At the conclusion of Saturday night's 44-10 defeat at the hands of North Carolina, the Virginia football team lingered on the gridiron. Coach Mike London gathered his team at midfield, hoping his players would soak in every single detail of a game most just wanted to erase from their memories.
"I wanted them to feel what it feels like to get beat like we did on your homecoming with the other team's fans cheering them on and never forget that feeling - the feeling when somebody comes into your house and hands it to you like they did," London said. "I don't want them to forget feelings like that."
North Carolina, meanwhile, emerged from Scott Stadium smiling for the first time since 1981, ending its 14-game losing streak in Charlottesville. It also was the Heels' first victory against the Cavaliers for the past five years and Virginia's ninth consecutive conference defeat.
Senior quarterback T.J. Yates picked apart a Virginia secondary that was without standout senior cornerback Ras-I Dowling for the third time this season. Although Virginia's defense had been ranked 10th in the nation in fewest passing yards allowed entering Saturday night's matchup, Yates threw the ball across the field with relative ease. He finished the night having completed 17-of-22 passing attempts for 325 yards and three touchdowns.
North Carolina jumped out to an early 7-0 lead when Yates hit junior wide receiver Dwight Jones on a short crossing route on the first play from scrimmage. Jones avoided a tackle by junior cornerback Chase Minnifield and raced up the Virginia sideline for an 81-yard score. Yates' touchdown toss marked the longest pass play surrendered by the Cavaliers since the 2003 season.
"There was just a lot of miscommunication in the secondary," Minnfield said. "Obviously when you have miscommunications in the secondary, they get big plays."
Finding themselves in an early hole for the third straight week, the Cavaliers tried to match the Tar Heels' quick strike on their first drive down the field. Senior quarterback Marc Verica moved Virginia closer to the goal line by completing 18-yard and 12-yard strikes to junior wide receivers Kris Burd and Matt Snyder, respectively, on third down. But the Cavaliers failed to convert on third and five from the eight-yard line, setting up a 25-yard field goal by junior place kicker Robert Randolph.
The Tar Heels grabbed a seven-point lead by knocking in a field goal on their next possession. Yates once again found a wide open senior tight end Zack Pianalto for a 46-yard gain to set up the successful 36-yard attempt.
It only took two plays for the Virginia defense to take the field against Yates and the Tar Heels' aerial assault once again, however. Verica inadvertently threw the ball into the hands of freshman defensive lineman Tim Jackson on the Cavaliers' third play of their second drive.
North Carolina quickly capitalized on Verica's mistake. With 1:17 remaining in the first quarter, Yates again hooked up with Jones in the end zone. The speedy wideout slid under an underthrown toss by Yates for his second touchdown of the night.
The Cavaliers appeared resilient on their subsequent series, despite the deficit entering the second quarter. After starting on its own 13-yard line, Virginia relied on the duo of senior tailback Keith Payne and sophomore tailback Perry Jones to march upfield to the North Carolina 16-yard line. But the team failed to convert on its second red-zone opportunity as Verica's pass was intercepted in the middle of the field by junior linebacker Zach Brown, who returned the ball 70 yards. The long interception return set up another North Carolina field goal, putting the Tar Heels up 20-3.
North Carolina tacked on another seven points a minute later to take a commanding 24-point lead. The Cavalier secondary was fooled twice on the Tar Heel scoring drive by the play-action pass en route to surrendering 27 first-half points for the second time in three weeks.
But before the Cavaliers trudged into the locker room at halftime, the offense managed to drive 60 yards for its only touchdown of the game. Payne capped off the eight-play drive with a five-yard burst up the middle for his eighth touchdown of the season. Payne finished the evening with 114 yards, eclipsing the century mark for the second time this campaign.
The Cavaliers' second-half performance left much to be desired. Virginia went three and out on its first drive after the stoppage, forcing a punt to the North Carolina offense. Yates then slipped the ball past Minnifield for a 42-yard gain to set up a third Tar Heel field goal.
Verica, meanwhile, continued to struggle at the helm of the Virginia offense. Following the North Carolina field goal, a pass from the quarterback found its way into the hands of a Tar Heel defender for his third interception of the evening. This time, the Tar Heels returned the interception for a touchdown, drawing audible groans from the frustrated crowd.
"It's a tough situation," Verica said. "Not many people have experienced throwing an interception for a touchdown, and then getting booed off the field as you jog off the field. It's a difficult thing to swallow. There are a lot of fans out there who do support us, no matter what. Those are the people that I like in my corner. The people in life that want to get on you when you're not doing well and want to be with you when you are doing well, I don't have any tolerance for that."
Much to the delight of the remaining Virginia fans - who numbered about 50,000 at the start of the game - redshirt freshman Ross Metheny replaced Verica under center on the Cavaliers' next possession. Metheny did not fare much better than his predecessor, however, as the young quarterback fumbled a snap and threw an interception in the end zone from the three-yard line.
After Metheny proved ineffective, freshman quarterback Michael Rocco got his own opportunity. But like Verica and Metheny, Rocco could not infiltrate the North Carolina secondary and threw an interception in the red zone during the waning minutes of the game. Rocco finished 3-for-8 for 45 yards.
London declined to say who would be Virginia's signal-caller in upcoming games until the coaching staff watches film from the loss.
"[Verica's] the quarterback right now," London said. "But every player is and will be evaluated based on their performance. That's the way it's supposed to be."
The Cavaliers will look to rebound Saturday against Eastern Michigan. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.
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