UNC Football Moments After – UNC vs. Virginia 41-14 Win
UNC Tar Heels Football Team Bounces Back and Plays Their Best Game of the Season Trouncing the Cavaliers
by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn
Coming off a bye week, the North Carolina football team traveled to Virginia to break their four-game losing streak on Saturday afternoon. After struggling mightily the last few weeks defensively, the UNC defense stepped up and played well in the first half. The Tar Heels defense was getting constant pressure in the backfield and on the quarterback, resulting in six sacks and 5 tackles for loss in the first half alone after 0 sacks in the last two games. North Carolina had allowed at least 17 points in three of the previous four first halves and today held Virginia to just 6 points. Carolina’s defense wasn’t the only unit that played well in the first half. The Heels offense scored on 4 of their 6 first-half offensive drives. Jacolby Criswell threw two 30+ yard touchdown passes to JJ Jones and Omarion Hampton had 71 yards and one rushing touchdown, which led them to their 24-6 lead going into halftime.
In the second half, North Carolina continued to be aggressive defensively getting constant pressure on the quarterback with just the four-man rush mixed in with a few blitzes and completely wreaking havoc against Virginia’s offense. At one point in this game, Carolina’s defense had 6 consecutive stops against Virginia’s defense including the play of the game which was an 84-yard interception returned for a touchdown by defensive lineman Jahvaree Ritzie. The Heels’ defense was completely dominant in this game from start to finish recording 10 sacks and 12 tackles for loss and holding Virginia to 288 yards of total offense including only 7 yards rushing.
Offensively the Tar Heels drove up and down the field against Virginia’s defense with success in both the running and passing game, finishing the game with 428 total yards. Over the last couple of weeks, Carolina’s issues with sustaining drives have hurt them and they did a much better job of finishing those drives with points this week. Omarion Hampton finished the game with 26 rushes for 105 yards, recording his seventh 100-yard rushing game of the season, and Jacolby Criswell threw for 293 yards and two touchdowns. This was the most complete game the Heels have played all season and they were completely dialed in on both sides of the ball, leading them to their 41-14 win over Virginia breaking their four-game losing streak.
UNC Game Stats
UNC Total Offense- 428 yards
Rushing 135 Passing 293
UNC Passing: Jacolby Criswell 19/30 293 yards 2TDS
UNC Rushing: Omarion Hampton 26-105 yards 2TDS
UNC Receiving: JJ Jones 5-129 yards 2TDs
Virginia Total Offense- 288 yards
Virginia Passing: Anthony Colandrea 16/26 156 yards 2INTs, Tony Muskett 8-13 125 yards 1TD
Virginia Rushing: Koby Pace 7-24 yards
Virginia Receiving: JR Wilson 1-68 yards one touchdown, Malachi Fields 3-48 yards
UNC Bright Spots
Jacolby Criswell threw for 293 yards and two touchdowns.
Omarion Hampton had 26 carries for 105 yards and two touchdowns
JJ Jones had 5 catches for 129 yards and two touchdowns
Defensive End Kaimon Rucker had 3 sacks and an interception
Defensive End Beau Atkinson had 2 sacks
Defensive lineman Jahvaree Ritzee had one sack and one interception that he returned 84 yards for a touchdown.
Linebacker Amari Campbell, Safety Antavious Lane, and Defensive lineman Desmond Evans each recorded one sack
Needs Work
Offensive Coordinator Chip Lindsay and his staff need to scrap the reverse plays. Every time they have run that play over the last few weeks it has resulted in a loss of yards. In addition, these plays are being run either in the redzone or close to the redzone and are putting the Heels out of field goal range costing them points.
The offensive line must be better in run protection. They must be better at identifying who they are blocking to stop defenders from getting in the backfield before the running back is able to make a move.
Final Observations
North Carolina ends their four-game winning streak and gets their first conference win of the season. You couldn’t have asked for a better performance by the Tar Heels after their bye week. It was a complete team win and some much-needed momentum for a team that had looked defeated over the last few weeks. The Tar Heels finally displayed the aggressive attacking defense Defensive Coordinator Geoff Collins talked about all offseason he imagined seeing from this UNC defense. Offensively, they continue to be explosive and put up points. They continue to lean on the running game and play off that in the passing game. For the first time since their first two wins of the season, the Heels played complimentary football.
That is going to be what it takes for them to put consistently successful performances together going forward. The Heels have been lacking playing to a standard week in and week out and after this performance hopefully are heading in the right direction. The Tar Heels need to take it one game at a time and make sure their attention to detail for every opponent is at the optimal level to end the season on a high note and even turn the season around. Next up is Florida State on Saturday, November 9.