The 2025 North Carolina football team has not been the most fun watch to this point in the season, but guess what: there’s another game to watch this Saturday. This weekend, the Tar Heels will take on Virginia in the latest edition of the “South’s Oldest Rivalry.”
Whereaas UNC has really struggled this season, the Cavaliers have shone. UVA appears to be having something of a breakout season in Tony Elliott’s fourth at the helm. Their six wins are already the most in a season under Elliott, and they
come into this game at 6-1, ranked #16 in the AP Poll.
That being said, Virginia’s season isn’t just six front-to-back impressive wins. A couple of their victories look less impressive than they might’ve at the time, and their loss isn’t great at the moment. Does that mean UNC can upset the apple cart, or is Bill Belichick’s squad doomed to another annoying loss?
On offense, Virginia are led by quarterback Chandler Morris, who conflicting reports say had an interest in UNC, but was turned down. If Morris had any interest in the Tar Heels and they turned him down, it appears to be a mistake. While he’s not a Heisman candidate or anything, Morris so far has 1607 yards at 7.6 yards per attempt, with a 68.7% completion rate, and 11 touchdowns to four interceptions, helping the Cavaliers average 40 points per game so far this year.
Morris also has a couple solid options, as UVA has six different players with at least 10 catches on the season. Leading the way on that front is Trell Harris with 28 receptions for 405 yards and three touchdowns. Cameron Ross also has 28 catches, going for 329 yards and two touchdowns. Seven different Cavs have a receiving touchdown on the season, and that doesn’t even include two of the guys with 10+ catches. Sure, it’s not like there are six future Hall of Famers on that list, but the point is, they’re not really relying on just one guy in the passing game, and there’s a couple different guys who could get you.
Virginia’s leading rusher on the season is J’Mari Taylor. At just under five yards a carry, Taylor has 512 yards on the season, punching in eight touchdowns. He’s also one of the aforementioned passing game options, as he has 19 catches. While he hasn’t caught the ball for a massive amount of yards, he’s certainly an option for Morris to look to out of the backfield.
On the season, UVA’s passing attack has done most of the work moving the ball up the field, but they’re averaging just under three rushing touchdowns per game. You don’t average 40 points per game by accident, so the UNC defense will definitely have their hands full.
That being said, teams have also been able to move the ball against Virginia’s defense — the question is whether Carolina’s iffy offense can do likewise. Opposing teams are putting up over 350 yards of offense per game against UVA, which is pretty middle of the pack in the nation. For comparison, UNC is giving up 360.
The reason they’ve been able to live with that so far, is that the defense is a bit of a “bend don’t break” affair. UVA’s only allowed 23.3 points per game despite that yardage. A decent part of that is that the Cavaliers have forced 11 turnovers in their seven games, which is one of the better totals in the nation. In particular, defensive back Ja’son Prevard has three interceptions, including two in Virginia’s win over Florida State. Considering that UNC have been a bit turnover prone at points, that’s something they definitely need to avoid to have a chance in this game.
Maybe the Tar Heels can break out and show something in this game, but their best hope for a win in this one is to slop it up and try and slow down UVA’s offense. I can’t say I expect that to occur, but stranger things have happened.
