bgorman@heraldsun.com; 419-6668
CHAPEL HILL — As the clock wound down at the end of Virginia’s 16-3 over North Carolina on Saturday, the Kenan Stadium crowd let loose its feelings about the Tar Heels’ performance.
And UNC quarterback T.J. Yates had no argument with their assessment.
“We deserve to get boos,” Yates said.
For the second consecutive game, the junior said his team failed to execute offensively.
A week after the Tar Heels put up 154 yards of offense in a loss to Georgia Tech, they mustered just 174 yards against Virginia. It was the Cavaliers first win of the season and their fourth consecutive victory over UNC (3-2, 0-2).
It was also the fewest points during the Butch Davis era and the first time one of his UNC teams hasn’t scored a touchdown.
“We’ve got to improve, and that’s my responsibility,” Davis said. “That’s our coaches’ responsibility, and that’s the approach we’re going to take as soon as we get back tomorrow.”
Even though the offense struggled to move the ball, the Tar Heels’ defense kept the game within reach until the fourth quarter. Virginia (1-3, 1-0) led 9-3 when UNC got the ball back with 10:14 remaining in the game. But after a loss of yards and an incomplete pass, Yates was picked off on the third down.
Yates was hit by Nate Collins, which caused the ball to go straight up in the air, and Chase Minnifield made the diving interception to give Virginia the ball on UNC’s 42. Seven plays later, Mikell Simpson, who finished with 100 yards rushing on 20 carries, ran 8 yards into the end zone to give the Cavs a two-score advantage.
“We’re very proud, very appreciative of the effort they put in to make this happen and very happy for them that they can enjoy a moment like this,” Virginia coach Al Groh said. “It’s a players’ game, and they earned every part of it.”
After Virginia’s touchdown, UNC got the ball back with 5:49 to play but went just 17 yards before turning the ball over on downs. The Tar Heels finished with nine first downs compared to Virginia’s 16, and Grant Schallock punted the ball eight times.
“We went from scoring seven to scoring three so it is kind of taking a step back,” Yates said. “We’ve just got to do better.”
Virginia led 6-0 at the break thanks to 36- and 38-yard field goals by Robert Randolph. The Tar Heels had just 67 yards of offense in the first half but took their first possession of the second half 58 yards down field for their first points.
Kicker Casey Barth connected on a 39-yard field goal to cut Virginia’s lead to 6-3. But then Randolph hit a 43-yards field goal, his third of the day, for a 9-3 lead.
“It’s a disappointing loss,” Davis said. “It’s a little bit of a carryover of the same thing from last week. The defense played well enough at times, certainly, to give us a chance to win the game. But it’s a team game and we talk in the locker room all the time that you can’t just win one phase of the game.”
UNC again was hurt by its inability to establish a running game behind its young, injury-depleted offensive line. A week after gaining 17 rushing yards, the Tar Heels finished with 39 yards on the ground against the second-worst rushing defense in the ACC.
“[We’re] just not executing on the run game; the passing game’s not going well,” said Yates, who finished 20-of-36 for 135 yards. “They’re not complementing each other because neither one of them is working. We’ve got to get the run game going to open up the pass game and the pass game to open up the run game.”
But despite back-to-back losses, Yates said the Tar Heels’ season isn’t over.
“We started off strong and we hit a couple of road bumps and we can’t give up on the season,” Yates said. “Everybody on this team had high expectations for us, and we definitely didn’t see this in the schedule and so we can’t give up. We’ve got to keep going back to work and go to the next game.”
