UNC Scouting Report: Virginia Cavaliers

Although Virginia hasn’t had a great start to the season, the Cavaliers are coming off a potentially momentum-swinging victory over Syracuse. So it should be assumed that Virginia will confidently enter Kenan Stadium on Saturday. Other than an 18 point loss on the road versus UCLA and 42-point defeat at the hands of Boise State, the Cavaliers have remained relatively close in their match-ups. Losses to Pittsburgh and Notre Dame were just a seven-point differential. Virginia may be a trap game for UNC – hopefully the Tar Heels eyes aren’t looking toward a road match-up with Pittsburgh.

Quarterback Consistency

Junior Matt Johns has started all six games for the Cavaliers. Unlike UNC, Virginia has had no quarterback controversy in the 2015 season. Johns is the unquestioned leader, and he hasn’t done a bad job this season. Johns is currently tied for second in the ACC with 11 touchdown passes and third in passing yards with 1,432. However, the junior is prone to make mistakes – he leads the ACC with eight interceptions.

Meanwhile, North Carolina allows just 136.5 passing yards per game. That is third in the nation. THIRD IN THE NATION. Gene Chizik deserves some kind of fancy award or trophy. Anyway, the point is that Johns will have a tough time throwing against UNC’s secondary. If he tries to fit it into some tight windows, he probably will pay for it.

Running Back Committee

While Johns is toward the top in the ACC in passing statistics, the running game leaves a lot to be desired. Junior Taquan Mizzell leads the team with just 254 rushing yards and is tied for the team lead with two touchdowns. Junior Albert Reid is second on the team with only 163 rushing yards and he has just one touchdown.  As a team, the Cavaliers rank 119^th in the nation in rushing yards per game. They are averaging just 112.2 per contest. That’s probably a big reason why they are 2-4 on the season.

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The situation UNC faces is similar to that of Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons are terrible at running the ball, and the Tar Heels held them to 113 yards in last week’s victory. There is no reason to believe that UNC can’t do the same thing against the Cavaliers.

Slack Defense

Virginia allows 413 yards per game, which is 83^rd in the nation. And they also give up 36.2 points per game, which is 112^th in the nation. The Cavaliers will have a very difficult time stopping the Tar Heels, who are coming off a victory in which they put up 50 points against a conference opponent. Virginia can only hope that the game does not get out of hand too quickly.

The leader of the defense is safety Quin Blanding, who was picked for the All-ACC preseason team.  He has 48 tackles on the season, good for second on the team. Then again, I’m not sure it’s a good sign that your safety is near the top in tackles. That means running backs are constantly getting to the second level and he’s had to come in and provide back up. Good luck stopping Elijah Hood charging at you, Cavaliers.