UNC generates six sacks, holds Virginia to under 100 yards in first half of football

Just how good was UNC’s first-half defense against Virginia?

Through one half of football Saturday afternoon, the North Carolina Tar Heels are outplaying Virginia in just about every aspect.

There’s one surprising area that UNC (3-4, 0-3) is particularly outplaying the Cavaliers (4-3, 2-1) in: defense.

North Carolina took a 24-6 lead into the half, holding Virginia to a pair of Will Bettridge field goals. That wasn’t even the most impressive part of the Tar Heels’ surprising performance, though.

UNC generated six first-half sacks against the Cavaliers, with the final one coming from top edge rusher Kaimon Rucker, to end the half. North Carolina limited Virginia to just 77 first-half yards, two weeks after allowing Georgia Tech to gash its defense for 500 yards.

Six different Tar Heels have sacks: Rucker, season sack leader Jahvaree Ritzie, defensive end Des Evans, defensive back Alijah Huzzie, defense lineman Beau Atkinson and linebacker Amare Campbell, who is a captain for today’s game.

Virginia made it all the way down to UNC’s 1-yard line on its first drive, after its own defense forced a punt. A bad snap and two incomplete passes later from Anthony Colandrea, the Cavaliers had to settle for a field goal.

On Virginia’s second scoring drive, star wide receiver Malachi Fields caught a 34-yard pass that got him down to North Carolina’s 12-yard line. After a 2-yard Colandrea run and an incomplete pass, the Cavaliers settled for a field goal – again.

Outside of Virginia’s two scoring drives, the Tar Heels forced a negative yardage total of -14. We didn’t see a ton of big plays from the Cavaliers in the first half and, while that could easily change in the second half, we’re very encouraged.

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.