Following a bye week, the UNC football program travels to Virginia for a ACC clash

The UNC football program is at a historically low point right now. The team learned of the tragic passing of Tyree Craft after the game against Georgia Tech and then immediately went into a bye week. Tar Heel Nation's thoughts and prayers are certainly with the Craft family and his friends and teammates who no longer get to see his face.

With the season resuming this Saturday at Charlottesville, the Tar Heels have a lot to reckon with. The good vibes that came with their 3-0 start feel like they happened years ago. Defeats turned ugly by an absolute inability to stop the run have even the most optimistic UNC fans glancing at the basketball schedule. Can Mack Brown and his beleaguered team turn it around?

At first glance, you'd have to say "No." Virginia is 4-3, and all of their losses are at the hands of power conference members. They are on a two-game skid, having lost a last minute affair against Louisville before getting hammered a bit by Clemson at Death Valley. The Cavaliers will be eager to get back to winning ways.

Virginia boasts the No. 66-ranked rushing offense in the FBS, averaging 159.6 rushing yards per game. This is not great news for North Carolina. But on closer inspection, many of those yards were piled up against lesser teams (200 against Richmond, 384 against Coastal Carolina), which heavily skews that average. The Hoos ran for less than 75 yards against Clemson and Wake Forest.

The bad news is that quarterback Anthony Colandrea is a dual-threat. He's not a design-play, smashmouth runner like Tim Tebow, but against UNC, he should always be considered a threat. This season, he's had game-high runs of 18, 20, and 25 yards. If the defensive line can't contain Colandrea, they can get punished.

North Carolina has had extra time to grieve, recover, and prepare. Virginia just had a tough afternoon of football bashed into their skulls by Clemson. Can the Tar Heels take advantage? We'll see.