North Carolina and Virginia have been playing one another in football for longer than a lot of schools have even existed. The two schools began battling in 1892 and have played this game continuously since 1919.
To put that into perspective, the Heels and Hoos have played each other more times than Army-Navy and more than Georgia-Auburn.
Although UNC leads the all time series 56-52-4, it is Virginia that has retained the upper hand in the most recent decades. The Tar Heels haven't won in Charlottesville since 1981 and the Cavaliers have won 8 of the last 10 contests overall. The most recent Carolina triumph came in 2005's game in Chapel Hill, seeing the Heels battle to an ugly 7-5 victory.
Heading into this game the story lines on each side are pretty interesting:
For the Heels, the success of being ranked #18 in the nation is bittersweet as they move forward without two of their offensive leaders, QB TJ Yates (broken ankle, 4 weeks) and WR Brandon Tate (torn ACL/MCL, season).
The Heels have been resilient in the face of adversity relying on timely offensive production, tough and opportunistic defense and outstanding special teams to pull out their victories in their stars' absence.
On the Virginia side of things, the major story is the resurgence of the Hoos in the last two weekends. After a 31-3 shellacking in Wallace-Wade by the Blue Devils, the Wahoos returned to Charlottesville to lick their wounds and welcome in a tough Maryland squad.
Virginia responded, blasting the Terps 31-0 and following that effort up by thumping Conference USA favorite ECU 35-20.
With that said Cavaliers appear to be less "Jekyll and Hyde" and more "ok, we know what we're doing now." Marc Verica's passing efficiency in his first two starts averaged 87.95 with 0 TDs; both losses. His second two starts he pushed those numbers to 140.71 with 4 TDs.
Better still is the running game has gotten their legs back. Through the 1-3 start, Cedric Peerman totaled 96 yards and 1 TD. In going 2-0, Peerman has totaled 283 yards and 3 TDs.
North Carolina Offense vs Virginia Defense
The Carolina offense is going to have to find a new dynamic playmaker to fill the shoes of Brandon Tate in this facet of the game. Brooks Foster, Greg Little and a few lesser known Heels will have to work together to pick up the slack left by the ACC's most electrifying player.
Shaun Draughn and Ryan Houston will have to work harder at running back protecting the football, and finding the holes against a Virginia defense that gives up 168.4 yards per game, but only has been stingy in the last three games only giving up 84 yards per game.
Virginia, while solid against the run lately has not been nearly as suffocating against the pass and here is where the Heels should be able to utilize their strength. Hakeem Nicks, the ACC's receiving leader, will remain Cam Sexton's primary target as the number one receiver.
Foster, Little, slowly transitioning from running back, as well as former defensive back Cooter Arnold should round out the preliminary receiving core tasked with stretching the Virginia defense.
As important as the running and passing game options are to the Heels, the most critical part of this offense and defense match up will be the Heels ability to handle Virginia's aggressive blitzing scheme.
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2 months ago
Yannick Reyering does not punt for UVa. That job belongs to Jimmy Howell for the moment.
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