When the Virginia Cavaliers come to Kenan Stadium Saturday night, they will do so on a four-game winning streak against Carolina, their longest in the South’s Oldest Rivalry since also winning four in a row between 2006 and 2009. This winning streak comes after UNC had won seven straight between 2010 and 2016.
UNC head coach Mack Brown is just 3-9 all-time against Virginia in his two stints in Chapel Hill. When it comes to ending a losing streak, Brown said he remembers some advice Texas’ legendary head coach Darrell Royal gave him during Brown’s time with the Longhorns.
“Oklahoma had beaten us four in a row, and I said, ‘Coach, how do you flip it?'” Brown told reporters Wednesday. “‘What do you do when you’ve lost to a team and they’re on a streak?’ Because obviously, that team gets more confidence, and your team starts tightening up trying to win, because it’s talked about year-round. And he said, ‘When you’re tired of hearing it, and you’re good enough, you’ll fix it.'”
Virginia head coach Bronco Mendenhall is currently in his sixth season with the Cavaliers. During his time with the program, Virginia has won the ACC Coastal Division and appeared in the Orange Bowl. Brown and Mendenhall played twice when Brown was at Texas and Mendenhall was at BYU, with each coach winning once. Brown said Mendenhall has his utmost respect.
“Bronco goes by the rules. He’s honest, he’s fair,” Brown said. “He treats his kids [nicely], and still coaches them really, really hard. So, I admire him and what he’s done, and I admire their staff. They’ve done a really good job.”
Mendenhall’s starting quarterback Saturday night will be Brennan Armstrong, who was named to the Davey O’Brien Award’s Great 8 list for Week 2, along with UNC’s Sam Howell. In his first two games of 2021, Armstrong has thrown for more than 700 yards and seven touchdowns, with just one interception. Virginia has outscored its first two opponents 85-14.
UNC defensive coordinator Jay Bateman, whose defense has given up just 34 points through the first two games, had high praise for Armstrong.
“I think growing up, when you played pickup basketball, or backyard football or whatever sport you wanted to play, probably if you picked him, your team was gonna win,” Bateman said. “He’s that kind of guy. I think he’s a competitive kid, I think he does everything really well. The thing I see from him now, versus when we played them a year ago, is I do feel like he’s got a really complete grasp of where the ball should go in the throw game.”
In Virginia’s 44-41 win over the Tar Heels during the 2020 season, Armstrong threw for three touchdowns and rushed for another, leading the Cavaliers to the upset.
Like last season, much of Virginia’s offense utilizes pre-snap movement and unique personnel packages to confuse the defense. It clearly worked for the Cavaliers in 2020, and for the Tar Heels to have more success in 2021, UNC sophomore linebacker Kaimon Rucker said the defense needs to tune out all the noise.
“Virginia’s always been like that. They’ve always been lining up in some funky formations, man,” Rucker said. “And just as a defense, we just gotta lock in. They give us a lot of eye candy, they give us a lot of formations, a lot of different guys in a lot of different places. They’ve got a lot of guys lining up at quarterback, and wide receiver and tight end and all these different scenarios. But really, we’ve just gotta focus on ourselves as a defense.”
Rucker and the Carolina defense have been a bright spot so far in 2021, but a hot Virginia offense presents their stiffest challenge yet. It may only be Week 3, but if UNC hopes to win the Coastal Division and appear in its second-ever ACC Championship Game, a fifth straight loss to the Cavaliers and an 0-2 start in conference play is simply not an option.
Featured image via Getty Images
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