CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va – The Curse may be dead, but his remains remain for North Carolina at Scott Stadium
Virginia (2-4) converted a false punt with 2:02 left to prevent Sam Howell from finishing his team’s rally with a 21-point deficit The Cavaliers surpassed the clock to claim a 44-41 victory and claim their fourth in a row against the Tar Heels (4-2) UNC road problems continued as Mack Brown’s side abandoned their second back-to-back game for a team with a losing record far from Kenan Stadium
UNC led 20-13 early in the second quarter before Virginia took the lead with 28 unanswered points The Tar Heels trailed 41-20 with 5:34 left before scoring on their last three possessions to shoot less than three points with 4:07 left The Cavaliers wouldn’t allow UNC another possession, however, as Bronco Mendenhall called a false punt in the 4th and 4th near midfield Alternate quarterback Keytaon Thompson took the direct slam and made an excellent play rushing to his left to pick up the first down
One Dimensional Attack Mendenhall admitted this week that his high school has been sensitive this season, but his running defense has always been strong It played out on Saturday night as Howell did whatever he wanted in the air – 23 28 passes for 443 yards and four touchdowns – while UNC’s rushing attack was limited to 93 yards at 2 8-yard clip per carry Virginia’s five sacks played a big part in those numbers, though Javonte Williams and Michael Carter combined just 118 yards in 22 carries
Ground It Out, Pound It Out Virginia only managed four games of 20 yards or more, although his grind it out approach was more than adequate against the besieged UNC defense The Cavaliers are averaging a season-high 62 yards and 27 first downs Virginia’s penultimate drive offered a microcosm of her approach by pairing 13 rushes with a pass attempt to pick up four first downs and burn 9:02 am after that UNC scored 14 unanswered points to change momentum
The Cavaliers finished with 418 yards of total attacking, balancing 210 yards rushing with 208 passing yards Quarterback Brennan Armstrong completed 12 of 22 passes for 208 yards, three touchdowns and one interception as he rushing for 66 yards and a touchdown in 20 attempts
Brown explodes again Dyami Brown set a career receiving mark against Virginia last season, catching six passes for 202 yards and three touchdowns He made sure to dominate this performance against the Cavaliers on Saturday, catching 11 assists for 240 yards and three touchdowns
No more end-of-half problems UNC didn’t play their best football at the end of the first half of this season and Saturday’s blooper certainly reinforced that prospect Bateman’s defense has had some struggled to come off the field in his last possession of the second quarter, but appeared to force a three and one out with 3:42 to go before half-time That is until Trey Morrison was signaled for a unsportsmanlike penalty after the whistle, which kept Virginia’s record alive Five games later, the defense actually forced a punt, although Toe Groves muffled the punt at Virginia’s 20 and the Cavaliers have recovered
Keytaon Thompson scored from a 1-yard touchdown three plays later to give Virginia a 27-20 lead with 1:14 remaining. Despite the lack of downtime, Howell led a lightning-fast practice on the field to set up UNC with a first goal and a goal at Virginia’s 2 with 12 seconds left Phil Longo then called a baffling play that prompted Howell to throw a pass back to Dazz Newsome, who was unable to catch the throw and the ball was returned to the 20 By the time the whistle sounded on the game, the first half was over
All three phases of the match made mistakes in the final stretch that allowed the Cavaliers to enter at half time with a touchdown lead
Up Next The Tar Heels stay on the road as they make the short 15-501 downhill ride to play Duke on Saturday (noon / ESPN2) The Blue Devils routed Charlotte, 52-19, on Saturday for move to 2-5 (1-5 ACC) over the season
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