CHAPEL HILL – Two years ago, the Tar Heels came to the mid point of their season at 1-5.  This year, the boys-in-blue-and-argyle came to the mid point with the reverse record.  Sitting at 5-1 going into Saturday’s game against the Virginia Cavaliers, Carolina’s Football team was confident, calm, and ready.

And perhaps a little cocky, because for the second week in a row, the Tar Heels turned the ball over on their opening possession.  Starting with the ball on their own 25, UNC moved the ball methodically down field to the Virginia 30 yard line.  But that’s where the drive stalled.  Following two offensive penalties that pushed the Tar Heels back ten yards, Quarterback Marquise Williams completed a pass to Wideout Mack Hollins who was stripped of the ball and the Cavaliers’ defense swarmed to it, returning the ball 21 yards to begin their first drive in very favorable field position.

And just like that, we had a football game on our hands.

Virginia took advantage of the early mistake, driving down the field for a 35 yard field goal.

On their second try, the Heels answered back with a sustained drive, capped by a 16-yard touchdown run by TJ Logan.

Finally, mid way through the second quarter, Elijah Hood went full beast mode.  With his team trailing 10-7, Hood took a handoff at his opponent’s 3 yard line and without hesitation, proceeded to run over a Virginia defender on his way to paydirt.

Hood finished the night with 101 yards on 21 carries and 2 touchdowns, but it was the Tar Heels defense that made the biggest difference in this game.

Coming out of the halftime break locked in a 13-13 tie, the Tar Heels shut down Virginia on all six of the Cavaliers’ second half possessions, allowing no scores and creating 5 turnovers.

Meanwhile Carolina’s offense continued to roll, breaking the tie by scoring on it’s first 3 drives of the 2nd half.

Virginia’s Matt Johns had one fumble and was picked off 4 times in the second half, including a game-clinching interception to Shakeel Rashad on 4th and goal with under 6 minutes to play.

It was a penalty and turnover riddled football game, as the Tar Heels came close to a school record for penalty yardage – committing 13 fouls for 135 yards.  The difference, though was UNC was able to overcome their mistakes, while Virginia could not.

Marquise Williams made mistakes early, with the fumble on the Heels opening possession, and a later interception, but also bounced back nicely in the second half – completing 11 passes in a row at one point to finish 21 for 26 passing for 226 yards.

The defining moment of this game came late in the 3rd Quarter.  Starting with the ball on their own 7 yard line, the Tar Heels offense was 93 yards away from where they needed to be in order to add to their then slim 16-13 lead.

Calmly and systematically, Carolina marched down the field in 13 plays, chewing up clock and taking the game into the 4th quarter.

Then, once again from 3 yards out, Beast Mode Elijah Hood stuck in the dagger with another touchdown run.

Looking ahead to their next game, the Tar Heels will head to Pittsburgh this week to face the Pitt Panthers for a Thursday night matchup that will have major implications in deciding the ACC Crown.