North Carolina at Virginia, 7:30 p.m. ESPN
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What the Cavaliers will have to worry about the most against their rivals from south of the border is UNC sophomore running back Giovani Bernard. As a freshman, Bernard ran for over 1,200 yards and scored 13 rushing touchdowns. This season, even though he sat out two games, Bernard is at 1,008 yards and 11 touchdowns. No other ACC running back even has 900 yards. Bernard is averaging 7.1 yards per carry and 126 per game and has also caught 38 passes for 411 yards and four touchdowns. Against N.C. State, he returned a punt for a touchdown to clinch the victory for the Tar Heels, and we know about UVa's troubles on special teams. Bernard is a major playmaker for the Tar Heels. Miami freshman running back Duke Johnson slashed Virginia last week for 376 total yards. He passed and returned a kickoff for a touchdown. UVa will need to find a way to slow down Bernard, who is similarly dynamic.
The South's Oldest Rivalry gets renewed tonight in prime time in the 117th meeting between North Carolina and Virginia. UNC holds a 58-54-4 all-time record in the series and is on a two-game winning streak in the rivalry. It won two years ago in Scott Stadium 44-10 for its first victory in the venue since 1981. Last season, UVa was much more competitive in Chapel Hill, falling 28-17 early in the season. The last time the 'Hoos and Heels played on Thursday night was 2006 in Charlottesville. Virginia won, 23-0.
The Tar Heels are 6-4 and 3-3 in the ACC while UVa is 4-6 and 2-4 in the conference. UNC is coming off a 68-50 loss to Georgia Tech in which its defense gave up 588 yards to the Yellow Jackets. Virginia beat Miami at home last Saturday 41-40 when Michael Rocco connected with Jake McGee in the back of the end zone on a 10-yard pass with six seconds left. The Cavaliers piled up 482 yards of offense.
Virginia is on two-game winning streak and must win tonight against North Carolina and next week against Virginia Tech to get to a bowl game. North Carolina is ineligible for postseason play because of NCAA sanctions but could still "win" the ACC's Coastal Division.
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What the Cavaliers will have to worry about the most against their rivals from south of the border is UNC sophomore running back Giovani Bernard. As a freshman, Bernard ran for over 1,200 yards and scored 13 rushing touchdowns. This season, even though he sat out two games, Bernard is at 1,008 yards and 11 touchdowns. No other ACC running back even has 900 yards. Bernard is averaging 7.1 yards per carry and 126 per game and has also caught 38 passes for 411 yards and four touchdowns. Against N.C. State, he returned a punt for a touchdown to clinch the victory for the Tar Heels, and we know about UVa's troubles on special teams. Bernard is a major playmaker for the Tar Heels. Miami freshman running back Duke Johnson slashed Virginia last week for 376 total yards. He passed and returned a kickoff for a touchdown. UVa will need to find a way to slow down Bernard, who is similarly dynamic.
If the Wahoos are lucky enough to hold down Bernard a bit, the Heels don't have a scrub at quarterback. Junior Bryn Renner, of West Springfield, Va., has completed 63.1 percent of his passes for 2,736 yards, 20 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Renner has plenty of weapons to work with. Wide receiver Erik Highsmith has 46 catches for 511 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Tight end Eric Ebron has 37 catches for 568 yards (15.4 yards per catch) and four touchdowns. I find it hard to believe a tight end leads the team in yards per catch average. He must be a very athletic tight end or hard to tackle. Wide receiver Sean Tapley has just 23 catches but he has made them count, with five of them going for touchdowns. Virginia will have to stop both a capable passing and running game tonight. North Carolina is averaging 40.5 points per game this season.
One bright spot for the 'Hoos is the inconsistent play of the North Carolina defense. The Tar Heels have two shutouts this season, but they were over FCS foe Elon and 1-9 WAC team Idaho. Overall, the Heels are allowing 25.7 points per game. Before allowing 68 points to Georgia Tech last week, UNC allowed 35 and 33 points to ACC teams N.C. State and Duke, respectively. Against Virginia Tech, a team that has struggled on offense for much of the season, the Tar Heels gave up 34 points. The Heels also gave up 39 to Louisville and 28 to sub-par Wake Forest in a one-point loss.
So the opportunities are going to be there for Michael Rocco and Phillip Sims and Co. (assuming Sims plays a lot again). Rocco kind of took back control of the starting quarterback position last week. I was very surprised to see him get the start over Sims vs. Miami and I'm not sure why that decision was made. Sims started the week before at N.C. State and played well and Rocco still played a lot so I'm not sure what the difference is or what the thought process was in installing Rocco back as starter. A lot of the decisions the coaching staff has made this year have been questionable and playing two quarterbacks is usually a recipe for disaster but for some reason, it has worked the past two games. But against the Hurricanes, Rocco completed 29 of 37 passes for 307 yards and four touchdowns so I expect him to the get the majority of the snaps tonight. He even had a school record 18 straight completions. Now, if he ends up throwing a couple interceptions and the 'Hoos get behind and they need to start throwing deep more, then Sims could definitely see his playing time increase.
There are lots of factors going against Virginia's ability to win tonight. The defense has been spotty against the run and Bernard is the best in the ACC. Bernard on punt returns also scares me and the Cavaliers defending kickoff returns always frightens me. UVa has kept the turnovers to a minimum the last two weeks and the penalties haven't been killers. But has the team really changed? Perhaps those problems creep up again tonight. Last week, though, things weren't going in UVa's favor, either. The Cavaliers were down 10 in the fourth quarter and a couple calls -- namely the safety against Rocco -- seemed to go incorrectly in favor of the Hurricanes.
But the 'Hoos showed a resolve that they hadn't shown since the Penn State victory. Dominique Terrell stepped up big time with nine catches for 127 yards and some big first downs in a breakout game for the sophomore. Kevin Parks gutted it out on the ground despite limited success. Maurice Canady came up with a big turnover by forcing a fumble from quarterback Stephen Morris and falling on it. Morris was getting close to the end zone and a Miami touchdown at that point in the fourth quarter probably would have been ballgame. And of course Jake McGee, like he did against Penn State, came up with the final go-ahead touchdown to give the Cavaliers their second one-point season of the year.
It will be tough for UNC to shape up its defense on a short week after getting plastered by Georgia Tech. UVa is at home and riding a wave of momentum and is still desperate for a victory to stay in the bowl hunt. If the offense remains on track and doesn't commit turnovers -- and that is a big if -- UVa can outscore UNC in a shootout and pick up its fifth win of the season.
Virginia 36, North Carolina 34
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