Virginia-North Carolina football may be the South's oldest rivalry, but Saturday's game was anything but a contest between two equally balanced opponents.
The No. 12 Cavaliers dominated in almost every phase of the game, especially in the trenches, to cruise past the Tar Heels 56-24 and earn a win in their ACC opener in front of 62,790 orange-clad fans at Scott Stadium.
Virginia (2-0, 1-1 ACC) gained a total of 27 first downs and 549 yards compared with North Carolina's 434. The Cavaliers also rushed for 299 yards and seven scores. Wali Lundy ran for 73 yards and three touchdowns for the second week in a row, Alvin Pearman (45 yards) got into the end zone twice, and running backs Michael Johnson (89 yards) and Jason Snelling (80 yards) each added one of their own as the heralded Virginia offensive line manhandled the Tar Heels' front seven, opening up huge holes all day long.
"All the credit goes to the offensive line on any run play," Lundy said. "You got to get a block to get down the field."
Despite the success of the running game, quarterback Marques Hagans had another very efficient game before handing the reigns over to backups Kevin McCabe and Christian Olsen in the beginning of the fourth quarter with the outcome of the game already decided. Hagans was 10 of 12 for 209 yards and improvised on multiple plays to avoid sacks and gain positive yardage, including a 19-yard scamper on Virginia's second drive after ducking under a Carolina defensive lineman who came up behind him.
"Marques did a nice job with the ball," Virginia coach Al Groh said. "He was very disciplined with his game. He turned some plays that didn't look like they were going to be positive plays into positive plays for us."
The Cavaliers jumped on the Tar Heels (1-1, 0-1 ACC) from the get-go. They marched 77 yards on seven plays on the first drive, capped off by a one-yard score by Lundy. They held North Carolina to a three-and-out on the ensuing possession and then Lundy added a four-yard touchdown run on a 68-yard drive.
North Carolina's chance to get into the game came on their second offensive possession. Down 14-0 after two Lundy scores, the Tar Heels drove the ball down into the red zone and had a fourth-and-one from the Virginia two-yard line. After deliberating in a timeout, the Tar Heels decided to go for it. With the entire stadium on its feet, Virginia's defensive end Chris Canty and linebacker Kai Parham stopped North Carolina running back Ronnie McGill in the backfield for a loss and Virginia took over on downs.
"The fourth-down stop down there the first time was particularly important," Groh said. "When you can do that early, that's a confidence booster. That was probably one of the major turning points in the game."
When the Cavaliers took over on downs, they drove 97 yards down the field and Lundy scored his third touchdown of the game to give Virginia a 21-0 advantage. The drive was helped along by a 32-yard reverse pass from freshman wideout Emmanuel Byers to senior receiver Michael McGrew. McGrew became wide open on the trick play and Byers lofted an easy pass to him down the sidelines.
North Carolina's last chance to make some sort of comeback came when junior wideout Derrele Mitchell caught a seven-yard touchdown pass from Darian Durant to make it a 21-7 game with 8:22 left in the first half. But the hope became short-lived when Marquis Weeks returned the ensuing kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown and 28-7 lead. Two years ago on the same field, Weeks returned the opening second half kickoff for a score to spark a Virginia comeback victory, after the Cavaliers were down 21-0 at halftime.
"It was a great return on Marquis' part," Groh said. "Our return guys -- [special teams coach] Mark D'Onofrio has done a great job with them. They work very hard at it. It's not just another play -- they think it's an opportunity for a big play every time."
Pearman was also part of an excellent day for the Virginia special teams. He returned a fourth-quarter squib kickoff 93 yards to the Carolina one-yard line, after cutting back and forth across the field. Groh left him in the game for the next play to finish the drive with a one-yard touchdown run to make it a total of 56 points for the Cavaliers.
Of the 435 total yards given up by the Virginia defense, 299 came through the air. Although 193 yards were gained in the fourth quarter with mostly backups in the game for Virginia, the Tar Heel offense had a few big plays against the starting Cavalier defense.
"We're not doing any cart-wheels, or hip-hip hoorays after this one," Pearman said. "We got a long road ahead of us. However, we feel good right now. We're a very confident football team and confidence can help you a lot. We've kind of got a little swagger now. That's something U.Va. football hasn't had in a while."
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