Tar Heels Head To Virginia For The 113th Meeting Of The South's Oldest Rivalry

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.

Playing out of the 3-4 scheme, Al Groh brings pressure from multiple areas, drops linemen into coverage and uses unpredictability to confuse offensive lines.  This is evident in their seven sacks in the last two games and Clint Sintim's six solo sacks in the last three games.

The good news for the Heels is that they've fared well in facing both the Rutgers and Notre Dame defenses that brought pressure from all areas.

The bad news is this UVA group is far more talented than either of those two groups.

Sintim is a projected first day pick and guys like Antonio Appleby, Jon Copper and Matt Conrath are no slouches. They fly to the football and have a great understanding of Al Groh's system.

Kyle Jolly, Aaron Stahl, Lowell Dyer, Calvin Darity and Garrett Reynolds will have to work with Sexton, Draughn and Houston to diagnose blitzes and ensure solid pass protection and get hat on hat to run the football.

Edge: Even

North Carolina Defense vs Virginia Offense

For the Wahoos there's been ONE major change between their first four games and their last two contests. This change is about 6'6" and 310 pounds and goes by the name Austin Pasztor. 

The freshman from Canada was moved into the starting left guard spot following the fourth game, replacing Zak Stair, and the offense has been hitting on all cylinders ever since.

Although Marc Verica's jersey has been clean most of the season the addition of the seventeen year old freshman Pasztor has given Verica plenty of time to settle into the pocket and hit his targets. 

Kevin Ogletree and John Phillips have become Verica's primary targets and the UVA passing attack is slowly pulling itself up by the bootstraps in the last two games.

As solid as Pasztor's impact on the passing game has been his contributions to the running game have been monumental. The Hoos have returned to the two-headed monster form that Al Groh relied on heavily in Virginia's recent years. 

Cedric Peerman and Mikell Simpson have been running over, around and through the opposition.

North Carolina's defense will have to bow their necks to shut down the Virginia power rushing attack. Mark Paschal along with the gang of defensive tackles (Marvin Austin, Tydreke Powell, Cam Thomas, Alleric Mullins) will have to control the A-gaps and force the Hoos to run wide into the speedy Tar Heel pursuit. 

Linebackers Quan Sturdivant and Bruce Carter must do their jobs flowing down hill to fill holes while ends EJ Wilson, Robert Quinn and Quinton Coples hold their edge to keep contain.

Edge: North Carolina

Special Teams

UNC loses Brandon Tate, the best return man in the NCAA history and replacing his output will be no small task.  With that said the Heels still feature solid teams led by Melvin Williams, Matt Merletti and Ryan Taylor, guys not afraid to get downfield and make a tackle while sacrificing their body to do it. 

To stop Virginia's Ogletree and leading return man Chase Minnifield these guys will have to hustle down on kickoffs.

In the punt return game UNC will also miss Tate but they're a capable group who have managed to block four kicks in their last two games and having the Wahoos wary of the block should open up the field for the Heels newest return man. 

Bruce Carter has got a knack for getting to punters and Yannick Reyering doesn't get the ball off quickly Merletti may find himself in the end zone for the second time in as many weeks.

On the flip side UNC's punting unit, lead by Terrence Brown is looking solid after coming out shaky in the opener. Brown's pinned opponents deep 12 of the 26 times he's punted and not had a punt blocked all season. 

Keeping the ball out of Vic Hall's hands will be crucial as he is the most electrifying player on the Cavaliers roster and if he gets loose the Heels will be chasing him for a while.

The Heels have a slight edge in the kicking game as Casey Barth has started to prove he's a capable field goal kicker. Reyering, who handles both the kicking and the punting, is still recovering from a leg injury that limits not only his range but his accuracy as well.

Edge: North Carolina

Pregame Summary

Offensively the Heels will have to come out ready for all the blitzes and zone-dogs that are the hallmark of Groh's 3-4 defense. This veteran offensive line should be able to diagnose the scheme and make the correct ID's to keep the Wahoos on their Heels.

Without Tate it'll be tough for Sexton to stretch the secondary deep but Brooks Foster has the speed to keep Vic Hall and his 'mates honest. 

Should Butch Davis take the redshirt off of Jamal Womble and/or Dwight Jones, as has been rumored, the Heels will be showcasing two talented athletes capable of breaking the ball for big gains.

Special teams wise the Tar Heels have a clear cut advantage and by getting after the ailing Reyering they should be able to force poor punts and obtain short fields for their offense.  Casey Barth must duplicate his player of the week performance from the Notre Dame game in order to ensure the Heels success.

Defensively the Tar Heels linebackers must stick to their gaps to clog the cutback lanes and fill holes to push the Wahoos running backs wide towards the pursuit. Mark Paschal and his downhill, no nonsense approach should come in handy fighting it out with the Cavaliers massive offensive line. 

The back seven cannot get lulled to sleep as Virginia and Marc Verica makes use of the play action pass and have burned both ECU and Maryland with run action.

This should be a tight game with both teams jockeying for position within the very competitive ACC Coastal division. With the Heels looking to end yet another embarrassingly long drought, Butch Davis' boys should be ready to play.