BY BRIANA GORMAN

bgorman@heraldsun.com; 419-6668

CHAPEL HILL -- North Carolina safety Deunta Williams had a dream the other night that he would have three interceptions against The Citadel in Saturday's season opener.

The junior's dream almost came true.

Williams came up with two interceptions -- and would have had a third if he could have gotten his feet down inbounds -- to highlight UNC's defensive performance as it stifled The Citadel 40-6 in front of 58,500 at Kenan Stadium. It was UNC's largest margin of victory under Coach Butch Davis.

"This is where we're starting from," Williams said. "I think we have to keep building on this and try dominating every game. I think that was our goal from the end of last year, we kind of had that as a plan, do whatever we have to do to dominate every game."

The Tar Heels' defense dominated The Citadel from start to finish, holding the Bulldogs to 30 rushing yards and just 153 yards of total offense. Citadel quarterback Bart Blanchard was pressured all night and got hit on almost every play to finish 21-of-31 with 117 yards.

Besides Williams' two interceptions, cornerback Charles Brown also had a pick and defensive end E.J. Wilson recovered a fumble caused by teammate Robert Quinn.

"[The defense] did awesome," said UNC quarterback T.J. Yates, who threw for a pair of touchdowns. "They went out there and played just physical, fast. They got the turnovers. They did just about everything well tonight, and it gives you a lot of confidence as an offense when you have a defense playing like that."

UNC (1-0) appeared headed to its first shutout since 1999, but two muffed punt returns led to back-to-back field goals for The Citadel (0-1) in the final eight minutes of the game.

"I am kind of disappointed [that we missed the shutout] because that would have been a great way to start my senior year, to start this season overall," Wilson said. "But six points is still pretty good to me. I'm still satisfied."

UNC's offense got off to a slow start but finished with 261 rushing yards for its best ground effort in the Davis era to answer some of the questions about its thin offensive line. Junior Shaun Draughn led the way as he carried the ball 20 times for 118 yards, and junior Ryan Houston had six carries for 45 yards and two touchdowns.

"We felt good about our ability to run the ball," Davis said. "We ended rushing for over 250 yards, and I thought that was one of the keys."

The Tar Heels didn't get on the board until the start of the second quarter, thanks to the first of two field goals by Casey Barth. UNC then scored on its next two possessions -- an 18-yard touchdown pass from Yates to Johnny White and 5-yard Houston run -- to take a 16-0 lead. Wilson's fumble recovery then set up a 21-yard touchdown pass from Yates to wide receiver Greg Little, who broke three tackles and scampered into the end zone with 1:55 left in the half.

But it was a wild final few minutes of the first half, which saw three consecutive interceptions. Brown halted a Citadel drive when he picked off a pass at UNC's 2-yard line, but a Yates pass was picked off three players later to put the Bulldogs on the 3. Two plays later, Williams came up with his second interception when he grabbed a throw in the back of the end zone.

"We showed that we can be a physical defense, we can be a disciplined defense," Wilson said. "When our offense gets in trouble, we feel like we got their back and we can get them out of trouble."

Houston scored on a 3-yard run in the third and Da'Norris Searcy returned a punt 77 yards to put UNC up 37-0 at the start of the fourth. After The Citadel scored its first points of the game with 7:43 to play, backup quarterback Branden Hanson led UNC down the field on its next possession for a Barth field goal.

Even though the passing game had an efficient outing, Davis said it has to get better. Yates was 9-of-20 for 114 yards and two touchdowns, but his receivers had at least five drops in the game.

"I'm not worried about it," Yates said. "We were running wide open, and it was just coming off their fingertips. As long as the guys are getting in the right places, I'm not worried about it."