NCAA Football Preview (Virginia-North Carolina)
Posted: Sat September 27, 1997 at 6:45 a.m EDT
Virginia (1-1) at North Carolina (3-0) 12:00 pm EDT
Number five North Carolina has one of its toughest games within
the Atlantic Coast Conference when it hosts unranked Virginia.
The Tar Heels (3-0, 1-0 ACC) can point to this game and their
visit to North Carolina State on October 18th as perhaps their
biggest pitfalls in securing a mega-matchup for the conference
crown with Florida State on November 8th.
North Carolina was a 23-6 winner over Indiana in its opener and
claimed a 28-17 victory over a ranked Stanford team before going
on the road for a 40-14 win over Maryland in last week's ACC
opener.
The Tar Heels began the season with Chris Keldorf as the
starting quarterback, with Oscar Davenport seeing plenty of time
off the bench. But that arrangement has been reversed, since
Davenport has been as good as a quarterback could be.
Davenport is 36-of-50 for 438 yards and four touchdowns without
an interception this season. His only other start prior to last
week was the 1997 Gator Bowl, in which he started for an injured
Keldorf and was named the MVP in a win over West Virginia.
Davenport's efficiency rating of 171.98 leads the conference and
is sixth in the nation.
On the other side of the ball, North Carolina trails only
Michigan as the second-rated defense in the country, allowing
just 196.5 yards per game. Virginia stands an impressive ninth.
In the all-time series, UNC has a 54-43-4 lead, but Virginia
rallied for a 20-17 victory last season, erasing a 14-point
deficit as Rafael Garcia booted a 32-yard field goal with 39
seconds left. But the Tar Heels hold a 26-8-3 advantage at home
against the Cavaliers. Under coach George Welsh, Virginia is
10-4-1 against North Carolina, including a recent 8-2 string.
With this 102nd meeting, this series becomes the sixth-longest
in Division I. Minnesota-Wisconsin and Missouri-Kansas are tied
for first with 106 meetings, while Nebraska-Kansas, TCU-Baylor
and Texas-Texas A&M have each faced off 103 times. The first
game was played in 1892, and this is just the second time ever
the schools have met in September, the other coming in 1963.
Virginia is coming off a bye week following its 26-7 victory
over Richmond. The Cavaliers suffered a 28-17 defeat to Auburn
in their opener.
Welsh is two wins away from tying Clemson's Frank Howard for the
all-time record of 66 conference victories. Overall, Welsh is
the winningest coach in ACC history.
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