, "and it was way too close for comfort," said McGill, who still had blue end-zone paint smeared on his face after the game.

The Paladins, ranked fourth in I-AA, fell to 2-1.

"They lined up and mashed us,'' said Furman coach Bobby Lamb.

UNC's defense was responsible for the game being close, allowing the Paladins 30 first downs (compared to nine from Virginia Tech last week) and 521 total yards -- that includes four rushing touchdowns by Jerome Felton.

The offense -- led by McGill -- was responsible for the victory.

The tailback's first two touchdowns -- a 58-yard screen-pass-turned sprint, then a 3-yard push into the end zone -- set the tone for the game, giving the Tar Heels a 14-0 lead.

But it was his third score, a 30-yard run with 50 seconds left in the third quarter, that was indicative of his determined play.

With Carolina trailing Furman for the first time, 28-24, McGill took a handoff from first-time starter Cam Sexton at the 30-yard line, bounced off a pile of would-be defenders and broke at least four tackles before diving into the corner of the end zone.

"He's an animal," offensive lineman Brian Chacos said. "It's just fun to be able to block for a guy like that. A guy that plays his [butt] off. He'll do anything, lower his shoulder to get the extra yard. That's something that the offensive linemen really admire in a guy."

And something the entire team needed.

The lead flip-flopped one more time before Sexton threw his second touchdown pass of the night to senior Jesse Holley, a 50-yarder. Holley caught the ball around the 20-yard line, bounced off his defender, then sprinted to the end zone.

It was as much good fortune as it was skill.

"I called the wrong play on the touchdown to Jesse," said Sexton, who completed 14 of 20 passes for two touchdowns and an interception in his first collegiate start. "I guess I misread the signal or something happened, and I just called the wrong play. But I threw the touchdown, and sometimes it happens like that.

"I have no idea what the play was supposed to be; I'm going to find out tomorrow."

Still, leading 38-35 with 1:53 left, the Tar Heels needed one more touchdown from McGill -- who used his high school high-jumping skills during the 1-yard leap -- to seal it.

"I was going to go into my bag of tricks, do whatever I had to do to get in there," McGill said. "I knew we had to score."

And he played with that sort of abandon all night. The last time a Tar Heel scored four touchdowns in one game was Oct. 2002 at Arizona State when Chesley Borders did it.

"He's a tough kid," UNC coach John Bunting said of McGill. "He's great inside. He'll break tackles. He never stops working."

Speaking of working, that's exactly what Bunting's Tar Heels will get back to doing this week.

The coach said the team got lucky and that "a couple weeks from now, everybody will forget the score."

With road games at Clemson and Miami next on the schedule, he can only hope so.

"We have to get a heck of a lot better,'' said Bunting, who never inserted junior Joe Dailey, the starter at quarterback the first two weeks.

Perhaps to that end, all of the Tar Heels should get mad on the field, like McGill when he's running.

"I am angry," McGill said. "Every time I get the ball, I just get mad when somebody tackles me. I don't like getting tackled by one person, it ruins my whole day.

"So if I get tackled by one guy, the next time I'm going to make three or four guys bring me down."