Virginia coach Al Groh isn't known as a man of few words, but when it comes to the North Carolina offense, he's nearly speechless.
UNC freshman quarterback T.J. Yates enters Saturday's game with a 192.0 pass efficiency rating, the sixth best in the country.
"That's an unreal number," Groh said.
An efficiency rating that high means not only that Yates completes a high percentage of his passes, but that he throws the ball deep downfield. The Tar Heel wide receivers average 16.8 yards per catch.
All Groh could utter was, "Just unbelievable."
What has made Groh and the rest of the world so surprised by the Tar Heels (1-1) isn't that they're doing so well -- it's that they're doing well at all.
UNC returns only five starters on offense and features a redshirt freshman quarterback with no game experience previous to the 2007 season.
But that hasn't kept the Tar Heels from averaging 375 yards and 34 points per game.
And that's exactly why UNC hired former NFL coach Butch Davis: to make changes that would improve the team now and build the team to be a championship contender later.
Featuring a big-play offense, Davis has already begun to surprise critics.
"They've done a very good job at putting together a plan that features [the quarterback and wide receivers]," Groh said.
The Cavaliers (1-1, 1-0 ACC) represent the toughest defense and the biggest challenge for UNC to date after a Tar Heels' victory over James Madison and a last-second field goal loss to East Carolina,
Virginia already has nine sacks on the season, second best in the ACC, but the secondary is where Groh expressed concerns.
"We can't afford to give up one play touchdowns," Groh said, adding that the passing game "allows them the opportunity to score points from far out."
If the Tar Heels capitalize quickly on big plays like the Cavaliers did last week, UNC can take advantage of the home field and the crowd at Kenan Stadium. As is the case for Virginia's road games, the team tends to stall. Yet the Cavaliers look for consistent play everywhere, despite having lost 10 of their last 11 road games.
"We have to execute better at home; we have to execute better on the road," senior guard Ian-Yates Cunningham said.
In 2005, Virginia upset No. 4 Florida State at home, only to lose to UNC on the road the following week, 7-5.
"We never have that 'here we go again' mentality," Cunningham said. "It's one of those things we have to fight through. You're going to fight adversity every day, every week."
Completing 69 percent of his passes last week, freshman quarterback Peter Lalich has seen little adversity in his short career at Virginia.
Though Groh has stayed mum as to whether Lalich or sophomore Jameel Sewell will start Saturday, one thing Groh did make clear was that both players would see action.
"You have two great quarterbacks back there," Cunningham said. "Why not put them on the field at the same time?"
The success of the tandem this week could determine what direction the team takes for the rest of the season as Virginia will play much more difficult teams in Georgia Tech and Pittsburgh in the following two weeks.
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