Historically, Charlottesville has been a house of horrors for the North Carolina football program. And for the first half of Saturday’s game between UNC and Virginia, it appeared as if that trend would continue.
The Tar Heels rallied in the second half to take down Virginia 31-28 and move to 8-1 on the year and 5-0 in Atlantic Coast Conference play.
Virginia jumped out to the early 7-0 lead, making it look easy on their opening drive. After UNC got a field goal and then a 5-yard touchdown run by Drake Maye for a 10-7 lead, the Hoos fought back and took a 14-10 lead on a 3-yard touchdown run by Xavier Brown to go into halftime.
But again, adjustments were made for UNC and its defense really showed up in that second half.
UNC’s defense held Virginia to just 14 second-half points, scoring on two drives including one late to seal the win. They did so while UNC’s offense put up 21 points including two [autotag]Elijah Green[/autotag] touchdown runs and a [autotag]Josh Downs[/autotag] touchdown reception.
Elijah Green gives #UNC the lead pic.twitter.com/LbjtPrNsMj
— tarheelupdate (@tarheelupdate) November 5, 2022
Downs finished the game with 15 receptions, one shy of a UNC record, as well as 166 yards and a touchdown. Maye had 293 yards passing, completing 26 of his 37 attempts for two touchdowns.
When UNC needed to set the tone and answer with a good drive, the offense delivered. And when the defense needed to get a stop, they did so to escape Charlottesville with a win.
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