Brown triumphant in return to Chapel Hill

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) -- Texas coach Mack Brown tried not to make a big deal out of returning to North Carolina for the first time as an opposing coach. His players didn't listen.

Chris Simms threw four touchdown passes and Cedric Benson rushed for 208 yards and two scores as the Longhorns (No. 2 ESPN/USA Today, No. 3 AP) defeated North Carolina 52-21 Saturday.

"Of course it was something special with him coaching here and doing great things here,'' Benson said. "We called this one the 'Mack Bowl.' We were determined. ... We owed it to him.''

Roy Williams had five catches for 136 yards and two touchdowns for the Longhorns (2-0), who jumped to a 24-point first-half lead and answered every spurt by the Tar Heels (1-2).

Brown left North Carolina tied for second in coaching victories, going 69-46-1 from 1988-97. He led the program to six consecutive bowl games, with his final two teams going 21-3.

He greeted old friends near midfield before kickoff. That included former assistant coach Ken Browning, a holdover on Bunting's staff.

The crowd of 60,500 was the second-largest in stadium history.

"I'm proud to be part of the two biggest crowds in school history -- I was just on the wrong side for one of them,'' Brown said.

Twice the Tar Heels pulled within 10 points on second-half touchdown drives, only to see Simms provide a momentum-killing response. Simms had a 10-yard scoring pass to Chad Stevens late in the third quarter to go up 31-14 and had a 58-yard scoring pass to Roy Williams in the fourth for a 38-21 lead.

Benson added a 17-yard touchdown run late in the period to put the game away.

The Longhorns rushed for 271 yards, two weeks after a 27-yard effort in a 27-0 win against North Texas.

"We knew the strength of their defense was their secondary,'' Simms said. "We just wanted to come out there and set the tempo of the game. We had a rough game rushing the ball (against North Texas). We wanted to show we'd keep plugging away at it.''

North Carolina moved the ball effectively in the second half, relying mainly on the running of Darian Durant and Jacque Lewis. Lewis rushed for 84 yards, while the quarterback added 74 yards and a touchdown.

But the Tar Heels couldn't overcome the early deficit and several costly miscues.

Dakarai Pearson intercepted Durant's passes twice in the end zone to end drives, while a 15-yard facemask penalty on Michael Waddell on a kickoff return set up Simms' scoring pass to Stevens.

"It's very disappointing because we could compete with those guys for a while,'' Tar Heels coach John Bunting said.

"When you're playing a great team like that, you've got to capitalize on those things. You move the ball, you've got to be able to score. You've got to be able to finish it off. We did not do it and that hurts.''

The Longhorns opened the game with a 75-yard drive that ended with a 22-yard field goal from Dusty Mangum. From there, the Longhorns had touchdown drives of 71, 68 and 64 yards on their next four possessions, going ahead 24-0 on a 6-yard pass from Simms to Williams with 6:02 left before halftime.

Benson hurt the Tar Heels' inexperienced front seven, rushing 21 times for 115 yards in the half.

"The coaches told me we were going to come out with the run and see how they handle that, and we put it to them,'' Benson said.

Simms, meanwhile, had plenty of time to find open receivers, throwing for 175 yards and two scores.

North Carolina's offense struggled early, going three and out four times in the half and coming up empty when it was able to move the ball.

The Tar Heels saw an 11-play first-quarter drive end when Dan Orner's 49-yard field goal hit the right upright. In the second quarter, the Tar Heels drove to the Texas 23-yard line, only to see Pearson pick off a Durant pass in the end zone.

Durant got the Tar Heels on the board late in the half, scoring on a 27-yard keeper with 17 seconds left. The run ended a four-play, 76-yard drive for an offense that had just 82 yards up to that point.