Instant Analysis: Defense Holds Up, But Offense Can’t Capitalize In Narrow Loss To Virginia

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina played in another tight one on Saturday, and the Tar Heels came inches away from victory. UNC (2-5, 0-3 ACC) suffered a narrow defeat to No. 16 Virginia (7-1, 4-0 ACC) 17-16 on Saturday in overtime, as a two-point conversion play for Benjamin Hall left the running back just shy of the end zone.

It’s been a familiar theme for this team. North Carolina drove the field 75 yards in six plays on its second drive of the game, with a completion to Kobe Paysour being the final play of the drive. As Paysour ran toward the end zone, he reached his arms out to cross the goal line, but he lost the football on the pylon to give Virginia the ball on a touchback. It was the second time in as many games that UNC fumbled on the brink of the end zone, as Nathan Leacock’s last touch against Cal resulted in a game-sealing turnover.

UNC got on the board in the second quarter with a penalty-assisted drive that led to a field goal. The Cavaliers picked up two roughing the passers and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that totalled 45 additional yards for the North Carolina offense, positioning Rece Verhoff for a successful 34-yard field goal.

UVa scored its first touchdown at the 6:36 mark of the second quarter as Trell Harris beat Marcus Allen in coverage, spun out of his tackle around the UNC 12-yard line and ran in for the score. He gained 30 yards total on the play. The Tar Heels answered on the next drive, going 10 plays for 75 yards to score on a one-yard quarterback sneak by Gio Lopez. Paysour set that up on the previous play, taking a pass for 26 yards to get down to the UVA 1-yard line.

Virginia head coach Tony Elliott successfully iced Rece Verhoff at the end of the half. UNC was set up for a 50-yard field goal attempt, which Verhoff made just after Elliott called timeout. His second attempt missed the mark, leaving both teams tied at 10 points at the half.

Neither team scored in the third quarter despite being in the redzone. North Carolina stopped Virginia at the 1-yard line with two straight incompletions by Chandler Morris early in the third. Later in the quarter, Andrew Simpson backpedalled his way into an interception to get UNC to the UVa 36, but on the ensuing drive, Lopez was intercepted by Virginia’s Mitchell Melton after the ball was batted in the air.

With both teams tied at 10 entering the fourth, the defenses stood tall, as UNC and Virginia punted twice in their first two possessions of the quarter. Virginia took control of the ball with 3:11 to go, but a Melkart Abou-Jaoude sack on third and seven forced the Cavaliers into a punt. Lopez attempted a deep ball to Madrid Tucker on UNC’s final possession of regulation to get into field goal range, but Tucker couldn’t quite haul it in and Antonio Clary intercepted it.

On the first possession of overtime, which started at UNC’s 25-yard line, Virginia got to the one-yard line off the strength of its run game, and J’Mari Taylor powered his way in to take the lead. On the next possession, the Tar Heels got to the nine-yard line, where Davion Gause motioned his way out of the backfield to catch a pass from Lopez. Gause ran it in to cut it to one, and UNC elected to go for two. On the two-point conversion attempt, Lopez found Hall out of the backfield, and he came up just shy of crossing the plane, resulting in UNC’s fourth consecutive loss.

Continued Improvement On Defense

UNC went three-and-out in its first possession, but it also stopped the Cavaliers offense in three plays the following possession. It was the first time that the UNC defense didn’t give up a touchdown on its first possession since the win against Richmond. North Carolina forced Virginia into five three-and-outs on Saturday.

UNC came up with a goalline stop in the third quarter when Virginia got all the way down to the one-yard line. Isaiah Jackson forced Morris into a fumble before he could run into the endzone, a fumble that UVa recovered at the one. On third and fourth down, two Morris completions gave UNC the ball on downs. Tyler Thompson also forced a fumble on a sack, which the Cavaliers recovered.

The Tar Heels held their own against a Virginia team that entered the game averaging 40 points per game in its first seven games, including 38.8 points in its first four ACC games.

North Carolina’s defense held Virginia to 7-18 on third down. Entering the game, the Cavaliers completed 51.1% of their third downs. UNC also sacked Morris six times, setting a season-high for the defense. Abou-Jaoude broke out with three sacks on the day. He entered with two sacks on the season.

The interception and forced fumbles showed an uptick in defensive activity for a defense that’s shown improvement in the last two weeks.

A Little Progress In Passing Game

UNC’s passing game, which ranks last in the ACC, is still looking for that breakout game against an ACC opponent. It had its most productive day of the season so far against a power conference team, but mistakes held it back against the Cavaliers.

Lopez looked sharper on his throws against Virginia, finding receivers down the field better in the process. He completed 10 of his 12 first-quarter pass attempts for 97 yards. At halftime, he recorded 173 passing yards, which already cleared his previous season-high of 167. Yet the passing game came to a halt in the second half, as Lopez finished the day with 208 through the air.

Lopez had seven completions that exceeded 10 yards in the first half, with two that went for at least 20.

The UNC quarterback connected with seven different receivers on Saturday, including Tucker, who hadn’t caught a pass all year. He took some sacks, but Lopez was more effective moving around in the pocket than he had been all season and extended plays more often.

A few backbreakers hurt the offense, though, with two turnovers in the red zone that kept UNC from seizing control. Paysour’s fumble at the one-yard line and Lopez’s interception with the Tar Heels in scoring position capped the team from a scoring standpoint, as did the late interception on Lopez’s attempt to Tucker that would’ve put UNC in field goal range.

Next On The Schedule

North Carolina will face Syracuse on Halloween night, visiting the Orange at JMA Wireless Dome.

Syracuse lost starting quarterback Steve Angeli four games into the season due to an Achilles tear. Angeli threw for 1,317 yards, 10 touchdowns and two interceptions before going down, leading Syracuse to a 3-1 record. With Rickie Collins starting in his place, the Orange have yet to win a game.

North Carolina leads the all-time series with Syracuse 4-3, with the first matchup taking place in 1995. Friday’s game will be the fourth time the teams face off in the ACC. UNC is 2-1 against Syracuse in ACC games.

The last time UNC faced Syracuse, the Tar Heels took the 40-7 victory in Chapel Hill in 2023 under Mack Brown, with Drake Maye at quarterback.

Syracuse is coached by Fran Brown, who is in his second season with the program. The Orange finished the 2024 season with a 10-3 record under Brown.