Ryan Houston ran for a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to help No. 19 North Carolina beat No. 22 Georgia Tech 28-7 on Saturday.

Cameron Sexton added two touchdown passes for the Tar Heels (7-2, 3-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who earned a critical win in the muddled Coastal Division race and ensured their first winning season in seven years.

North Carolina - among the nation's leaders in turnover margin - also hung in defensively against the Yellow Jackets' triple-option offense and converted a pair of fumbles into Houston's touchdowns to break the game open.

Georgia Tech (7-3, 4-3) finished with 326 yards rushing and 423 total yards, but never could sustain a scoring drive nor push deeper than the Tar Heels' 23-yard line until Jonathan Dwyer's 85-yard touchdown run - the longest rush allowed by North Carolina - with 6 minutes left.