“Unfortunately, this is what we do, right? We take it all the way down to the end,” UVA Football coach Tony Elliott said after his team’s narrow 17-16 OT win over North Carolina on Saturday.
Hmmm. “This is what we do, right? We take it all the way down to the end.” For a coach who will celebrate his 46th birthday in four weeks, maybe three overtime games in a row might be one of the “bedrocks of the program,” but this reporter is long past 46 and needs a break from all the excitement.
Let’s go back to the good ol’ days of 41-point wins over Coastal, 39-point tallies over William & Mary and 28 points against Stanford.
“So, the guys just had confidence that we were going to play however long it takes. And that’s one of the bedrocks of our program is we play 60 minutes or however long it takes to find a way to win the game.”
Coach Elliott’s players are even younger than both of us, and I completely believe that his charges would play 42 overtimes if required.
That said, the feeling is going from “what a great win” to “how many more times can we do this and not lose?”
Operations Breakdowns
Offense Game Recap & Game Grade: 67.62 (D+)
In his Oct. 25 article, “Team of destiny? #16 UVA wins another by the skin of its teeth,” AFP editor Chris Graham writes that “UNC took away Des Kitchings’ favorite plays – defending crossing routes on third-and-shorts and third-and-mediums with zone coverage, disguising coverages to confuse [Chandler Morris] and his O line, seducing Kitchings into trying to beat single coverage on the edges, and living to tell the tale because UVA’s wideouts couldn’t come down with the 50/50 balls.”
That mentality seemed to carry over to the running game.
Pro and college football teams play against wide ends every weekend and find ways to gain yardage with their outside zones. It seemed the offensive brain trust abandoned the outside run plays in the first quarter and never went back to them. That led to the Cavaliers worst run game grade of the season, sporting a 62.08; and that was higher than I expected it to be. The passing offense wasn’t much better at 63.99.
As they did last week against Washington State, Virginia’s wide receivers led the offense against UNC with a 72.59. QB Morris gutted his way to a 70.2 mark despite a thunderstorm worth of dropped balls and an offensive line where pass blocking was abysmal. The running backs didn’t get a lot of help from the offensive line either, but J’Mari Taylor stepped up when needed. Which of course leaves the Cavalier offensive front, which posted a 59.27; the worst offensive grade of any unit this season.
In my midseason grades report, I noted that the Cavalier offense is significantly more efficient than the 2024 iteration. I highlighted several reasons for the improvement. One, the run game was producing at a high level. On first, second and third down, the ‘Hoos were averaging 4.19 YPC or more mid-season.
On first down, Virginia was averaging 5.46, and on third down they were recording a 7.26-per-carry average. Virginia’s lowest number of first downs in their first five games was 23 against Coastal Carolina. Since the FSU contest, the ‘Hoos have produced 14, 13 and 16 first downs in their last three outings. That makes it difficult to extend drives and prevents controlling the clock, as has been the case against Louisville, Washington State and Carolina.
And of course, why would I leave out pass protection? Virginia was among the top teams in the nation in protecting their trigger man. Hopefully, the Tar Heel game is simply a brief lull in the offensive line’s success in that discipline.
Defense Game Recap & Game Grade: 93.95 (A)
Virginia’s defense was outstanding, with all three units garnering championship-level grades; the defensive line posted a 95.15, the linebackers had a 92.54, and the defensive backs recorded a 94.15.
UVA’s second-half defense was much cleaner and induced two key interceptions. In the first half the Heels got into plus territory four times – to the Wahoo 1-yard line, the goal line, the UVA 32, and the visitors’ 16. In the second half, Carolina again made it to Virginia’s 16 and 46. Each of UNC’s six second-half drives ended with a punt or an interception, and in three of the four that ended with a punt, John Rudzinski’s defense held to three-and-outs, and on the other, an interception concluded a two-play Tar Heel drive.
One of the keys for the Cavalier defense was its second-half third-down defense. The Tar Heels were 3-for-7 in third-down conversions in the first half, but UVA limited the home squad to 2-for-8 in the final two quarters. The ‘Hoos also cut UNC’s first downs from 13 in the first half to only seven in the second half.
While all the media were talking about Carolina’s defense, Virginia’s defense was simply better. They posted 13 QB pressures, four sacks, four QB hits and five pass breakups. But in the big moments of the game, it was the UVA defense that made the game altering plays.
On UNC’s second drive, from the UVA 13, Kobe Paysour catches a pass at the Cavalier 9-yard line and bolts toward the corner of the end zone. Wahoo safety Corey Costner forced a fumble that rolled into and out of the end zone for a touchback; UVA possession at the 20. For the record, I hate this rule, but was ok with on Saturday.
In the third quarter, on the Tar Heels 10th drive of the game, starting at the Virginia 36, Carolina used six plays to gain 20 yards and were on third-and-6 at the ‘Hoos 16. Heels QB Gio Lopez dropped back, but his pass attempt was broken up by Mitchell Melton, and then intercepted by Melton.
Finally, in overtime, UVA got the first shot and scored a TD and converted the PAT. Carolina also scored a touchdown and made the decision to go for a two-point conversion and the win. Lopez again went to the air, finding running back Ben Hall crossing to the wide side of the field and heading toward the pilon. UVA cornerback Emmanuel Karnley went low, undercutting Hall’s legs, and nickelback Ja’son Prevard wrapped his arms around Hall, forcing him to the ground short of the line to gain. Ball game.
Those credentials and the entire operation delivering championship-level grades earned them the MVP operation of the game honors
Special Teams Recap & Game Grade: 87.12 (B+)
The Wahoo special teams had a solid afternoon against the Tar Heels with an 87.12 overall grade. For the second consecutive week, Virginia’s punt coverage unit posted a second consecutive championship-level mark after recording a 91.43 last week and a 90.32 in Chapel Hill. The kicking unit led the operation with a 94.28, while the punt return crew has improved from a 75.28 average in games 1-4 to 86.44 in their last four outings with their 86.54 number this week. The kickoff coverage group was strong with an 85.71, and the kickoff return unit closed out the operation with a 78.75.
North Carolina Grades & Notes
Offense – Grades: 67.65 (D)
- Quarterback: 70.2 (C-)
- Running backs: 68.39 (D+)
- Wide receivers & tight ends: 72.7(C-)
- Offensive line: 59.27 (F+)
Offense – Quick Takes & Notes
Highlights: This one is easy. The final play of the game.
Not so bright: See notes and stats.
Notes & Stats
- The Cavaliers are ranked 14th nationally and first in the ACC with the fewest turnovers lost.
- Carolina’s six sacks in the game were the most for the Tar Heel defensive unit this season. UNC also created seven quarterback hurries.
- Carolina allowed 59 rushing yards in the game, the fewest versus an ACC opponent this season. Saturday was UNC’s third straight game allowing fewer than 100 yards on the ground.
- Virginia’s 200 yards passing was the fewest allowed in the air by the Carolina defense in ACC action this fall. Ironically, it was Virginia’s most passing yards in its last three games.
- The Heels limited Virginia to its lowest rushing total yards of the season at 59, the lowest yards per carry (1.74) and tied for the fewest rushing TDs in a game at one.
Defense – Grades: 93.95 (A)
- Defensive line: 95.14 (A)
- Linebackers: 92.55 (A-)
- Secondary: 94.16 (A)
Defense – Quick Takes & Notes
Highlights: Defenses play on point per possession inside the 40. The Heels scored 16 points in their six possessions inside the Wahoo 40 yard-line. That’s an average of 2.6 points per game giving the opponent a 23.1% chance of winning.
Not so bright: Former UVA head coach Al Groh was fond of saying, “If you don’t put yourself in a position to look like you’re holding, you won’t get penalized for holding.” I’m not offering any quarter to the ridiculous ACC officiating crew that called Saturday’s game, but “if you don’t put yourself in a position to look like you’re roughing the passer, you won’t get penalized for roughing the passer.”
Notes & Stats
- The Tar Heels had 20 first downs and 353 yards of total offense on the day, a season-high in both categories.
- UVA has held five opponents to 20 points or less. The last time that occurred was in 2019.
- With their five PBUs against Carolina, Virginia is ranked eighth nationally with 43 passes defended. It should be noted that I have charted the ‘Hoos with 51 PBUs.
- The Cavalier defense held UNC to their lowest TD percentage of the season and second-lowest in scoring percentage; third lowest of the season in third-down conversions at 33.3; and forced the highest number of TOs (3) and second-highest number of turnovers lost.
- At the eight-game point last season, opposing offenses were rushing for 133.5 yards per game, 3.78 yards per carry and scoring 1.5 TDs per game. This year, rival offenses are rushing for 123.8 yards per game, 3.68 yards per carry and 1.63 TDs per game.
Special Teams – Grades: 87.12 (B-)
- Kickoff return: 78.75 (C+)
- Kickoff coverage: 85.71 (B)
- Place kicking: 94.28 (A)
- Punt return: 86.54 (B)
- Punt coverage: 90.32 (A-)
Special Teams – Quick Takes & Notes
Highlights: Punter Daniel Sparks has had three excellent performances against Louisville, Washington State and Carolina. Combining the three contests, Sparks has the following numbers:
| Daniel Sparks | Punts | Yards | Average | Long | Inside 20 | 50+ |
| Louisville | 5 | 237 | 47.4 | 71 | 2 | 2 |
| Wash State | 6 | 318 | 53 | 65 | 5 | 3 |
| UNC | 8 | 391 | 48.9 | 56 | 2 | 3 |
| Total | 19 | 946 | 49.8 | 9 | 8 |
Not so bright: UVA has launched more punts in its last three games than in the first five games of the season combined (10).
Notes & Stats
- The ‘Hoos have three special teams’ units among the top 40 in college football.
- Kickoff Returns: 1 (37.86 avg)
- Net Punting: 25 (42.24 avg)
- Punt Returns: (38) 11.11 avg
- Jayden Thomas’ debut on Saturday as UVA’s punt-return specialist and was highly effective. On four returns, he gained 58 yards, for a 14.5 yards-per-return average. UVA’s 14.5 yards per return was the highest allowed by the Tar Heels since their last game of the 2023 season. The ‘Hoos also posted the highest yards per punt return against the Heels in 2024 with a 24.0
- In his first four games of the season, Will Bettridge missed three of his first eight field goal attempts. Since the first kick of the Stanford game, the ‘Hoos kicker has connected on seven consecutive field goals; and all 35 of his season PAT attempts.
- UVA held UNC to their second lowest game kickoff return average at 15.0.
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