Cavaliers rally to make history, stun No. 10 UNC on the road, 31-27

By Scott Ratcliffe

For the first time in Virginia football history, the Cavaliers went on the road and defeated a top-10 team, handing No. 10 North Carolina its first loss of the season, 31-27, on Saturday in Chapel Hill.

The Wahoos (2-5, 1-2 ACC) put together their most complete performance of the year, led by a three-touchdown evening for Mike Hollins, a solid performance by the offensive line, and a few huge defensive plays that equaled the program’s first win over a top-10 opponent since 2005 against Florida State.

The Tar Heels (6-1, 3-1) took a 24-14 lead after Drake Maye scored on a quarterback keeper with 9:35 left in the third quarter, but UVA responded with 10 unanswered points to tie it up heading into the final 15 minutes.

UNC looked to have stolen back the momentum on the first play of the fourth quarter on an apparent 47-yard touchdown pass to J.J. Jones, but the Heels were flagged for holding on the play.

Carolina still ended up grabbing the lead back, 27-24, on a Noah Burnette 27-yard field goal with 12:08 to play, but that turned out to be its final advantage of the night.

On the ensuing possession, Tony Muskett delivered a strike to the ACC’s leading receiver, Malik Washington, for 30 yards into enemy territory. Five plays later, Muskett connected with Washington again, this time for 14 yards and the go-ahead score, giving the Cavaliers a four-point edge with 8:51 remaining, as the Northwestern transfer evaded several would-be tacklers on his way to the end zone.

”That was a big-boy play, that’s what I told Malik, and that’s what you’ve seen out of this team, is they fight,” Tony Elliott said in his postgame comments. “They’re not going to back down.”

After a Carolina three-and-out, UVA got the ball back less than a minute later and had a chance to put things out of reach with another touchdown, but Hollins lost control of the ball a few yards shy of the goal line and fumbled, and the ball went out of the end zone and out of bounds, resulting in a touchback.

Maye and the deadly UNC offense took over with 4:55 on the clock and quickly moved it across the 50-yard line and down inside the red zone, but the Virginia defense came away with a crucial stop on fourth-and-12 from the 20-yard line with 3:12 to go.

The Hoos melted the clock and punted, giving the Heels one more crack at it from their own 25 with 1:12 showing, but Maye was drilled by Paul Akere as he threw on a second-down pass from midfield, and James Jackson dove for the game-sealing interception with 26 ticks left, and the Wahoo sideline exploded in celebration.

“That’s what you coach for, is an opportunity to see your guys celebrate victory,” said Elliott after his biggest win to date. “And more so, just a confirmation of all the work that they put in, the belief that they had for 60 minutes, just the hard days that they’ve been through, to all culminate to experience that joy in the locker room.”

The Hoos racked up 436 total yards on the day, part of a well-balanced attack — a season-high 228 on the ground, 208 through the air. Muskett completed 20 of his 30 attempts with a touchdown pass and an interception, while also running the ball 12 times for 66 yards.

Perris Jones had a team-high 67 yards in the rushing department, while Hollins was not far behind with 66 yards of his own on 15 carries. Washington posted a team-best 115 receiving yards and the go-ahead TD, while tight end Sackett Wood Jr. made 3 important grabs for 62 yards.

UNC registered 490 total yards on the evening (347 passing, 143 rushing), with Maye completing 24 of his 48 passes with 2 TD tosses and the interception at the end. Omarion Hampton rushed for a game-high 112 yards and Tez Walker led all receivers with 146 yards on 11 catches, as he and Bryson Nesbit (3 catches for 93 yards) each scored first-quarter touchdowns.

Game Notes

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

• The victory was the first over a top-10 opponent on the road in program history. UVA came into the game 0-30 in road games against top-10 opponents.
• Virginia’s last win over a top-10 opponent was on Oct. 15, 2005 against Florida State.
• The win snaps a five-game losing streak against ranked foes and is the first victory for UVA against a top-25 team since defeating North Carolina on Oct. 31, 2020 in Scott Stadium.
• The Cavaliers have won five of the last seven meetings against North Carolina and are 59-65-4 against the Tar Heels all-time. Saturday was the 128th meeting between the two schools, the second-most played rivalry in FBS.
• Virginia rushed for 228 yards, the second-straight 200-yard rushing effort. It marked the first time UVA posted back-to-back 200-yard rushing games since 2021 (GT & at BYU).
• UVA scored on its first drive of the season for the third time in its last five games. The Cavaliers went 51 yards on seven plays in 2:53.

Player Notes

• Washington extended his consecutive games with a reception streak to 32 games.
• Washington scored the go-ahead 14-yard touchdown with 8:51 remaining in the game and finished with 12 catches and 115 yards receiving. The 100-yard receiving effort was Washington’s fifth in seven games this season.
• Washington’s 12 receptions were the most in a game by a Cavalier since Terrell Jana had 13 at North Carolina in 2019.
• Hollins scored UVA’s first three touchdowns, two in the first quarter and his third with 3:56 left in the third quarter. He has six total touchdowns for the season (5 rush, 1 rec) and 13 for his career (12 rush, 1 rec).
• The three touchdowns in a game were the most by a Cavalier since Bryce Perkins scored three against Duke in 2019. The three rushing scores are the most by a UVA running back since Wayne Taulapapa against Florida State in 2019.
• Linebacker James Jackson intercepted a Drake Maye pass with 26 seconds on the clock to seal the victory. He has two of the UVA’s three interceptions this season.
• Jahmeer Carter was credited with his first solo sack of his career, a seven-yard loss that led to a UVA punt and the eventual game-tying field goal in the third quarter.
• Coen King co-led the Cavaliers with eight tackles (all solo) and also added two pass break ups. True freshman Kam Robinson also made eight stops (five solo).
• Dakota Twitty was credited with his first collegiate reception, a seven-yard reception in the second quarter.

Game Stats

Scoring Summary
Virginia             14  0 10  7 — 31
North Carolina   7  10  7  3 — 27

First Quarter
UVA (11:05) — Hollins 11-yd run (Bettridge kick). UVA 7, UNC 0.
UNC (8:36) — Walker 25-yd pass from Maye (Burnette kick). UVA 7, UNC 7.
UVA (1:56) — Hollins 3-yd run (Bettridge kick). UVA 14, UNC 7.

Second Quarter
UNC (8:36) — Nesbit 62-yd pass from Maye (Burnette kick). UVA 14, UNC 14.
UNC (0:00) — Burnette 43-yd field goal. UNC 17, UVA 14.

Third Quarter
UNC (9:35) — Maye 3-yd run (Burnette kick). UNC 24, UVA 14.
UVA (3:56) — Hollins 1-yd run (Bettridge kick). UNC 24, UVA 21.
UVA (0:32) — Bettridge 45-yd field goal. UVA 24, UNC 24.

Fourth Quarter
UNC (12:08) — Burnette 27-yd field goal. UNC 27, UVA 24.
UVA (8:51) — Washington 14-yd pass from Muskett (Bettridge kick). UVA 31, UNC 27.

Player Stats

Rushing
UVA — Perris Jones 14-67; Mike Hollins 15-66; Tony Muskett 12-66; Kobe Pace 11-30; Grady Brosterhous 1-2. TOTAL — 54-228.
UNC — Omarion Hampton 19-112; Drake Maye 6-17; British Brooks 3-7; Devontez Walker 1-4. TOTAL — 29-143.

Receiving
UVA — Malik Washington 12-115; Sackett Wood Jr. 3-62; Malachi Fields 1-13; Perris Jones 1-10; Dakota Twitty 1-7; Mike Hollins 1-2; Kobe Pace 1-(minus-1). TOTAL — 20-208.
UNC — Devontez Walker 11-146; Bryson Nesbit 3-93; J.J. Jones 5-45; Tychaun Chapman 1-33; Omarion Hampton 1-19; Nate McCollum 2-11; British Brooks 1-0. TOTAL — 24-347.

Passing
UVA — Tony Muskett 20-30-208-1-1. TOTAL — 20-30-208-1-1.
UNC — Drake Maye 24-48-347-2-1. TOTAL — 24-48-347-2-1.

UP NEXT

The Cavaliers will carry their momentum and two-game winning streak to South Florida next Saturday in another tough ACC road game at Miami (3:30 p.m., ACC Network).