Chapel Hill, N.C.- The No. 21 North Carolina Tar Heels (2-1) defeated the Virginia Cavaliers (2-1) 59-39 in front of a rowdy, sold-out crowd at Kenan-Memorial on Saturday night. The victory snapped Carolina’s four game losing streak to the Cavaliers, and earned the Tar Heels their first conference win of the 2021-2022 college football season.
After struggling the first two games of the season, the Tar Heels were able to put on an offensive clinic and amass a total of 699 yards against the Cavaliers on Saturday. Heisman hopeful quarterback Sam Howell led the offensive fireworks for UNC by throwing for 307 yards with five touchdown passes, and also running for 112 on the ground. Howell has established himself as a legitimate dual-threat quarterback this season, which is a crucial key for UNC’s offense due to their struggles running the football in the first few weeks of the season.
Carolina’s talented wide receiver corps dominated Virginia’s secondary, with sophomore phenom Josh Downs snagging totaling eight catches for 207 receiving yards with two touchdowns, and speedster Khafre Brown catching one pass for 75 yards that resulted in a home run touchdown against the Cavaliers. Downs and Brown were a step ahead of the Cavaliers secondary the entire game, and are going to be tough to stop if Sam Howell has the protection to find them downfield.
One of the most glaring differences in the Tar Heels early offensive struggles this season and Saturday’s win over Virginia was the more balanced play calling from offensive coordinator Phil Longo. Instead of relying heavily on Sam Howell throwing the ball early, Longo elected to the ball early, which resulted in transfer Ty Chandler exploding for 198 rushing yards in his best outing of the season.
Carolina also utilized freshman Caleb Hood in the backfield with Chandler, who finished with 7.3 yards per carry and a touchdown against Virgnia. Longo’s effort to establish the run game by committee is a complete 180 degree change from the seventeen consecutive pass plays that UNC ran in their season opening loss to Virginia Tech.
The last and most important difference in Saturday’s win over Virginia was the vastly improved play of the UNC offensive line. After giving up six sacks against Virginia Tech and two against Georgia State; the Tar Heels offensive line only allowed one sack against a Cavalier defense that ranked third in the ACC at generating pass rush last season.
Quarterback Sam Howell clearly had plenty of time to make his reads in the pocket, or roll out on his own without feeling the pressure of the opposing defensive line. If Carolina’s offensive line has worked out the kinks from the first few weeks of the season, then this could be a UNC team that will live up to the preseason hype and challenge Clemson for an ACC Championship title.
