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Virginia football hosts ACC rival North Carolina

Cavaliers take on Tarheels in the South’s Oldest Rivalry

<p>Senior linebacker Chris Peace has keyed Virginia's pass rush this season.</p>

Senior linebacker Chris Peace has keyed Virginia's pass rush this season.

Needing one more win to be bowl eligible, Virginia football gears up to host long-time rival North Carolina Saturday afternoon. 

The Cavaliers (5-2, 3-1 ACC) enter the game as a 9.5-point favorite over the Tar Heels (1-5, 1-3 ACC), which is the most highly favored the Cavaliers have been in a conference game in over a decade. Virginia also comes into the game riding a two-game winning streak that comes from upsetting Miami and — most recently — beating Duke on the road.

“I was really encouraged by the nature of our game on Saturday from a complementary football perspective,” Coach Bronco Mendenhall said of the Duke game. “The field position created through special teams kickoff return, punt return, as well as some of our coverage units, I think that was the catalyst that allowed us to start fast and get a jump on Duke …. We played cleanly and executed well enough down the stretch to make the critical plays to win.”

Virginia left Durham, N.C. with a 28-14 win, led by a strong defensive effort that kept Duke (5-2, 1-2 ACC) off the scoreboard for the entire first half of the game. The Cavaliers’ defense has been a consistent strength for the team all season long and has been particularly exemplary these past two games, with Virginia forcing Miami (5-2, 2-1 ACC) and Duke’s quarterbacks to a combined five interceptions and 37-for-69 passing. The Cavaliers also sacked the quarterbacks in the last two contests six times and only allowed two touchdowns in those games — two against Duke and one against Miami.

Senior outside linebacker Chris Peace is among those leading Virginia’s defense. He has notched five sacks this season, which ranks him first in the ACC and eighth in the nation among linebackers in that category. Additionally, his nine tackles for loss are tied for an ACC-high among linebackers.

Another key to Virginia’s defense has been junior cornerback Bryce Hall, who was named the ACC Defensive Back of the Week for his performance against Duke. Hall made five tackles, had four passes defended — including three pass breakups — and recorded his second interception of the season. 

“His preparation has led to his consistency which has led to his production, and he does it every single week,” Mendenhall said of Hall. “I think his influence will have a lot to do with the development of our program, especially in the secondary. As the next generation of guys want to know how to be a good football player or how to play early or how to be consistent, all I have to do is just say, ‘follow him.’ That really helps.”

Throughout the season, the Cavaliers’ offense has been led by junior quarterback Bryce Perkins. Against the Blue Devils, it was no different — with Perkins rushing for two touchdowns and recording one passing touchdown. Senior wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus has also been crucial to offensive success this season. Zaccheaus needs just eight more receptions to break the program record for career receptions, which is currently 210. He is also the country’s only active player that has at least 2,000 career receiving yards and 400 career rushing yards, with 2,277 and 496 receiving and rushing yards, respectively. 

Against Duke, Virginia also saw sophomore tailbacks PK Kier and Lamont Atkins, along with junior tailback Chris Sharp, make key contributions on offense, with senior running back Jordan Ellis picking up an injury.

Meanwhile, North Carolina comes into the game with only one win on the season. However, in the Tar Heels’ past two games, they’ve only narrowly lost with a 22-19 loss to Virginia Tech and a 40-37 overtime loss to Syracuse. 

“The schemes are good,” Mendenhall said of North Carolina. “The players are good. When you consider the last two outings not only statistically against Virginia Tech, the way that game went and against Syracuse, they're certainly capable of beating anyone in our league at any time on any Saturday, and for whatever reason just haven't quite put the whole thing together yet.”

The Tar Heels are averaging 422.2 total yards on offense, powered by junior quarterback Nathan Elliott’s average of 206.8 passing yards a game, and junior running back Antonio Williams’ and sophomore running back Michael Carter’s average of 70.7 and 73 rushing yards per game, respectively.

When the two teams met last season, Virginia picked up a 20-14 road win, with Ellis and Zaccheaus playing a big role in bringing about that win. However, Mendenhall isn’t concerned with what happened last year and is just focused on preparing for the next game on the schedule.

“Last year's certainly over, and I don't see it nor has it really entered my mind as a point of reference,” Mendenhall said. “This is a different team, a different season. Our entire focus is on how we play well enough to win our next game.”

The game is scheduled for a 12:20 p.m. kickoff from Scott Stadium Saturday. After this contest, the Cavaliers will remain in Charlottesville for their next two games.

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