UNC routs Virginia 45-14

On Saturday afternoon against Virginia, North Carolina left no doubt that it was the better team on offense, defense and special teams, routing the Cavaliers 45-14.

This season, the North Carolina football team (4-5, 3-3 ACC) lost games it expected to win and let teams hang around instead of ending games with back-breaking plays — but that wasn’t the case Saturday.

The Tar Heels’ run defense held Virginia (2-8, 0-6 ACC) to 112 yards rushing — well below the defense’s average of 204.2 yards entering the game — and 2.8 yards per carry. Cavaliers’ running back Kevin Parks, who had the third-most rushing yards in the ACC entering the game, accounted for 100 of those yards.

The big plays that haunted UNC in losses to South Carolina, East Carolina, Virginia Tech and Miami didn’t surface until the second half, when Virginia trailed by four touchdowns.

“We’ve got guys taking care of their responsibility and not trying to do something that they’re not supposed to do,” coach Larry Fedora said. “…Just take care of your job. We’re doing a much better job of that. Therefore you see a lot less explosive plays.”

Parks looked impressive on Virginia’s first possession, picking up 31 yards rushing, but the Cavaliers’ drive stalled on the UNC 35 yard line, and the team opted for a short punt.

Starting from its own 14, UNC methodically drove down the field, picking up four first downs before ending a 12-play drive with an eight-yard touchdown pass over the middle from quarterback Marquise Williams to Quinshad Davis.

After letting Parks carve up the defense on Virginia’s first drive, UNC’s defense forced four punts and a turnover on downs during the remainder of the first half.

Late in the second quarter on the UNC 30 yard line, Virginia couldn’t muster two yards to convert its third down or fourth down attempt.

“We just blew it up,” defensive end Kareem Martin said. “It shows how our defense has grown from where we started to where we are now. We are miles ahead of where we were when we played South Carolina.”

In the game’s other phases, the offense and special teams provided two highlight reel-worthy plays to put the team ahead 21-0 at halftime.

On the last play of the first quarter, running back T.J. Logan flipped the ball to Davis on what looked to be a reverse, but Davis stepped back and heaved a 29-yard touchdown pass to Williams, who was by himself, streaking down the right sideline. Williams finished with four touchdowns — two passes, one run and one catch.

Later in the half, freshman Ryan Switzer muffed a punt, picked it up and sprinted 85 yards, dodging tacklers along the way, for a touchdown. It was UNC’s first punt return touchdown since Giovani Bernard’s game-winning play against N.C. State last season.

“It’s my second one but my first one that counted,” Switzer said referring to a return touchdown at Virginia Tech that was nullified by a penalty. “Thankfully, the ball dropped into my lap and I was able to make a couple guys miss and some guys had some great blocks.”

The Tar Heel defense added points of its own in the third quarter when linebacker Jeff Schoettmer chased Virginia quarterback David Watford out of the pocket, forcing a poor throw. Freshman safety Dominique Green picked off Watford’s pass, returning it 62 yards for a touchdown to make it 35-7 and seal the game.

In addition to Green’s pick six, senior safety Tre Boston intercepted a pass in the fourth quarter, and UNC’s pass rush generated three sacks and seven quarterback hurries.

After holding its last three opponents to fewer than 20 points, the defense has a much higher level of confidence, Schoettmer said.

“Morale is high when no big runs or big passes are completed,” he said. “You look earlier in the year, we had some big runs or big passes completed against us but I think we’re growing as a team and everyone’s improving each week.”