North Carolina Tar Heels at Virginia Cavaliers Preview

It has been a hard week for the North Carolina Tar Heels. This was the week that the Wainstein Report came out and unveiled a long past of academic misdoings. It is in this environment that the Tar Heels go to Charlottesville, VA to face the Cavaliers. In this uncertainty, there are only two ways for the team to handle it.

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They could become lobotomized by it and play dead. Or they they could try to focus on football as an escape, and lurking in the background is the possibility that they may not be very many of these games left. Better make the ones you have count.

Date: October 25

Time: 12:00

TV: ACC Network

Venue: Scott Stadium (Charlottesville, VA)

Last Time: 2013

The Tar Heels got out early and stayed there, eventually beating the Cavaliers 45-14 in Chapel Hill. Marquise Williams completed the touchdown trifecta of passing, rushing, and catching touchdowns in the same game. Ryan Switzer returned a punt for a touchdown as well.

Oct 18, 2014; Durham, NC, USA; Virginia Cavaliers head coach Mike London watches his team during the first half against the Duke Blue Devils at Wallace Wade Stadium. Duke won 20-13. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports

Opponent: Virginia Cavaliers (4-3)

Virginia has a mirror record to the Heels (3-4) but the Cavaliers have a better conference record. They are still tied for the Coastal lead with Duke at 2-1 and would like to stay in that position. They also do not have much wiggle room on the schedule. Virginia plays Florida State in two weeks, and that likely will add a loss to the column.

Virginia uses a pro style system and many of the moving parts are the same as last year. The North Carolina defense, however, is not as strong up front as it was last year.

Oct 18, 2014; Durham, NC, USA; Virginia Cavaliers quarterback Matt Johns (15) passes the ball during the first half against the Duke Blue Devils at Wallace Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports

Virginia will try to put the ball in senior Kevin Parks’ hands and control the game that way to keep the developing North Carolina offense off the field. They will also try to set up play action for quarterback Matt Johns, who was not part of the rout in Chapel Hill last year.

The other difficult of the Virginia matchup will be the blitzburgh defense of old ACC favorite and current Virginia defensive coordinator John Tenuta. This will be trouble for the young and somewhat injured offensive line of the Tar Heels. Tenuta has no problem bringing pressure from anywhere, and UVA has a couple of corners to back that up.

Prediction:

Call me a softie. In most cases, I would thing that a Tenuta scheme would drive the Tar Heels batty. However, the more people that Tenuta brings, the more holes in the middle of the field for Marquise Williams to run to. I would say to expect screen plays if the Heels were better at them. North Carolina must play a clean game. Williams’ pick out of nowhere cannot be part of the formula tomorrow.

ONJ Season Prediction Record 21-10