To start the second half of the 2023 campaign, the Virginia football program will face off against the University of North Carolina in the 128th meeting of the South’s Oldest Rivalry. It’ll be the third ACC game of the season and a stern test for the Cavaliers, as UNC has been trending upward as a program since bringing back coach Mack Brown in 2019.

The storied rivalry has given fans plenty of entertaining and memorable games in recent memory with 2022 being no exception as Carolina won 31-28. Coach Tony Elliott will be hoping to get his first win in the series when he and his team make the trip to Chapel Hill in October.

Let’s learn more about a familiar foe and Virginia’s seventh opponent of the 2023 season.

North Carolina Tar Heels

• Date: Saturday, Oct. 21, Game time TBA
• Location: Kenan Memorial Stadium – Chapel Hill, NC (AstroTurf)
• 2022 Record: 9-5
• Coach: Mack Brown, entering 5th season
• Last Meeting: Nov. 5, 2022 – UVA lost 31-28
• Last Bowl Appearance: 2022 Holiday Bowl vs. Oregon – lost 28-27
• Key Returning Players: QB Drake Maye, TE Bryson Nesbit, RB Elijah Green, C Corey Gaynor, LB Cedric Gray, LB Power Echols. DB Giovanni Biggers, DB Deandre Boykins, DL Kaimon Rucker, DL Kevin Hester Jr.

What To Expect On Game Day

What’s to Like: One of the best quarterbacks in all of college football. As a redshirt freshman in 2022, Drake Maye took the college football world by storm, leading his team to a bounce-back season in his first year as the starter. The freshman threw for 4,321 yards (4th nationally), 38 touchdowns (T-5 nationally), and had a 66.2% completion rate (22nd nationally). Maye can do more than just throw the ball, adding 698 yards and 7 touchdowns on the ground as well. He was selected as the ACC Player of the Year, ACC Offensive Player of the Year, ACC Rookie of the Year, and ACC Offensive Rookie of the Year. He’s one of only two players ever, Jameis Winston being the other, to win all four awards in a season. The ACC voters weren’t the only ones impressed by Maye, as he was also a Pro Football Focus Third-Team All-American. If he can stay healthy and chooses to enter the 2024 NFL Draft, you can expect to hear his name within the first five picks. He’ll be the leader of this Tar Heel team that has aspirations of a conference championship in 2023.

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