By Scott Ratcliffe
For the third time in the last four contests, No. 16 Virginia needed overtime to keep its unbeaten streak alive, this time surviving on a game-winning tackle at the 1-yard line on a two-point conversion to defeat North Carolina, 17-16, on Saturday in Chapel Hill.
The 130th meeting of “The South’s Oldest Rivalry” came down to the wire after neither team could score the entire second half, and the game went to an extra session, tied at 10-10.
The Cavaliers (7-1, 4-0 ACC) got the ball first in OT, and on a crucial third-and-7 from the UNC 10-yard line, it was UVA tailback J’Mari Taylor who got the job done, barely getting enough to keep the drive alive.
Two plays later, Taylor took a direct snap and found the end zone, and Will Bettridge’s extra point made it 17-10.
The struggling Tar Heels (2-5, 0-3) moved their way inside the Virginia 10-yard line and cut it to one point as Gio Lopez connected with a streaking Davion Gause from 9 yards out, and UNC’s legendary coach, Bill Belichick, decided to go for two and the win, in the hopes of avoiding a fourth-straight loss and injecting some momentum into the program.
On the all-important conversion attempt, however, Lopez scrambled to the right side of the field and found Benjamin Hall inside the 5, and he lunged and stretched for the end zone, but was stopped just inches short by Ja’son Prevard. The call was reviewed and upheld, and as a result, the Hoos escaped for their sixth win in a row and kept their ACC Championship Game and College Football Playoff hopes alive, despite arguably their worst overall performance of the year.
Chandler Morris struggled all afternoon, finishing with just 200 yards on 20-for-35 passing with a touchdown and an interception. The North Texas transfer quarterback was sacked six times by the Carolina defense, after the Cavaliers had only allowed five sacks all season coming into Saturday’s game.
Morris’ lone touchdown toss was a 30-yard hookup with Trell Harris that gave UVA a 10-3 advantage with 6:36 left in the opening half. The Heels were able to pull even just before halftime, and nobody scored again until OT.
Virginia, which went three-and-out on the opening possession of the third quarter, couldn’t take advantage of a trip to the red zone on its second drive. Morris led the offense down to Carolina’s 1-yard line on the drive, which took a little over five minutes off the clock, but threw behind Taylor on a fourth-and-goal from the 1 with 8:01 left in the third.
UVA’s defense came up with a huge stop later in the period, following a Morris interception that gave the Tar Heels great field position, taking over at the UVA 36. Lopez had his pass on third-and-6 from the 16 tipped high in the air, and UVA’s Mitchell Melton was in the right place at the right time for the momentum-changing pick with 3:25 left in the third quarter.
In the fourth, the two longtime rivals combined to punt the ball five times until a critical Virginia facemask penalty gave Carolina the ball at around midfield with 26 ticks remaining in regulation.
On the next snap, Lopez lofted one deep for his intended target, but veteran DB Antonio Clary came down with it for his third career interception and first of the season with 14 seconds left at the 3-yard line, and it couldn’t have come at a better moment. From there, Morris took a knee and the Cavaliers were able to survive in overtime.
The Hoos were frankly quite lucky to go into the locker room tied at 10-10 after a sloppy first half offensively that only produced 19 rushing yards, 126 total yards and 6 first downs. Instead, the offense went three-and-out and punted on four of its six possessions.
On UNC’s second drive, the Heels looked to have a first-and-goal from the UVA 1-yard line, but it was determined after video review that wideout Kobe Paysour had the ball jarred loose by UVA’s Corey Costner before he reached for the pylon, resulting in a touchback and an early sigh of relief for Wahoo fans.
The brightest spot of the half was a 30-yard touchdown connection from Morris to Harris, who caught the ball around the UNC 10-yard line and spun out of a tackle and trotted into the end zone.
Carolina tied it up on a 1-yard plunge by Lopez with 1:24 on the clock. Lopez threw for a season-high 173 yards in the first half alone.
Virginia wasted another opportunity at the end of the half, quickly punting the ball back to the Heels just 38 seconds later, and dodged another bullet when Verhoff missed a 50-yard field goal attempt to end the half.
For the game, Virginia accumulated just 259 total yards (200 passing, 59 rushing), and allowed 353 total yards by the home team. Taylor carried the ball 21 times for a team-high 69 yards and the deciding score, while Jahmal Edrine led the Hoos with 75 receiving yards on 6 catches. Harris wasn’t far behind with 72 yards on 4 grabs. Kam Robinson paced the defense with 13 tackles (5 solo) and half a sack.
UP NEXT
UVA heads west to face California next Saturday (kickoff time and TV designation still yet to be announced by the ACC).
Scoring Summary
Virginia 3-7-0-0-7 — 17
North Carolina 0-10-0-0-6 — 16
First Quarter
UVA (4:33) — Bettridge 34-yd field goal. UVA 3, UNC 0.
Second Quarter
UNC (11:30) — Verhoff 34-yd field goal. UVA 3, UNC 3.
UVA (6:36) — Harris 30-yd pass from Morris (Bettridge kick). UVA 10, UNC 3.
UNC (1:24) — Lopez 1-yd run (Verhoff kick). UVA 10, UNC 10.
Overtime
UVA — Taylor 2-yd run (Bettridge kick). UVA 17, UNC 10.
UNC — Gause 9-yd pass from Lopez (pass failed). UVA 17, UNC 16.
Player Stats
Rushing
UVA — J’Mari Taylor 21-69; Harrison Waylee 3-12; TEAM 1-(minus-1); Chandler Morris 9-(minus-21). TOTAL — 34-59. UNC — Benjamin Hall 11-50; Demon June 9-39; Davion Gause 3-30; Jaylen McGill 3-14; Gio Lopez 13-12. TOTAL — 39-145.
Receiving
UVA — Jahmal Edrine 6-75; Trell Harris 4-72; Sage Ennis 2-25; J’Mari Taylor 4-11; Jayden Thomas 1-6; Harrison Waylee 1-5; John Rogers 1-4; Kameron Courtney 1-2; TOTAL — 20-200. UNC — Jordan Shipp 7-67; Kobe Paysour 3-54; Madrid Tucker 8-41; Jaylen McGill 2-23; Nathan Leacock 1-12; Davion Gause 1-9; Demon June 1-2. TOTAL — 23-208.
Passing
UVA — Chandler Morris 20-35-200-1-1. TOTAL — 20-35-200-1-1. UNC — Gio Lopez 22-36-208-1-2. TOTAL — 22-36-208-1-2.
This Week’s ACC Results
Friday
Virginia Tech 42, California 34
Saturday
Virginia 17, North Carolina 16 (OT)
Georgia Tech 41, Syracuse 16
Wake Forest 13, SMU 12
Pitt 53, NC State 34
Miami 42, Stanford 7
Louisville 38, Boston College 24
