Virginia running back Wali Lundy rushed for 129 yards and a career-high three touchdowns, and senior quarterback Matt Schaub went 19 for 22 for 284 yards, as the Cavaliers beat a hapless North Carolina team 38-13. The win for the Cavaliers means they are 3-0 in the ACC for the first time since 1998, and Carolina’s fifth straight loss is their worst start since going 0-6 in 1988.
Lundy, who is the ACC’s leading rusher, has now rushed for 120+ yards in each of his last three games. The sophomore tailback had his way with a Carolina defense that lived up to their billing as the worst group in the country, as the Cavaliers gained 500+ yards on the day.
In only his second game back from a shoulder injury Schaub was nearly perfect on the day, missing only 3 passes all day on his way to 284 yards and two touchdowns. After three interceptions against Wake Forest in the second half of last week’s game, no North Carolina defender could get a hand on the ball, as Schaub dissected the thin Tar Heel secondary.
The struggling Tar Heel defense hung in the game until halftime, when they were only down 17-6, but Schaub opened the second half with a bang to widen the lead and put North Carolina away. After the Virginia defense, which gave up only 13 points against a team that was averaging 36 in its last three games, stuffed Carolina coming out of halftime, Lundy moved the ball downfield on five straight carries.
Facing third and six on the Carolina 20, Schaub threaded a pass to wide receiver Ryan Sawyer for 19 yards that extended the drive and set up a one-yard touchdown run by Lundy, his second on the afternoon, which extended Virginia’s lead to 18, 24-6.
After another three and out by the Cavalier defense gave Virginia the ball at their own 33-yard line, Lundy’s backup decided it was his time to shine. After Schaub found Heath Miller for 18 yards and Ottowa Anderson for nine yards, junior Alvin Pearman got into the scoring book. With the Cavaliers on the North Carolina 33 yard line, Pearman worked his way to the back of the end zone, where Schaub found him in stride to give Virginia a 31 to 6 advantage.
The Cavaliers never looked back, and North Carolina never came closer, as Virginia blew out an ACC team on the road for the first time in head coach Al Groh’s tenure.
Early in the first half it looked as though it would be a mistake-riddled game for the Cavaliers, as they turned the ball over on their first drive, and suffered from several penalties. After two positive plays to open the game, Schaub connected with wide receiver Art Thomas near midfield. Similar to a play last week against Wake Forest, Thomas fumbled the ball and North Carolina quickly jumped on it to take over possession in Virginia territory. As they would do all day, however, the Virginia defense was up to the challenge, forcing Durant and company to go three and out.
The Cavaliers gave up only 265 total yards all day against one of the best quarterbacks in the country. North Carolina had been unable to run the ball all season against opponents, and that would not change in this game, as they rushed for only 58 yards on 25 carries. With the Virginia win and a dominating performance by Schaub, it is easy to overlook the day of Darian Durant, who completed 27 of 40 passes for 207 yards with no help from his running game.
After a fake field goal in which Connor Hughes punted the ball deep into UNC territory, Durant drove the Tar Heels down for 50-yard field goal that gave Carolina the lead. That lead would not last, however, as Virginia rode the legs of Lundy on the next drive. Lundy ran the ball four straight times from 15 yards out to get into the end zone for the first time.
On the Tar Heels’ next series, Jamaine Winborne came up from his corner spot to force a Jacque Lewis fumble that was recovered by Darryl Blackstock, who also had two sacks on the day. All the Cavalier linebackers had a good day, as freshmen Ahmad Brooks and Kai Parham received their first start together. On the day, the Cavaliers came up with five sacks. As had been the story for much of the first few drives, Virginia was unable to capitalize on the good field position, and they settled for a 29-yard Hughes field goal.
A series later, the Cavaliers were able to find the end zone again, when Fontel Mines ran a post pattern and Schaub found him for his first career catch and touchdown. A similar occurrence happened to fellow freshman Deyon Williams three weeks earlier, when he caught a touchdown on the first play of his career. The TD gave the Cavaliers a 17-3 lead, which would be trimmed down to 11 when Carolina kicked a field goal to end the half.
A week after Virginia had problems executing on offense for four quarters, the Cavaliers looked much sharper with Schaub at the helm, as they only missed on four of 12 third-down conversions and committed only one penalty with the ball all day.
With their third straight win, the Cavaliers head into Clemson’s Death Valley next week, undefeated in conference play. Virginia can expect to face a much stiffer test next Saturday.
