They call it the South's biggest rivalry: North Carolina and Virginia - two teams that have met on the gridiron 105 times since 1892, and will meet for their 106th game at Kenan Stadium this Saturday.
After a dismal loss to No. 22 Maryland last week, the Cavaliers will get a chance to redeem themselves and improve their 2-1 conference record.
The Tar Heels, meanwhile, are looking to extend their three-game winning streak and finally reach a winning record, as tough games early in the season leave them at 3-3 overall this week.
North Carolina's schedule has included No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 22 Maryland, No. 11 Texas and No. 14 Florida State - all of which were losses until the Tar Heels' incredible 41-9 upset of Florida State on Sept. 22.
With the win over the shocked Seminoles, Carolina's luck changed. The Tar Heels are undefeated since, beating N.C. State and East Carolina in the last two weeks.
"We're stronger than we've ever been as a football team," North Carolina coach John Bunting said in a teleconference Wednesday. But he stressed that even the victory over ECU did not come easily.
"There are a lot more problems than you could see with the naked eye against ECU," he said. "I hope we can get it done against Virginia."
Virginia coach Al Groh is fully aware of where the Tar Heels have been what they've done. "I think their team has shown significant development," he said. "They played that early part of the schedule. Against that competition they found out what they can do well, and what they probably shouldn't do as much."
The Cavaliers hope to capitalize on those weaknesses and play through Carolina's strength on Saturday.
Quarterbacks will be one of the biggest questions still up in the air at this game. Both Virginia and North Carolina have two signal-callers who get significant time.
Virginia sophomore Bryson Spinner started against Maryland last week, but when the offense was ineffectual, Groh sent in sophomore Matt Schaub to take over.
"They each have qualities that are significant," Bunting said of Schaub and Spinner. "I'm sure we'll see both of them before the day's over."
Bunting's quarterbacks may give Virginia its own dose of double vision. Senior Ronald Curry has serious competition in redshirt freshman Darian Durant. Durant has been the ACC's rookie of the week three weeks in a row. He already has broken the school record set by Curry for most touchdowns by a freshman (eight) in Carolina's six games so far.
Curry is breaking new records of his own. With a season-high 127 yards passing and 40 yards rushing, he became North Carolina's career total offense leader with 5,521 career offensive yards.
But don't think that Groh is intimidated.
"Their offense operates the same way with each quarterback in," Groh said. If there is anything for Virginia to fear, it is the Tar Heel pass rush, spearheaded by junior Julius Peppers and senior Ryan Sims.
"Those kind of guys can wreck the game for you in a hurry," Groh said. "You can keep them quiet for 25 pass plays in a row, and then they can wreck the game. I've been around a couple of those, so I can appreciate the impact that they have"
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