CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) -- Ketric Sanford rushed for 157 yards and Mike Green rushed for 130 to lead Houston to a 20-12 victory over North Carolina on Saturday as the Tar Heels lost their fourth in a row.

The Cougars (4-2) were in control of the game from start to finish as Houston finished with 376 yards of total offense to 126 for North Carolina (1-5).

The Tar Heels are off to their worst start since 1989 when they finished 1-10.

The Cougars took the opening kickoff and marched 80 yards in 15 plays, using 7:20 of the first-quarter clock. Quarterback Jason McKinley completed 4 of 5 passes for 34 yards on the drive, helping set up Mike Green's 1-yard scoring run.

Sanford carried on every play of Houston's second scoring drive. His fourth attempt covered the final 61 yards.

The Tar Heels pulled to 14-12 in the second quarter thanks to one big play and two Cougar mistakes.

The first mistake netted North Carolina a safety. Houston punter Jeff Patterson, set up on his own goal line, allowed the snap from center to go through his hands. He fell on the ball just as Tar Heel freshman DeFonte Coleman fell on him, resulting in two points.

Luke Huard's first career touchdown pass, a 39-yard strike to sophomore wide receiver Kory Bailey, closed the gap for North Carolina.

The Tar Heels benefitted from a short field, starting the drive on the Cougar 44 after an exchange of punts.

A fumbled punt by Houston's Kenny Hill led to North Carolina's final points of the half. North Carolina's Greg Harris recovered the fumble at the Cougar 25, leading to Josh McGee's 38-yard field goal three plays later.

The second-half scoring was limited to fourth-quarter field goals of 37 and 30 yards by Mike Clark.

Patterson's second botched handling of a snap on a punt did give the Tar Heels the ball at the Cougar 42 with 13.7 seconds to play. But two passes into the end zone fell incomplete, the second as the clock expired.

This was just the second game between the two schools. The TarHeels defeated the Cougars 42-14 in 1996 at the Astrodome.