Virginia edges No. 15 North Carolina in a shootout to snap its four-game skid

By Gene Wang,

After spending the past several weeks extolling the benefits of its three-quarterback rotation, Virginia reverted to a conventional offense led by Brennan Armstrong as it faced 15th-ranked North Carolina and hoped to end a four-game skid Saturday night in Charlottesville.

A 44-41 victory in which Armstrong accounted for four touchdowns and 274 total yards validated the move, which helped the Cavaliers score their most points of the season and kept North Carolina on its heels at Scott Stadium.

“The offense was the primary reason or the driver of our win tonight,” Virginia Coach Bronco Mendenhall said, “because of not only the points we scored but the time of possession and the consistency through the whole game.”

Tempering the exuberance of ending the program’s longest regular season losing streak in four years was Armstrong’s exit in the closing minutes after a hit to his left leg. The sophomore limped off the field with the help of the athletic training staff but stood without assistance on the sideline for the rest of the game.

Mendenhall did not have an update regarding Armstrong’s status for next week’s matchup against Louisville.

Keytaon Thompson and Lindell Stone combined to finish the game at quarterback. Thompson ensured Virginia would be able to run out the clock— and keep the ball away from the ACC’s top-ranked offense — by gaining five yards on a fake punt on fourth and three from the Cavaliers’ 42-yard line.

“It’s my call because, man, if you don’t get that, they’re in great field position, and that’s a game-winner or probably a game-loser,” Mendenhall said. “The head coach is the only one that makes those, and it’s a lonely feeling, but I trust the fake. I’ve seen it work in practice, and I loved who was doing it.”

The decisive stretch began to unfold midway through the second quarter when the Cavaliers (2-4) scored the first of four consecutive touchdowns. The last of those scoring plays came via Armstrong’s 17-yard pass to tight end Tony Poljan for a 41-20 lead with 5:34 left in the third quarter.

The Tar Heels (4-2) got within three with 2:51 left on Javonte Williams’s three-yard touchdown run, but an attempted onside kick went out of bounds. Thompson’s run on the fake punt sealed the win and extended Virginia’s winning streak in the series to four.

Virginia amassed 418 yards of total offense and recovered a pair of fumbles, both of which led to touchdowns. Its final points came on place kicker Brian Delaney’s 35-yard field goal, which capped a drive lasting more than nine minutes.

“We’ve put up our numbers each week even though we came up short,” said Virginia running back Shane Simpson, who had a game-high 70 yards on eight carries. “But to really play a full game and show the world, even us, that we can hang with anybody, I think that showed a lot tonight.”

Armstrong started a second straight game after sitting out a week while in concussion protocol, leaving Mendenhall comfortable enough to stick with the left-hander as opposed to a rotation that also had featured Thompson, a junior transfer from Mississippi State, and Iraken Armstead., a freshman.

Armstead was not in uniform, and Thompson initially lined up at running back and wide receiver, although he attempted his first pass midway through the second quarter which fell incomplete.

Four plays later, Virginia tied the score at 20 on Armstrong’s 18-yard strike to Ra’Shaun Henry, a graduate transfer from St. Francis (Pa.).

The Cavaliers went into halftime with a 27-20 lead thanks to Thompson’s one-yard scoring run one snap after Armstrong completed a 13-yard pass to wide receiver Tavares Kelly. That series began at the North Carolina 20 when Virginia’s Tucker Finkelston recovered a muffed punt return by Rontavius Groves.

Through six possessions in the first half, the Cavaliers scored four touchdowns, three of which Armstrong (12 for 22, 208 yards, three touchdowns, one interception) accounted for in his first full game in nearly a month in which he was not part of a quarterback rotation.

Armstrong had been named the starter in training camp, beating out Thompson in large part because of his familiarity with the offense as the backup to Bryce Perkins the past two years. When Armstrong was knocked out Oct. 10 against North Carolina State, Stone shined in relief in the 38-21 loss.

Stone was ineffective the next week against Wake Forest, prompting Mendenhall to turn to Thompson and Armstead, both more capable runners. Thompson and Armstead combined for 117 rushing yards on 16 carries during a 40-23 loss.

Armstrong, Thompson and Armstead each played last weekend, but Mendenhall and offensive coordinator Robert Anae indicated that Armstrong remains the centerpiece around which the game plan is designed while incorporating others keeps him from absorbing as much punishment.

“It means the world,” Virginia linebacker Charles Snowden III said of the cathartic win. “In Scott Stadium, the way we won, the way it took resilience. I mean it was huge. Nights like these I’ll never forget.”