Game Essentials

• Saturday, Nov. 9, 12:30 p.m.
• Kenan Stadium, Chapel Hill, NC
• Tailgating Info and Stadium Policies
• ACC Network
• Local Radio – WINA 1070AM | UVa Radio Affiliates | Satellite – Sirius 93, XM 195
• Game Tracker Live Stats
• Roster Card – printable pdf
• Projected UVa Depth Chart – printable pdf
• Exclusive Weather Updates
• TheSabre.com Game Info Page

Game Nuggets

• This is the 118th meeting between Virginia and North Carolina. UNC leads 59-54-4.
• This is known as the South’s Oldest Rivalry because it is a series that was first played in 1892. The 118 meetings tie the rivalry for the third longest series in Football Bowl Subdivision history; the other two rivalries with 118 all-time meetings are Texas-Texas A&M and Miami (Ohio)-Cincinnati. The two longest-running rivalries are Minnesota-Wisconsin (122 meetings) and Kansas-Missouri (120 meetings).
• UVa has faced UNC more than any other school in its history. Virginia Tech is next at 94 games.
• Since 1979, North Carolina has scored more than 27 points against UVa just five times but that includes the last three meetings (1997, 2001, 2010, 2011, 2012).
• Carolina has won three straight against Virginia for the first time since winning nine straight from 1974-82. The average margin of victory in the last three wins is 23 points.

Match-Ups To Watch

Virginia’s offensive line vs. UNC defensive end Kareem Martin. The offensive line has been an ongoing source of critique during the past two seasons due to inconsistent play. Their job doesn’t get any easier this week. UNC’s Kareem Martin has started 36 games in his career and he is a disruptive force up front. Martin has made 55 tackles with 12.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks this season. That followed last season’s stat line of 40 tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss, and 4 sacks in 2012. Martin has a good first step off the edge and that has proved difficult for Morgan Moses and Eric Smith to handle consistently. Keep an eye on whether UVa needs to chip Martin with a running back this week to slow him down.

Virginia quarterback David Watford vs. UNC’s pass defense. Watford ranks 9th in the ACC in passing yards per game with just 205.0 each outing. He’s 14th in the ACC and 105th nationally in passing efficiency with a 104.6 rating. That’s one reason the offense struggles to score points. This week will test Watford on a large scale. Carolina has not allowed a passing touchdown in the last three games and the defense has 10 INTs on the season. The Tar Heels allowed just 59 passing yards in the win over Boston College last month. Watch out for safety Tre Boston (35 starts) – he has a team-high three interceptions and has posted 39 tackles on the season. He had a big game at UVa a year ago with 13 tackles and a 36-yard interception return for touchdown.

North Carolina tight end Eric Ebron vs. Virginia’s linebackers and safeties. Ebron leads North Carolina’s offense with 669 yards receiving and is just 202 yards shy of the ACC single-season record for receiving yards by a tight end, set by Maryland’s Vernon Davis with 871 in 2005. Ebron is a match-up nightmare for linebackers and his speed gets him on top of safeties in a hurry on vertical patterns. As discussed in the Wednesday Watch List article, he could cause problems against UVa’s Cover-1 and Cover-2 looks on seam patterns. Plus, several teams have had success against UVa blitz packages by sliding tight ends out on short to intermediate out and crossing patterns. Ebron can be that outlet and then turn it into big yards because of his ability to break tackles and then sprint through gaps.

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