The South's Oldest Rivalry will be renewed once again tomorrow as the Virginia football team squares off against North Carolina for the 115th meeting between the two conference foes.
Virginia has won 10 of the last 12 matchups against the Tar Heels. This figure includes last season's 16-3 victory and 2008's 16-13 narrow overtime triumph against a then-ranked North Carolina team. Senior quarterback Marc Verica played a pivotal role in the 2008 upset, completing 24-of-38 passing attempts, including a 19-yard strike to tight end John Phillips to give Virginia a first down at the two-yard line in overtime.
With the victory, the Cavaliers managed once again to thwart the Tar Heels' attempt to leave Scott Stadium with a win. North Carolina has failed to win in Charlottesville for 14 straight games dating back to 1981 - before any player on either roster was born.
Although the Cavaliers are aware of this streak, the team is solely focused on the here and now of Virginia football. Should they defeat the Tar Heels (3-2, 1-1) this Saturday, the Cavaliers would earn their first conference victory since mid-October 2009.
"I mean I'd be lying if I said I wasn't familiar with [the streak]," Verica said. "That's really secondary to what is our priority here, and that's just to win a football game. We're trying to win an ACC football game, and our opponent just happens to be UNC, and it just happens to be at home."
Although the Cavaliers possess a seemingly overwhelming home-field advantage, Virginia should have its hands full with this season's resilient Tar Heels. North Carolina enters tomorrow's matchup boasting a three-game win streak despite playing without several star athletes because of an ongoing NCAA investigation into players allegedly dealing with professional agents.
"When you have people that are attacking your football family, sometimes you rally the troops and you circle up," Virginia coach Mike London said. "Coach [Butch Davis] has done a nice job of rallying his troops and guys [are] stepping up in place of those guys that aren't playing."
Even without standout senior defensive tackle Marvin Austin and junior defensive end Robert Quinn - earlier this week, Austin was dismissed from the team and Quinn was ruled ineligible - the North Carolina defense still ranks fourth in the conference in yardage allowed per game and fifth in points allowed per game. The Tar Heel secondary surrenders a mere average of 176.2 yards through the air and has nabbed six interceptions thus far on the season.
They "don't do a whole lot of blitzing, but they just play well technique-wise," London said. "They cover well. You just see them flying around to the ball. We have to be creative in what we do and how we move the ball."
Verica and the offense will need to have a much faster start tomorrow if they hope to set the tempo against the talented Tar Heel defense. The Cavalier offense has managed to put up only seven points and 149 total yards during the first halves of their previous two losses combined, while Florida State and Georgia Tech racked up 27 and 13 points, respectively. Verica believes the offense will come out of the gate with a greater sense of urgency this week to try and avoid falling behind early on for a third consecutive outing.
"We just have to make sure from the first play of the game we know what our assignment is and we know how to go about executing it so we can get first downs, keep our defense off the field and put points on the board," Verica said. "If you come out in the first quarter and you're just three and out, three and out, and the other team's offense is on the field the whole time with your defense, it just puts you in a hole. I think it just comes down to execution."
Verica, however, will be without one of his go-to men downfield Saturday and for the remainder of the season. Senior tight end Joe Torchia will miss the rest of the 2010 campaign because of a shoulder injury that requires midseason surgery. Torchia finishes his career at Virginia having notched 24 receptions for 263 yards.
Sophomore tight ends Colter Phillips and Paul Freedman are expected to split time at the position in Torchia's absence. Phillips has already recorded six receptions in five games for the Cavaliers, including two for touchdowns, while Freedman nabbed two passes last Saturday.
In addition to the tight end position, the offensive line should feature new faces for the Virginia offensive unit. Junior offensive tackle Landon Bradley is expected to miss several games because of a hand injury sustained during the third quarter of the loss against Georgia Tech. Redshirt freshman Sean Cascarano will replace Bradley, but the inexperienced lineman likely will split time with sophomore right offensive tackle Oday Aboushi, according to this week's depth chart. If Aboushi makes the switch to the left side of the line, sophomore Aaron Van Kuiken or redshirt freshman Luke Bowanko might see action against the Tar Heels at the right tackle position.
On the opposite side of the ball, the Virginia defense needs to find a way to stop its opponents' rushing attacks. During the past two weeks, the Cavaliers have surrendered a total of 733 yards on the ground. Although the Tar Heels do not possess a stellar run game - averaging 122.4 yards per game - North Carolina might try to expose Virginia's weakness instead of putting the ball in the air against a Virginia secondary that ranks 10th in the nation for fewest passing yards allowed.
Despite the recent offensive and defensive struggles and the injuries to key starters, the Cavaliers remain confident that they have enough talent to overcome adversity and continue to improve on a weekly basis.
"We have faith in each other," senior defensive tackle John-Kevin Dolce said.
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