BY BRIANA GORMAN

bgorman@heraldsun.com

CHAPEL HILL -- When Virginia visits North Carolina today (noon, WRAL), the Cavaliers will be searching for their first victory of the season.

The Cavaliers are 0-3 after an embarrassing season-opening loss to William & Mary, a Football Championship Subdivision team, and losses to No. 16 TCU and Southern Miss.

But even though Virginia is winless this season, UNC coach Butch Davis called them a dangerous team earlier this week. The Cavaliers have defeated the Tar Heels in nine of the past 11 meetings, including the past three matchups.

"If you take a look ... at the film -- don't read the newspapers, don't listen to talk radio, look at the film -- and the film says this is a talented, good football team," Davis said.

The Tar Heels (3-1, 0-1) are looking to bounce back from a poor performance in their ACC-opening loss to Georgia Tech a week ago. UNC struggled to move the ball and put up just 154 yards of offense against the Yellow Jackets.

And while the Tar Heels' offense won't be facing a defense as statistically strong as Georgia Tech's today, it will be facing a Virginia defense that is unusual in the college ranks. The Cavaliers use a 3-4 defensive scheme, which gives them an extra linebacker for blitzing and pass defense.

"It's unique and the people that they use to play it are unique," Davis said. "It's probably the biggest, strongest, most physical front seven certainly that we've played thus far this season."

The Cavs, which had an extra week to prepare for the Tar Heels thanks to a bye week, are ranked ninth in the ACC as they've given up 344.3 yards per game and 11th in scoring defense (31 ppg). They also have the 11th-ranked rushing defense, having given up 180.7 yards per game on the ground.

But while the numbers seem to favor the Tar Heels, that doesn't mean a win today is a given. In 2008, UNC led Virginia 10-3 with 2:14 remaining before the Cavs rallied for a 16-13 win in overtime.

"It's definitely ... known on this team [that] we haven't beaten them in three years, so we want to come out and beat them this week," said UNC quarterback T.J. Yates, who didn't play against the Cavs a year ago game because of an injury.

And while Virginia may be desperate for a win, UNC is hungry to prove its critics wrong after the tough loss to Georgia Tech. The Tar Heels will rely on a defense that is ranked No. 14 nationally and will be going against an offense that is in the bottom of the ACC standings in almost every category.

The UNC players have said this week that they will use the loss to Georgia Tech as motivation for their second ACC game.

"[Virginia is] a fundamentally sound team," UNC cornerback Kendric Burney said. "They do the little things right, but we've got a little bit of a chip on our shoulders."