CHAPEL HILL — Mike Hollins ran for three touchdowns and Malik Washington had the go-ahead scoring catch in the fourth quarter to help Virginia upset No. 10 UNC 31-27 on Saturday night, shaking up the Atlantic Coast Conference race with its first road win against a top-10 opponent.
James Jackson had the clinching interception with 26 seconds left, picking off UNC star quarterback Drake Maye as Maye was hit by Paul Akere with the Tar Heels (6-1, 3-1) reaching midfield on a drive for a winning score.
Instead, Virginia players started spilling onto the field to celebrate, while Jackson ran all the way down the field to the end zone in his own jubilation.
“We knew we had the capability to do it,” Hollins said, “We just had to put it all together.”
Washington pushed the Cavaliers (2-5, 1-2) over the top, taking a short feed from Tony Muskett and then turning toward the end zone to push across the goal line with 8:51 left while shrugging off multiple would-be tacklers.
Washington quickly began to celebrate by raising both arms to flex his biceps, which was appropriate considering the way Virginia repeatedly ran the ball at and through the Tar Heels despite coming in as one of the nation’s most anemic ground attacks.
Virginia came in averaging 99.5 yards rushing per game, worst in the ACC and 122nd in the Bowl Subdivision ranks. But Virginia ran for a season-high 228 yards, with Hollins, Muskett and Perris Jones all running for at least 60 yards.
“I’ve seen this coming for several weeks,” Virginia coach Tony Elliott said. “In all those games that we’ve been close. I’ve seen it coming. At some point, we had to make a decision to finish a game and not be close.”
As for the Tar Heels, it was a stunning stumble for a team that had looked as possibly the ACC’s best team behind a star quarterback discussed as a Heisman Trophy candidate in Maye.
Maye threw for 347 yards and two touchdowns, including a fourth one in two games to Devontez “Tez” Walker, who had 11 catches for 146 yards. But Maye completed just half of his passes (24 for 48), missing numerous throws while his receivers also dropped numerous passes and the Tar Heels never found the high-scoring form from recent romps amid the program’s best start in 26 years.
“I’m disappointed in me,” UNC coach Mack Brown said. “I’m disappointed in us as coaches. Kids listen to us, they’re young people. It’s our job to get them ready to play.”
Hollins scored twice on first-quarter runs, then added a tough 1-yard score in the third quarter that capped a critical drive after UNC had pushed ahead by 10. He very nearly had a fourth rushing score with a chance to put Virginia up two scores, but was stripped of the ball before crossing the goal line and the ball ultimately bounced straight out the back of the end zone with 4:50 left.
Yet Virginia’s defense hung in, with Maye throwing incomplete for Walker on the sideline inside the 10-yard line on fourth down to end the ensuing drive. UNC ended up with one last chance, forcing a punt to get the ball back to Maye with 1:12 left and no timeouts — only to see Jackson haul in Virginia’s cliching takeaway.
It was hard to imagine this kind of outcome, too, considering Virginia’s lone win had come against William & Mary of the Championship Subdivision ranks before last week’s open date. Not to mention UNC had scored at least 31 points in every game and cracked 40 four times, while Maye and the offense had seemingly been picking up steam in recent wins with Walker being cleared to play after a lengthy NCAA eligibility debate.
None of that mattered though, as Virginia finally could fully celebrate on UNC’s field once the clock hit all zeroes.
The Tar Heels visit Georgia Tech on Saturday.
