Tag: UNC vs. UVA

Helmet Stickers for UNC Football’s season-altering loss against UVA

UVA’s football team marched into Chapel Hill yesterday and dealt UNC a gut-punching, 31-27 defeat. Which of the few UNC players shined?

Undefeated, one of the best quarterbacks in the nation and an opponent it should easily beat.

All was set up for the UNC football team to dominate UVA on Saturday and keep its Top-10 ranking, something it has not become accustomed to often.

Yet, as we’ve seen so many times with a ranked Tar Heels program, disappointment set in.

Carolina quarterback Drake Maye threw his lone interception of the contest with just seconds left, sealing the 31-27 UVA win that will almost surely send UNC tumbling from the Top 20.

Carolina appeared to score a tie-breaking touchdown in the fourth quarter, only for it to be wiped out by a holding penalty. UNC had to settle for a field goal, which appeared to be the momentum shift UVA needed for its shocking upset.

There’s not many positives to take away from this upsetting – but unsurprising – defeat. Every time Carolina seems to touch the Top 10, chaos ensues. Just see the 2021 season-opener at Virginia Tech – UNC was ranked 10th, then left Tar Heel Nation in utter disappointment.

Yet despite the defeat, there were some positive takeaways, even though it might not seem like it. The defeat is fresh in our minds, so we’re still voicing our frustrations at UNC’s season taking a complete 180.

UNC Football: Five things to watch in nighttime rivalry clash with UVA

The UNC football program is expected to dominate old ACC rival UVA in the two teams’ Week 8 clash See what you need to watch out for.

We’re almost there.

Tomorrow night at 6:30 p.m. on The CW, college football fans will tune in to witness UNC host UVA in its third consecutive home game. The Tar Heels provide offensive fireworks seemingly every game – first, those fireworks came in the forms of running backs British Brooks and Omarion Hampton, while Tar Heel Nation got to experience the Drake Maye-Devontez Walker connection we’ve all been waiting for last weekend.

UNC is also 6-0, which creates a massive target on its back. Outside of App State, the Tar Heels have downed opponents with relative ease. Into Chapel Hill comes a struggling, 1-5 UVA squad that just nabbed its first win two weekends ago.

On paper, tomorrow night should go down as an easy win for the Tar Heels. We said the same thing last year against Georgia Tech – Carolina was ranked, the Yellow Jackets struggled to find consistent rhythm.

Georgia Tech marched right into Kenan Stadium and dealt UNC its first of four straight losses.

If Carolina had taken care of the Yellow Jackets, who knows if the season would’ve ended differently? We could spend all day guessing, but we’re turning our focus over to UVA.

This Tar Heels team is too smart to play down to its competition, but we’ll just have to wait and see. While we wait, let’s look at five areas of focus.

UNC Football vs. UVA: How to watch South’s Oldest Rivalry

Saturday night’s UNC-UVA football game pits one of the ACC’s best (Carolina) against one of the ACC’s worst (UVA). See how you can watch it.

No matter how each team is doing in any given year, the UNC-UVA football rivalry has always proven to be an exciting matchup.

Just last year, Carolina won a 31-28 thriller in Charlottesville. The Drake Maye-Josh Downs connection was clicking, with Downs catching 15 of Maye’s 26 completions for 166 yards and a touchdown.

UVA only won three games, but the focus of its season became the unfortunate murdering of three former players. UNC improved to 8-1 after the victory, but only won one more game after.

The Tar Heels sit at 6-0 so far this year, with five of their wins coming against Power 5 teams. Carolina’s offense is among the country’s best, with Maye headlining the passing game, new receivers stepping up every week and Omarion Hampton cementing himself as one of the top young backs in college football.

UVA sits at just 1-5, but is coming off its first win, a 27-13 thumping of in-state rival William and Mary. Don’t be fooled by the Hoos’ record – three of their losses are by a combined seven points.

This should go down as an easy Tar Heel victory, but we’ve said that for plenty of past games. What UNC does NOT want to do is play down to its competition – see the Georgia Tech game last year.

Let’s take a look at what you need to know for the UNC-UVA clash.

UNC-Virginia TV, RADIO, AND STREAMING INFORMATION

WHAT: North Carolina (6-0, 3-0 ACC) vs. Virginia (1-5, 0-2 ACC)

WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 21 at 6:30 p.m. ET

LOCATION: Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C.

TV: The CW Network (Watch and stream the game live on CW Sports)

ANNOUNCERS: Tom Werme (play-by-play), James Bates (color analyst) and Treavor Scales (reporter).

RADIO: Tar Heel Sports Network. Jones Angell, play-by-play;
Brian Simmons, analyst; Lee Pace, sideline

SATELLITE RADIO: SiriusXM (194 or 383)

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

UNC football defensive keys to the game vs Virginia

Taking a look at the defensive keys to the game for the UNC football program against Virginia Cavaliers.

The North Carolina Tar Heels are 6-0 for the first time since 1983, and despite the odds being heavily in their favor to go 7-0, there are a few defensive keys they will need to do to keep their record intact.

They will host the dreadful 1-5 Virginia Cavaliers, ending their three-game home stint before their two-game road trip. Despite the lackluster record, they managed to be in three of the six games, losing to James Madison 36-35, NC State 24-21, and Boston College 27-24.

That said, this game screams TRAP!

UNC walks into this game favored by 23.5 points, and now that they are in the top 10 for the Associated Press Poll, covering enormous odds against bad teams record-wise is the only way to continue to gain traction in the rankings. To meet those odds, it will not be on the offense more so the defense to keep the Cavaliers offensive attack under wraps.

Let us look at the defensive keys for UNC to wake up Sunday morning, 7-0.

UNC vs. UVA: Game preview, info, prediction and more

The UNC football team welcomes UVA to town Saturday night for the South’s Oldest Rivalry. Take a look at a few things we think could happen.

There’s never a time for any team to take its foot off the gas pedal, particularly when that team is playing well and has aspirations greater than a conference crown.

Yet when teams come up just short of the ultimate prize, underestimation is a common theme. Already this season in college football, we’ve seen a great Colorado team fall back to earth and a USC squad get dominated by Notre Dame.

I’m not saying those teams have underestimated opponents, but they each made us believe they had greater plans.

Last year, there was a case for then 9-1 UNC underestimating Georgia Tech ahead of their Nov. 19 matchup. Carolina appeared well on its way to a win, leading 17-7 at halftime, only to be shutout in the second half.

The Tar Heels face a similar situation on Saturday. They’re undefeated and face a struggling squad, this time in the form of 1-win UVA. The Cavaliers are coming off a 27-13 win two weeks ago, against in-state rival William and Mary. They could easily have four wins, but lost to N.C. State, Boston College and James Madison by a combined seven points.

UNC has scored 40 points in four games already, while Drake Maye just threw for four touchdowns last weekend against Miami. The Tar Heel defense is equally as impressive, particularly in the second half of games.

If UNC doesn’t play its cards right, loss number one could be staring it in the face. The likelihood of this happening is very slim – Carolina is a much better team this year – but you can bet the Cavaliers are aiming to play villian for Saturday’s 6:30 p.m. ET kickoff.