UNC Football: Tar Heels topple Cavaliers behind offensive explosion

The UNC football team earns its first conference victory of the season with a 59-39 romp of the Virginia Cavaliers.

Sam Howell threw for 307 yards and five touchdowns on a 14-for-21 passing performance, and the North Carolina Tar Heels beat the Virginia Cavaliers by a final score of 59-39 at Kenan Memorial Stadium on Saturday night.

Howell became the first Power 5 quarterback since Lamar Jackson to throw for 300 yards and run for 100 in back-to-back games. After racking up 104 yards on 11 carries last week, Howell carried the ball 15 times against the Cavaliers for 112 yards. The junior signal-caller did make one bad decision that resulted in a Virginia interception, but outside of that he was terrific.

Of Howell’s 307 passing yards, 203 of them went to sophomore receiver Josh Downs. The outstanding young pass catcher out of Suwanee, Georgia caught eight balls and scored two touchdowns on the game. Khafre Brown, Garrett Walston and Kamari Morales each scored one touchdown.

North Carolina running back Ty Chandler had the best game of his career against the Hoos on Saturday night with a 20-carry, 198-yard, two-touchdown explosion. Freshman running back Caleb Hood ran nine times for 66 yards and a touchdown — the first of his college career. The Tar Heels compiled 392 rushing yards on 47 carries for an outstanding 8.3 yard-per-carry average.

The UNC defense struggled against the UVA offense, allowing junior quarterback Brennan Armstrong 554 yards and four touchdowns on a 39-for-54 performance that kept his team within striking distance for most of the game. Virginia receivers Dontayvion Wicks and Bill Kemp IV both surpassed 100 yards against the Tar Heels, combining for 15 catches and three touchdowns. Virginia struggled running the ball, with seven players combining for 21 yards on 22 rushes — less than one yard per carry for the game. The Cavaliers fall to 2-1 on the season.

North Carolina, now 2-1 overall and 1-1 in ACC play, prepare to face off with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets next Saturday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Follow Keeping It Heel for complete coverage of that, and everything on the UNC football program.