UVa Returns From Bye Week with Trip to NC State

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Oct. 29, 2012

Virginia Football Looks to End Six-Game Slide
• Virginia seeks to halt its current six-game losing streak when they travel to Raleigh for the first time since 2007 to face the NC State Wolfpack, for an Atlantic Coast Conference football match-up. Kick-off is scheduled for 12:30 p.m., and the game will be televised on the ACC Network (NBC 29 in the Charlottesville area).
• Virginia aims to end its losing streak, the longest by the Cavaliers since losing the last six games of the 2009 season. A loss would make this UVa team the first to lose seven games in a row since the 1981 squad started its season off 0-7.

Virginia vs. NC State
• Virginia trails the all-time series with NC State, 21-34-1, including an 8-16 mark in Raleigh. The teams are meeting for only the third time in Raleigh since a 2003 showdown between current NFL signal callers – Matt Schaub and Phillip Rivers.
• The 2011 meeting in Charlottesville was the first in the series since the 2007 season. NC State Tom O’Brien is 3-0 vs. UVa – 2-0 with NC State (2007 & 2011) and 1-0 with Boston College (2005).
• Fifteen of Virginia’s 21 series wins have occurred since 1983; UVa is 15-9 since then. Nine of the last 14 games have been decided by 10 points or fewer, including the last meeting in Raleigh in 2007 – a five-point Wolfpack win.

Virginia-NC State Connections
• NC State head coach Tom O’Brien was an assistant coach at Virginia from 1982-96.
• NC State’s starting left guard, R.J. Mattes, is the son of former UVa All-ACC honoree and eight-year NFL veteran Ron Mattes. Ron Mattes was the offensive line coach and a graduate assistant for UVa in 2010 before moving on to an assistant coaching gig at Elon for the 2011 season.

A Battle to the Finish
• Nine of the last 14 meetings between Virginia and NC State have gone down to the wire featuring amazing comebacks and nail-biting finishes on both sides.
•Trailing by five with the ball in 2007, Virginia had a chance but Willie Young sacked backup quarterback Peter Lalich on fourth down to seal it with 17 seconds left.
• Jason Snelling scored on a 17-yard run with 1:31 to play to lift UVa to a 14-7 win in 2006 at Scott Stadium.
• The 2003 match-up featured two NFL quarterbacks–Virginia’s Matt Schaub and Philip Rivers from NC State–in a game that saw four ties and five lead changes before the Wolfpack pulled out a 51-37 win in the most recent game in Raleigh.
• Cornerback Jamaine Winborne batted away ball intended for Bryan Peterson in the end zone to preserve UVa’s 14-9 win in 2002.
• Virginia won three straight from 1998-2000 and every win was sparked by a second half comeback.
• The Cavaliers used a 14-point second half outburst in 1998 to win 23-13 at home.
• The following year UVa erupted for 30 points in the third quarter to break open a tight ballgame (19-10 at halftime) and win going away 47-26 in 1999.
• Fullback Tyree Foreman broke loose for a 38-yard touchdown run with 9:49 remaining to provide the winning points in UVa’s 24-17 triumph in 2000.

Strange Game Back in ’44
• The 1944 meeting between these two teams, played in Norfolk, ranks as one of the strangest games in college football history.
• The Wolfpack pulled out a 13-0 win in a driving rainstorm by recovering two UVa fumbles in the end zone for touchdowns.
• While that is remarkable in itself, the Wolfpack failed to make a first down and had just 10 yards of total offense, an NCAA record for fewest yards gained by a winning team and one of only two games in Bowl Subdivision history where the winning team failed to make a first down.

Slowing State’s Ground Game
• The Cavaliers’ ability to contain the NC State rushing attack has been one of the factors enabling them to win seven of the last 11 games against the Wolfpack.
• Virginia has won all 10 meetings against the Wolfpack going back to World War II when holding them to fewer than 100 yards rushing.
• The only time in the modern day history of the series (since 1937), NC State won when rushing for fewer than 100 yards occurred in 1944 when the Wolfpack gained just 10 yards and won one of the oddest games in college football history. That game is the only time in series history the Wolfpack rushed for fewer than 110 yards and still won.
• Conversely, NC State has won 17 of the 18 games since 1937 when rushing for at least 200 yards. (The only time NC State rushed for at least 200 yards and failed to win occurred in 1998 as State gained 211 yards in a 23-13 loss)

TURNOVERS ALSO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
• Coaches cite turnovers as one of the keys to a team’s success in any particular game and this series is a good example of this coaching philosophy
• Since 1983, the Cavaliers are 11-2 vs. the Wolfpack when committing fewer turnovers. NC State, on the other hand, is just 5-3 when it commits fewer turnovers
• There have been three games since 1983 (`85, `90, `03) where the teams had equal turnovers; UVa’s won only the 1990 game
• Virginia has not committed a turnover five times since 1983 (`84, `96, `98, `00, `06), while State has had at least one turnover every year since 1963 (42 games)
• Virginia had committed only 10 turnovers in the previous 11 meetings before turning it over four times (3 INTs, 1 fumble) last year in Charlottesville. The Wolfpack has turned the ball over 24 times in that span
• Cavalier passers had thrown just 10 interceptions in the previous 17 games until David Watford threw three last year. NC State has thrown 24 picks over the last 18 meetings.
• Virginia has intercepted at least one pass in 24 of the last 27 meetings.