Seminoles rally in second half to beat North Carolina, 30-27

ASSOCIATED PRESS

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Christian Ponder threw for 395 yards and three touchdowns to help Florida State rally from a big second-half deficit and beat North Carolina 30-27 on Thursday night.

Rod Owens had nine catches for 199 yards, including a 98-yard score, for the Seminoles (3-4, 1-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), who trailed 24-6 early in the third quarter and appeared headed for a fourth straight loss.

Instead, Ponder directed a stunning rally against the nation’s third-ranked total defense, including the go-ahead 18-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Beau Reliford with 6:20 to play.

The Tar Heels (4-3, 0-3) still had a chance to tie when they got the ball back with 47 seconds left and no timeouts, but their desperate drive only got to midfield before Markus White sacked Yates on the final play.

Shaun Draughn ran for 126 yards to lead North Carolina.

Meyer agrees with SEC

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida coach Urban Meyer thinks the Southeastern Conference was right to suspend an officiating crew after its second controversial call of the year.

Referee Marc Curles’ crew called a personal foul on Arkansas defensive lineman Malcolm Sheppard in the fourth quarter as the Gators were rallying for a 23-20 victory last weekend. The league said there was no video evidence to support the call.

The same group of officials called the LSU-Georgia game earlier this month, which included a late unsportsmanlike conduct penalty the league said shouldn’t have been called.

“If that’s the right thing to do, then they did it,” Meyer said Thursday. “I don’t know all the ins and outs ... (but) I have great confidence in the head dog.”

Also the league said it reprimanded Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino for publicly criticizing the officials.