Nine-minute drive was critical in Virginia’s upset win over No. 15 Tar Heels

By Jerry Ratcliffe

While Bronco Mendenhall’s gamble to fake punt late in the game certainly sealed the fate on Virginia’s 44-41 upset over 15th-ranked North Carolina on Saturday night at Scott Stadium, I believe the game was truly won on the previous possession.

The Cavaliers had gone up 41-20 before the Tar Heels charged back with two touchdowns on a 75-yard drive late in the third quarter and early in the fourth quarter after UVA quarterback Brennan Armstrong’s only interception of the game.

Suddenly, with 13 minutes to play, Carolina only trailed 41-34.

At that rate, if Virginia’s offense couldn’t respond, it appeared that the Heels would pull off a dramatic comeback.

Give UVA offensive coordinator Robert Anae credit for engineering what was likely the game-saving drive that kept the Cavaliers season alive. Virginia took over on its own 25 and ran off 15 plays, plus a penalty that ended with a Brian Delaney 35-yard field goal. Not only did that kick give UVA a two-score lead at 44-34, more importantly, the drive ate up 9 minutes and 2 seconds of the clock.

At that juncture, time was Carolina’s biggest enemy. The Heels got the ball back with 4:07 to play, and to clearly exhibit their explosiveness against a decimated UVA secondary, went 75 yards on four plays in 76 seconds to cut it to 44-41 and 2:51 to play.

Virginia managed to run only three plays and gain but seven yards before UNC burned its final time out at 2:02, when Mendenhall called for the fake punt. In between, UVA lost starting quarterback Brennan Armstrong to what appeared to be an ankle injury (Mendenhall said after the game that he had no news on Armstrong’s injury or status).

Facing a punting situation, Mendenhall caught Carolina napping with a fake punt for a first down and iced the game.

However, had it not been for that 9-minute drive and score, the Tar Heels would most likely have either tied the game or won it in regulation.

I asked Mendenhall afterward about the critical drive, which kept Sam Howell on the sidelines.

“We wanted to score but we wanted to take as long as possible because [Carolina] was scoring so fast,” Mendenhall said. “The shorter the game, the better chance for us to win.

“Priority focus was to have the ball on the ground. With different runners and different plays, we were able to occupy the clock and have the chains move and score. [Carolina] got a personal foul along the way (a 15-yard penalty on UNC free safety Don Chapman on the second play of the drive). Robert Anae did a masterful job in pulling out exactly what we needed in that situation.”

Mendenhall was spot on. Anae, who has come under fire from time to time from fans and media, called a brilliant drive that kept the Tar Heels’ explosive offense helplessly watching from the sidelines. In fact, Anae infused creativity into his game plan by finding ways to use backup quarterback/running back/receiver Keytaeon Thompson into a key role in terms of keeping Carolina’s defense guessing.

Virginia would put Thompson in motion and either hand him the ball, use him as a decoy, or allow him to go from being in motion to diving quickly up under center, taking the snap and running a quarterback sneak.

Thompson had two touches on the critical drive, which went like this.

Virginia started at its own 25 after a touchback on the kickoff, 13:09 to play, leading 41-34.

# Armstrong rushed for five yards to the 30 on first down.

# Tailback Wayne Taulapapa rushed for yardage and Carolina was called for the personal foul, moving the ball to the UNC 49, first down.

# Armstrong rushed for four yards to the 45.

# Tailback Shane Simpson rushed for four more yards to the 41 to set up third-and-two.

# Taulapapa carried for a yard to the 40, setting up fourth-and-one.

At this point, Mendenhall had another decision to make, should he gamble and go for the fourth down or punt it to the Tar Heels and risk another quick strike by Howell and possibly lose the game. He decided to go for it.

# Taulapapa rushed for a yard, exactly how much Virginia needed for a first down at the Carolina 39.

# Simpson then rushed for nine yards to the 30.

# Thompson carried for four yards and a first down at the 26.

# Carolina was offside on the next snap for a five-yard penalty to the 21, giving UVA a first-and-five, which helped tremendously.

# Armstrong carried for four yards up the middle to the 17.

# With nothing to lose on second-and-one, Anae called for a pass play, with Armstrong unable to connect to wide receiver Ra’Shaun Henry at the goal line, setting up third-and-one.

# Thompson came in motion, jumped under center, took the snap for a sneak and gained two yards to the 15, first down.

# Armstrong rushed for three yards to the 12.

# Simpson rushed for two to the 10.

# On third-and-five, Armstrong dropped back to pass but was sacked for an eight-yard loss to the 18.

# Delaney booted the field goal with 4:07 to play.

“Nothing was really said in the huddle,” said Simpson, who was Virginia’s leading rusher with 70 yards on eight carries (8.8 average), and the team’s leading receiver (in yardage) with only one catch for 71 yards and a touchdown. “It was just a mindset that we just have to get it done.

“We were running the ball, just running the clock, and we knew that would help us out with UNC’s amazing offense.”

Virginia’s offense was somewhat amazing itself, putting up 418 yards, commiting only one turnover, averaging 5.7 yards per play (UVA rams 73 plays to UNC’s 61), and owned the football for 11 minutes and 58 seconds of the fourth quarter (UNC only 3 minutes, 2 seconds).

The Cavaliers essentially doubled their scoring average and answered questions as to whether it could keep up with such an explosive offense as Carolina’s if the game was played at greyhound pace.

Now the question is, can Virginia keep that momentum going into Saturday’s home game (another 8 p.m. start on the ACC Network) against Louisville. The Cardinals, which found out Saturday morning that it would be missing nine players due to Covid-related issues, outgained Virginia Tech by 80 yards, spotted the Hokies 21 points, and lost by 42-35.

Virginia is now 2-4, Louisville 2-5. The Cavaliers are in the midst of a three-game home stand (UNC, Louisville, and a bye week before hosting Abilene Christian on Nov. 21).