Five Things We Learned From Virginia’s 31-21 Win Over North Carolina

1. Mack is Back. Junior linebacker Jordan Mack has missed four of Virginia’s eight games this season with an injury but may be back in action soon. Bronco Mendenhall said after Saturday’s 31-21 win over North Carolina that Mack practiced all of last week and “is very close.” While Zane Zandier and Robert Snyder have stepped up their games, and Malcolm Cook has returned to play, a healthy Mack would give the Cavaliers defense more experienced, quality depth heading into the home stretch of the season.

2.  Run Defense Takes A Giant Step. After holding Duke and North Carolina to less than 70 yards rushing in back-to-back weeks, Virginia’s defense is now ranked No. 20 nationally against the run. Duke managed but 58 yards on 27 attempts a week ago, and UNC didn’t fare much better with 66 yards on 22 attempts.

There’s no question that Bronco believed those performances were keys to winning both games.

While scouting the Tar Heels, Mendenhall was really impressed with running back Antonio Williams, a transfer from Ohio State. Williams is Carolina’s leading rusher on the season and had averaged 6.5 yards per carry coming into the UVa game.

Virginia held him to 21 yards on seven attempts and essentially discouraged UNC from running the football.

“Our ability to start there allowed us to branch out and make appropriate (defensive) calls at the right time to have some effect on [UNC’s fast] tempo,” Mendenhall said.

The game plan was for Virginia to hold onto the football as long as possible, generate points, and keep Carolina’s volatile offense off the field. UVa owned the football for 39 minutes, :05 seconds of the 60-minute game. The Wahoos held UNC to 14 first downs and only three rushing, and also held the Heels to only 4 of 14 third-down conversions and 1 of 2 fourth down conversions.

3. Word Is Spreading. Jumping out to a 6-2 record and 4-1 in the ACC, Virginia has now won three games in a row and is ranked in both national polls for the first time since Nov. 20, 2011.

The Cavaliers are No. 22 in the Coaches Poll, and No. 23 in the AP Top 25 Poll.

Sitting atop the Coastal Division standings, UVa has established itself as a legitimate contender for the division title. People are noticing. One of the panelists on ESPN’s GameDay, when asked who he liked to win the ACC’s scrambled Coastal, said he liked Virginia.

Picked to finish dead last in the Coastal, just the fact that the Cavaliers are in first place this late in the season is a true statement.

Rick Neuheisel, former head coach at UCLA, Washington and Colorado, has been singing the praises of UVa quarterback Bryce Perkins for weeks on ESPNU’s “Full Ride” show.

Recruits are noticing, too.

The Cavaliers have picked up three significant recruits in the past three weeks, including this weekend from Baton Rouge, La., running back Mike Hollins, who had offers from Alabama, Georgia Tech, Houston, Missouri and Colorado.

This past week, UVa gained a verbal from Atlanta’s Nick Jackson, a linebacker who chose UVa over Boston College, Texas A&M, Syracuse, Pitt, Missouri, and Nebraska, among others.

After the Cavaliers upset Miami a few weeks ago, Chesapeake’s Ben Smiley, a highly-sought after defensive lineman, who can also play on the other side of the ball, chose UVa over Miami, Alabama, N.C. State, Oklahoma, Penn State, Virginia Tech, and Oregon.

4. Virginia’s Offense Is Opening Up. You have to give offensive coordinator Robert Anae and quarterbacks coach Jason Beck credit for opening up the offense over the past few weeks with new formations and new plays.

Perhaps some of that came in the bye week when Mendenhall said he was going to eliminate some things that had not worked and replace those with new concepts.

That’s not the only way UVa’s offense has expanded. QB Bryce Perkins is getting more receivers involved and that is a good thing. They worked hard to get freshman Tavares Kelly the ball against UNC. He was the second-leading pass catcher behind Olamide Zaccheaus with three receptions for 21 yards.

Joe Reed also caught two passes for 32 yards and a touchdown. For the second week in a row, tight end Evan Butts hauled in a big touchdown pass. If those three can continue to be part of the offense, that will open up more things for not only the record-breaking Zaccheaus and Hasise Dubois, but for the running game as well.

5. Powerful Punch by Special Teams. We already knew that senior punter Lester Coleman was good, and he continued to prove it against the Tar Heels. Coleman flipped the field several times in the game. Carolina had zero return yards off his four punts, two inside the 20. That was important against Anthony Ratliff, one of the most dangerous return men in the ACC. Carolina also had only two kickoff returns off of Brian Delaney’s six kicks, which included four touchbacks. Ratliff had only two returns, the longest 18 yards.

Those are the types of contributing numbers that help the really good football teams win games week after week.