Bowling feels fine to Heels

DURHAM -- Among college basketball coaches, the popular cliche each March is "going dancing."

The football coaches refer to it as going bowling, but North Carolina on Saturday did a little of both in its regular-season ending win over Duke in Wallace Wade Stadium.

A week after quarterback T.J. Yates and tailback teammate Shaun Draughn virtually imploded during a 41-10 loss to N.C. State in Chapel Hill, the Tar Heels' Butch Davis didn't revise his lineup card. The second-year coach danced "with the ones who brought him," as old-line Southern coaches used to repeat for years.

The reward was a 28-20 win over the Blue Devils, an 8-4 final regular-season record and a bowl bid to somewhere. Taking into account how most Carolina seasons have ended during the past 10 or so years, somewhere beats the heck out of nowhere

"It's the goal we've had for two years, and it feels great to get that bowl bid," said Carolina senior defensive back Trimane Goddard, whose late-game interception of a Thaddeus Lewis pass sealed the outcome.

No one was more important in the win than Yates, an early-season star who returned from an injury to hear a round of boos from fans in Kenan Stadium against the Wolfpack. There was no booing from Carolina fans on Saturday. Yates started, completed 15 of 19 passes for 190 yards and three touchdowns

Draughn, who had fumbling problems against the Wolfpack, rushed for 110 yards, ran for a touchdown and caught a touchdown pass.

Yates did throw an interception early in the game, but he did more than enough to clearly establish his stake on the No. 1 quarterbacking job entering bowl workouts.

"I was a lot more comfortable," Yates said. "I made some mistakes last week. I was a little nervous and didn't feel comfortable in the pocket all the time. I tried to work on those things."

The Blue Devils (4-8, 1-7 ACC) didn't leave empty-handed.

With Lewis, a junior, passing for almost 280 yards and senior linebacker Michael Tauiliili playing one of the memorable defensive games in school history (20 tackles), Duke ended the season just as it began -- with a competitive performance and a competitive team.

"We've improved, but we're going to improve more in the future," Lewis said.

There's no reason to think otherwise, just as it's logical to assume the Heels will continue to make progress.

Duke will begin 2009 with a bowl bid on its checklist.

Carolina soon will learn its destination for this season. The most likely landing spots are the Gator (Jan. 1, Jacksonville, Fla.), the Champs Sports (Dec. 27, Orlando) or maybe even Charlotte's Meineke Car Care (Dec. 27).

The ACC pecking order will hinge on the outcome of this weekend's conference championship game between Boston College and Virginia Tech in Tampa, Fla.

The winner of the game will advance to the Orange Bowl against Big East champion Cincinnati. A Boston College title win likely would send Virginia Tech to Atlanta for the Dec. 31 Chick-fil-A game, thereby leaving the Gator to pick from an ACC group that probably would include Georgia Tech and Florida State in addition to the Tar Heels.

Carolina's players don't really care that much.

"We just want to play on," Goddard said.

The Tar Heels earned that right Saturday.