395 total yards, just four penalties, and 24 points on the board. Sounds like a positive first half, right? Not on Saturday night. The No. 21 Tar Heels entered the locker rooms down 28-24 to the visiting Virginia Cavaliers, having coughed up a 24-7 first half lead with some unconscionable errors.
Quarterback Sam Howell, whose hot start had powered the early Carolina lead, threw an interception in the end zone which was returned 66 yards by the Cavaliers and set up a Virginia touchdown to cut the lead to 24-21. On Carolina’s next drive, with 1:06 remaining, Grayson Atkins missed a 54-yard field goal, giving the Cavaliers positive field position.
Virginia quarterback Brennan Armstrong, who finished with a school-record 554 passing yards, then engineered a clinical drive, ending it with a touchdown pass to receiver Billy Kemp IV. After seemingly being in control for the entire first half, UNC had seen its lead slip away.
All the manic energy of UNC’s opening burst (three touchdowns on their opening three drives) drained out of Kenan Stadium. Carolina would receive the second half kickoff, but with four consecutive Cavalier wins in the South’s Oldest Rivalry hanging like a cloud over Chapel Hill, things looked bleak.
Debating if I should watch the rest of the game tonight now
— Dallin Johnson24 (@DallinJohnson24) September 19, 2021
The oldest rivalry in the South is UNC versus expectations
— Bryan Bradford (@BryanBradford23) September 19, 2021
“We took a blowout, and we turned it back into a deficit,” head coach Mack Brown said after the game. “And we did it quickly. It was disappointing, and I saw our body language change on the sideline. I saw our heads get down. So we had to pick back up at halftime and start all over.”
But just like last week against Georgia State, the Tar Heels attacked the second half with a vengeance.
A 60-yard run from Ty Chandler set up a 5-yard touchdown pass from Howell to tight end Garrett Walston, Howell’s fourth on the night. Carolina had the lead back almost as quickly as they’d lost it.
The defense, tormented by Armstrong all first half, finally stopped the red-hot quarterback on Virginia’s next drive. Receiver Josh Downs, who caught a pair of touchdown passes in the first half, returned the Cavalier punt 39 yards to set up yet another Carolina touchdown drive. This one was capped off by freshman running back Caleb Hood’s first-ever score in a Tar Heel uniform.
Virginia answered with a field goal to cut the deficit to 38-31, but they simply couldn’t stop the Tar Heel offense. Two more rapid touchdown drives of 3:17 and 3:20, respectively, ballooned the formerly slim Carolina advantage to a game-high 21 points. A Ty Chandler rush and a pass from Howell to Kamari Morales, Howell’s fifth on the night, did the damage.
After another score from Chandler, Carolina ended the second half with five touchdowns in five possessions. The Cavaliers had no answer, and the Tar Heels won going away, 59-39.
That’s a dub 😁#CarolinaFootball 🏈 #BeTheOne pic.twitter.com/dDHeXRuqGL
— Carolina Football (@UNCFootball) September 19, 2021
“Offensively, we were scoring and moving the ball so well, Virginia was not gonna get back and win this game,” Brown said.
The game was Howell’s third in his Carolina career with five touchdown passes. The total offensive numbers for the Tar Heels are simply staggering: 699 yards in total, 392 rushing yards (Virginia had 21), 35 first downs, and an average of 10.3 yards gained per play.
It is also just the second time in program history that a UNC player has thrown for 200+ yards (Howell), a player has rushed for 150+ yards (Chandler), and a player has gone over 150 yards receiving (Downs). The first time occurred just last season against Miami.
Carolina’s offense showed remarkable balance throughout the evening. Howell only threw the ball 21 times, yet still ended up with 307 yards through the air. Chandler’s strong 198-yard night came on only 20 rushes, for an astonishing 9.9 yards per carry. The freshman Hood showed flashes of brilliance in relief of Chandler, and third-string back Josh Henderson carried the ball three times. It was the most complete offensive performance for Carolina since the 2020 season.
Chandler’s 198 yards on the ground are more than in his first two games combined, and represented a callback to the powerful running attack of 2020.
“Today I definitely saw a different side of Ty,” senior offensive lineman Marcus McKethan said. “He seemed more juiced and energetic than ever before. I’m excited to see it.”
“With Ty and the offensive line, I think they got tired of hearing that they weren’t tough, and they got tired of hearing they weren’t good,” Brown said. “They did a great job protecting Sam [Howell] tonight, as well as running the football.”
More important for Tar Heel fans than any stat, though, is this: it’s the first Carolina victory over Virginia in football since 2016. Did Brown congratulate his men on ending the four-game slide to the Cavaliers?
“I said we’ve started one,” he said. “1-0 is our streak.”
Game Notes
- UNC’s four touchdown drives in the first half took a total of 4:45 of game time.
- Virginia possessed the ball for 12:19 in the first quarter, yet trailed 21-7.
- Sam Howell moved into 6th place all-time in ACC history with 77 career touchdown passes. He leapfrogged NC State’s Russell Wilson.
- This is the first time UNC has scored 50+ points against Virginia since 1943.
Featured image via USA Today Sports
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