One of college football's oldest rivalries returns to Scott Stadium Saturday as Virginia hopes to tackle North Carolina amid a Sea of Orange.
The No. 15 Cavaliers come home after dismantling Temple in a 44-14 rout last weekend to open the season. Virginia's defense walled up Temple's offense, limiting the Owls to just 260 yards of total offense, while quarterback Marques Hagans led the team to a season-opening win in just the fourth start of his career.
Like Temple, North Carolina relies on an offensive that thrives off of the running game led by a dangerous quarterback. This week, Virginia's highly acclaimed front seven will have to contain Tar Heel signal caller Darian Durant, who already holds UNC passing records for career efficiency (147.14) and accuracy (61.4 percent) coming into his senior year. The fleet-footed Durant rushed for nearly 400 yards last year, making him a threat on the ground as well.
"North Carolina's style of offense is similar to Temple's," Virginia defensive end Chris Canty said. "Their philosophy is predicated around the quarterback making a lot of plays with his arm and with his feet."
In prior years, Durant was asked to carry much of the offensive load for the Tar Heels, but this year's UNC team has other dangerous offensive weapons.
"They have a lot of good backs," Virginia coach Al Groh said. "They had two guys rush for over a hundred yards. That's pretty good. I'll bet there are not too many teams in the country who had that last Saturday."
Canty and fellow defensive linemen Brennan Schmidt and Andrew Hoffman will have to pay attention to UNC's backfield combination of Ronnie McGill, Jacques Lewis and Chad Scott, who collectively rumbled for 330 yards against William & Mary last week.
"I think this week we have to focus on stopping the run," Canty said. "It's not just the quarterback on this team -- Ronnie McGill is a tremendous tailback as well."
McGill, the 5-foot-11-inch, 210-pound sophomore draws physical comparisons to Virginia's 5-foot-10-inch 214-pound Wali Lundy. The similarities run onto the playing field as well. Both led their team in rushing in their first collegiate season, and both started their 2004 campaign strongly -- posting over 100 yards and three touchdowns each. McGill's three touchdowns all came in the fourth quarter, helping the Tar Heels eke out a 48-39 win against William & Mary.
"We saw McGill last year and were very impressed with him physically," Groh said. "He's a good back."
Virginia will likely need a strong game from Lundy on Saturday. Luckily, Lundy has shined in the past against UNC. In his two games against the Tar Heels, Lundy has rushed for 237 yards and four touchdowns, helping Virginia to two consecutive wins.
"Lundy is a guy that's a dual threat," UNC coach John Bunting said. "He's going to make you miss, or he's going to run you over. He's great on the screens and he's great on the perimeter."
With the overwhelming amount of talent scattered throughout Groh's Cavaliers, Virginia outmatches North Carolina on paper. The Cavaliers trail the overall series with Tar Heels 49-55-4. If the Cavaliers minimize their mistakes and play to their potential, they should be able to notch their 50th win in the 112-year-old rivalry.
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