Tag: virginia football

J.J. Jones sets career high, steps up to lead UNC’s offense in big win at Virginia

J.J. Jones stepped up to lead UNC’s wide receiver room on Saturday at Virginia, setting a career high in the big victory.

Ever since losing Devontez Walker to the NFL Draft in April, the North Carolina Tar Heels have been looking for a wide receiver to step up and lead their pass-catching unit.

Several receivers have shown flashes of potential of UNC’s first seven games, but no one showed a difference-making performance.

That all changed on Saturday afternoon.

In North Carolina’s 41-14 drubbing of Virginia, which moved it two wins away from bowl eligiblity and to .500 overall on the season, graduate wide receiver J.J. Jones caught five passes for a career-high 129 yards and two touchdowns.

Jones’ first touchdown reception gave the Tar Heels a lead they never relinquished, catching a 37-yard strike from Jacolby Criswell for a 6-3 advantage, with just over five minutes left in the first quarter.

With five seconds left in the first half, Jones pulled in a 31-yard strike from Criswell – even against pass interference from Cavaliers cornerback Jam Jackson. Jones’ second score extended UNC’s lead to 23-6, giving his team some much-needed breathing room going into halftime.

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Today’s outing was Jones’ second-straight game with a touchdown, as he caught one two weeks ago against Georgia Tech.

Jones’ previous 2024 yardage high came last month at archrival Duke, when he caught a touchdown as part of a 5-catch, 89-yard day. Jones recorded a season-best 711 receiving yards last year, catching passes from Drake Maye.

It’s encouraging to see Jones develop this type of chemistry with Criswell, as North Carolina seems to finally have another big-play receiver.

What can Jones do for an encore next week in Tallahassee, as the Tar Heels look to move over .500 and get their second-straight ACC win, against a struggling Florida State squad?

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UNC dominates Virginia from opening kickoff, gets first ACC win with complete performance

The Tar Heels marched into Scott Stadium Saturday afternoon and turned their season around against Virginia, dominating in every aspect of a 27-point blowout.

I don’t know if it was the bye week, the beautiful fall air or just a hunger for victory, but the UNC football team put together its most complete performance of 2024 on Saturday afternoon at Virginia.

North Carolina’s offense moved the ball and scored at will, defense prevented the Cavaliers from gaining any sort of momentum and, when the final seconds ticked away in the fourth quarter, the Tar Heels left Charlottesville with a 41-14 victory.

Today’s win meant more than just any other win – it was in honor of Tylee Craft.

UNC (4-4, 1-3 ACC) took the lead for good on Jacolby Criswell’s first touchdown pass, a 37-yard strike to J.J. Jones with 5:23 left in the opening quarter, then distanced itself from Virginia with a 17-point second quarter.

North Carolina’s offense was good in the first half, but its defense was great. The Tar Heels generated six sacks, after not recording a single one two weeks ago – and held the Cavaliers to under 100 yards.

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When the game ended, UNC increased its sack total to 10, led by three from Kaimon Rucker. North Carolina limited Virginia to 288 yards, the lowest yardage total an opponent has gained against the Tar Heels since Week 3, when NC Central gained just 167 yards.

Omarion Hampton delivered yet another signature performance for the UNC offense, carrying the football 26 times for 105 yards and two touchdown. Not only was today Hampton’s third game of the year with multiple touchdowns – or sixth-consecutive game with 100 yards – but Hampton reached 1,000 rushing yards for the second straight season.

All year long, North Carolina had been looking for a wide receiver to step up lead its unit. J.J. Jones did exactly that today, catching five Criswell passes for a career-high 129 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

Now two weeks removed from a fourth-consecutive defeat, the Tar Heels only need two more wins to reach a bowl game.

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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.

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UNC announces captains for Week 9 football clash at Virginia

Which three players will represent the UNC football team in today’s game, a Week 9 must-win at rival Virginia?

With four consecutive losses in their back pockets, the North Carolina Tar Heels are in desperate need of turning their football season around.

Coming out of its first bye week, UNC (3-4, 0-3) might be in a perfect position to do so today.

At 12 p.m. today, North Carolina will take the field at Scott Stadium and face fellow ACC rival Virginia. The Tar Heels and Cavaliers (4-3, 2-2 ACC) will play in the 119th installation of the South’s Oldest Rivalry, with UNC holding an all-time advantage of 64-50-4.

While all your focus right now is likely on how North Carolina can find a way to win, we want you to meet the Tar Heels’ team captains for today’s conference clash: linebacker Amare Campbell, tight end John Copenhaver and star kicker Noah Burnette.

Campbell is UNC’s starting middle linebacker, taking over the spot previously occupied by Cedric Gray. Statistically, Campbell is one of North Carolina’s best defensive producers, registering 45 total tackles (second on the team), leading the team with six tackles for loss and four quarterback hurries, recording two pass breakups and forcing one fumble.

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Copenhaver will now take over as the Tar Heels’ starting tight end, as Bryson Nesbit will miss several weeks with a fractured wrist. Copenhaver is tied for the UNC lead with three receiving touchdowns, plus his 193 receiving yards are fourth-most amongst his teammates.

Burnette, named to the preseason Lou Groza Award Watch List as a candidate for the nation’s best kicker, is 11-of-13 on field goals this season. Burnette is a perfect 2-for-2 on kicks from 50+, including a season-long 52.

Let’s see if North Carolina’s captains can help snap a long losing streak and get their team back to .500.

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Mack Brown talks about how UNC will honor Tylee Craft going forward

How will the UNC football team honor its late teammate, Tylee Craft, throughout the rest of 2024?

The North Carolina Tar Heels will try and turn their football season around Saturday at Virginia, but they’ll be doing so with heavy hearts.

UNC lost wide receiver Tylee Craft, one of the toughest kids to ever come through the program, to a lengthy battle with lung cancer on Saturday, Oct. 12. No one knew Tylee passed until after the game, when North Carolina head coach Mack Brown told his players and, shortly after, the media.

After the Georgia Tech loss, when Brown broke the sad news, he also spoke briefly about the Tar Heels’ plans to honor Tylee going forward.

Brown doubled down on those plans in his Monday press conference, highlight how Tylee will be honored through the reminder of UNC’s 2024 season.

“The players asked that we put “Tylee Strong, Keep Swinging,” signs up going into the stadium for the game, home and away,” Brown said. “We will carry a sign that says Tylee Strong, Keep Swinging to Virginia this weekend – and each player will touch it on the way out to the stadium. To make sure that his legacy is one that’s remembered – longer than just the players on the team – we have a commemorative plaque that explains who he was and what he went through. That will be up at the Nutrition Center for future players to look at. There will be a logo on the field with Tylee Strong for the last two home games, that have been approved by not only the university, but the ACC. And then one of the receivers will wear his jersey everyday at practice, and then they (the players) will decide, one of the receivers, will wear his jersey during each of the five remaining ballgames. It’ll be a different player each week, and they haven’t decided yet how they’re going to determine that.”

In addition to North Carolina’s plans in honoring Tylee, Virginia will be wearing Tylee Craft stickers on their helmets. Classy move from a big ACC rival.

The Tar Heels might be struggling big-time on the field, but you won’t find a program that cares more about its players. UNC loves and certainly misses Tylee, so I’m glad to see his former teammates and coaches carrying out his name.

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Virginia football players to honor Tylee Craft in Saturday’s UNC-UVA football game

Virginia is showing a tremendous display of class in Saturday’s Week 9 ACC football game against your North Carolina Tar Heels.

Even though it happened nearly two weeks ago, the passing of Tylee Craft to a long battle with lung cancer, still weighs heavy on the hearts within the UNC football program.

Tar Heel players knew about it shortly after the game, when head coach Mack Brown told them in the locker room. Brown then announced Craft’s passing in his postgame press conference, changing the mood very quickly and making people realize that Saturday, October 12 was no longer about football.

North Carolina still has to play a game this coming Saturday, traveling to Virginia for a 12 p.m. kickoff, but what the Cavaliers are doing to honor Craft might get you a little emotional.

On Tuesday, Oct. 22, UNC wide receivers coach Lonnie Galloway announced that Virginia players will wear Tylee Craft stickers on their helmets.

This doesn’t make what happened any easier, but it’s a tremendous display of class from one of the Tar Heels’ longtime ACC rivals.

For those who aren’t familiar with Craft’s recruiting background, he was initially a 4-star commit – and the seventh-ranked player in South Carolina – in the Tar Heels’ 2020 recruiting class. Craft appeared in 11 games between the 2020 and 2021 season, mainly at wide receiver and special teams, but didn’t record a stat.

Craft was diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer ahead of the 2022 college football season. He then missed all of 2022 and 2023, but was a courageous warrior who wanted nothing more than to be on the football field, even if he couldn’t suit up and play.

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UNC stays put in USA Today’s latest re-rank of all 134 FBS teams

Not playing last weekend didn’t help the Tar Heels, but it also didn’t hurt them.

For once last weekend, we didn’t have to stress over how poorly the North Carolina Tar Heels played on the football field.

While games like Tennessee–Alabama and Georgia–Texas stole the show, UNC (3-4, 0-3 ACC) spent the weekend figuring out how turn its season around.

North Carolina dropped its fourth-consecutive game on October 12, losing 41-34 to Georgia Tech in a game that – literally – came down to the final possession. The Tar Heels started 2024 with three straight wins, then watched their weaknesses start getting exposed in losses to James Madison, Duke and Pitt.

Without playing last weekend, UNC stayed put at 79th in USA Today’s re-rank of all 134 FBS teams. North Carolina is one spot behind Fresno State, which rose four spots and Coastal Carolina, which fell to 80th.

The Tar Heels will hit the road this coming weekend, traveling to Virginia for a 12 p.m. contest. UNC will search for just its third win in eight tries, as it lost 31-27 to the Cavaliers (4-3, 2-2) last season in Kenan Stadium, in a game that started North Carolina’s downfall towards an 8-5 finish.

Regardless of how the Tar Heels play on Saturday, there’s no doubt they’ll be playing with heavy hearts after Tylee Craft’s recent passing. UNC honored Craft by attending his memorial service over the weekend, while head coach Mack Brown announced additional plans to honor Tylee in his press conference earlier Monday.

North Carolina needs three more wins for bowl eligibility – and Saturday is a great chance to further work towards that dream. UNC could channel its sadness into motivation, winning one for Tylee.

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No. 10 Clemson Tigers take down Virginia Cavaliers after a wild second half

Clemson’s win streak continues.

Clemson football briefly battled Virginia before taking control. After trailing by seven early in the second quarter, the Tigers rallied with 35 unanswered points, ultimately winning 48-31 at Memorial Stadium.

Virginia (4-3, 2-2 ACC) took a 10-3 lead in the second quarter on an 8-yard touchdown pass from Anthony Colandrea to Dakota Twitty. Clemson (6-1, 5-0 ACC) quickly answered with an 80-yard drive, capped by Phil Mafah’s 1-yard touchdown run. From there, the Tigers’ offense took charge, but the defense had trouble maintaining a steady performance throughout the game. Despite holding Virginia to just 105 yards in the second and third quarters, the Cavaliers found success late, scoring two touchdowns in the fourth to close the gap.

Clemson’s defense recorded four sacks, including a key strip sack from Wade Woodaz that led to a touchdown, but they still struggled at times to contain Virginia’s attack.

Offensively, Cade Klubnik bounced back from a first-quarter interception to throw for 308 yards and three touchdowns, including a pair to tight end Olsen Patt-Henry. Antonio Williams continued to shine, adding a 36-yard end-around score and a trick-play pass that set up Mafah’s second touchdown.

Clemson will now have a bye week before returning to face Louisville in a crucial ACC showdown on Nov. 2.

USA TODAY Sports experts offer predictions on Clemson vs Virginia

Here’s who USA TODAY Sports experts think will win Saturday’s game between Clemson and Virginia.

The Clemson Tigers will look to make it six straight wins Saturday when they welcome the Virginia Cavaliers to Death Valley.

Dabo Swinney’s Tigers (5-1 overall, 4-0 ACC) rose two spots to No. 9 in this week’s US LBM Coaches Poll after defeating Wake Forest, 49-14, in Winston-Salem.

Virginia (4-2, 2-1), led by former Tigers offensive coordinator Tony Elliott, is unranked. The Cavaliers fell to the Louisville Cardinals, 24-20, last Saturday in Charlottesville.

The Tigers are a heavy favorite heading into this Week 8 conference matchup, and the six-member panel of Dan Wolken, Paul Myerberg, Eddie Timanus, Scooby Axson, Jordan Mendoza and Erick Smith all predicted the Tigers to win Saturday’s game against Virginia in their weekly Top 25 college football predictions, released Thursday.

RELATED: Dabo Swinney shares an injury update on star freshman wide receiver Bryant Wesco

Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik is having a remarkable turnaround from last season. Through six games, Klubnik has thrown for 1,528 yards and 17 touchdowns to just two interceptions. Against Wake Forest, he threw for 309 yards on 31-of-41 attempts with three touchdowns.

The Tigers’ offense ran a season-high 85 plays and racked up 566 yards of total offense. The defense held Wake Forest to 38 net yards in the second half, allowing only one first down in the half until the Demon Deacons’ final possession with the game well out of reach.

Kickoff for Saturday’s game between Clemson and Virginia is set for noon ET. The game can be seen on ACC Network.

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ESPN college football broadcast crew headed to Clemson for first time this season

Here’s who will be on the call for ACC Network Saturday when the Clemson Tigers host Virginia in Death Valley.

As the Clemson Tigers prepare to face the Virginia Cavaliers and former Tigers offensive coordinator Tony Elliott, another broadcast crew is making its way to Death Valley for the first time in 2024.

The broadcast crew of Chris Cotter (play-by-play) and Mark Herzlich (analyst) will have the call of Clemson vs. Virginia from the booth for ACC Network. Coley Harvey will handle sideline duties.

As with last week’s ESPN crew of Dave Pasch and Dusty Dvoracek for Clemson vs. Wake Forest, it’s the first time this season that the duo of Cotter and Herzlich will call a Clemson game.

RELATED: Dabo Swinney confident in Clemson’s future roster after 4-star QB Blake Hebert’s decommitment

Cotter joined ESPN in 2012. He and Herzlich, a linebacker at Boston College from 2006-2010 before going on to a seven-year career with the New York Giants, are a veteran broadcast crew who have called games for ACC Network. The two last called a Clemson game in the Tigers’ 17-12 win over Wake Forest on Oct. 7, 2023.

Clemson (5-1 overall, 4-0 ACC) moved up two spots to No. 9 in this week’s US LBM Coaches Poll. Kickoff for Clemson vs. Virginia (4-2, 2-1) is set for noon ET on ACC Network.

Additionally, radio coverage of Saturday’s game can be heard on SiriusXM Channel 193 with the Clemson Athletic Network crew of Don Munson, Tim Bourret and Reggie Merriweather.

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