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UVA HEADS TO THE TRIANGLE ON SATURDAY
• Virginia returns to the road for an ACC matchup at NC State. It is UVA’s first contest with the Wolfpack since invading Carter-Finley Stadium in 2012, a 33-6 Cavalier victory.
• The game will air on Raycom Sports, which is on the CW (WVIR-D2) in Charlottesville.

FIVE TOP STORYLINES
• Virginia and NC State are meeting for the 58th time in a series that began in 1904, but are meeting for only the fifth time over the last 15 seasons.
• Virginia makes the trip to Raleigh for the first time since 2012 and only the third time since the 2003 meeting.
• UVA is coming off an ACC win over Louisville, 27-3, marking the first time the Cavaliers have held an ACC team without a touchdown since winning at Maryland, 20-9, on Oct. 17, 2009.  It was also the first time Louisville was held without a touchdown in the regular season since 2010 against Pitt.
• OLB Charles Snowden led UVA with eight tackles, two pass breakups, an interception, recovered a fumble and notched one sack to help UVA limit the Louisville offense to just 214 yards of total offense.
• QB Bryce Perkinsis one of eight FBS quarterbacks since 2000 to record 800+ passing yards, 300+ rushing yards, 9+ passing touchdowns and 3+ rushing touchdowns through the first four games of the season.

MENDENHALL AND UVA COACHING STAFF TO TAKE PART IN COACH TO CURE MD
• Bronco Mendenhall and his coaching staff will take part in Coach to Cure MD on Saturday at NC State.
• Coach to Cure MD is a nation-wide project designed to build awareness and funding to support researchers trying to find a treatment and cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy research.
• The Virginia coaching staff will be wearing the Coach to Cure MD patches during Saturday’s game.
• This is the 11th-annual Coach to Cure MD effort and all American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) members will wear a Coach to Cure MD logo patch during games this week.
• Coach to Cure MD is a partnership between the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD), the largest nonprofit organization in the United States focused entirely on Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, the leading childhood genetic killer of young men.

VIRGINIA VS. NC STATE
• Virginia trails the all-time series with NC State, 22-34-1, including a 9-16 mark in Raleigh. The teams are meeting for only the fourth time in Raleigh since a 2003 showdown between current NFL signal callers – Matt Schaub and Phillip Rivers. 
• Saturday’s meeting is the first in the series since UVA’s 33-6 triumph in 2012 at Carter-Finley Stadium
• Sixteen of Virginia’s 22 series wins have occurred since 1983; UVA is 16-9 since then. Nine of the last 15 games have been decided by 10 points or fewer, including the 2007 meeting in Raleigh – a five-point Wolfpack win.
 
A BATTLE TO THE FINISH
• Nine of the last 15 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.
• Cornerback Jamaine Winborne batted away a 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 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 eight of the last 12 games against the Wolfpack.
• Virginia has won all 11 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).

GRINDING OUT THE YARDS
• Virginia has had at least one 100-yard rusher in nine of the last 16 games against NC State and has gained at least 200 yards rushing in 11 of the last 18 games against the Wolfpack.
• When outrushing the Wolfpack, Virginia is 17-8 since 1944.
• The team with the most rushing yards has won 11 of the last 13 meetings and 43 of 52 games since 1944. At one point the team with the most rushing yards won 18 consecutive games between 1963-82.
• In their last eight wins over NC State going back to 1995, the Cavaliers have averaged 204.9 yards rushing per game.
• On the other hand, the Wolfpack has gained more than 200 yards only twice since 1981 (1997, ’98).

VIRGINIA DEFENSE HAS STARTED THE 2018 SEASON STRONG
• The Virginia defense has kept its first four opponents under 400 yards of total offense, yielding 225 to Richmond, 387 to Indiana, 364 to Ohio and 214 to Louisville.
• The last time UVA held its first four opponents of the season to less than 400 yards of total offense was 2009 when they opened the year with William & Mary (309), TCU (380), Southern Miss (344) and North Carolina (174).

UVA STIFLES THE LOUISVILLE OFFENSE
• UVA held the Louisville Cardinals to 214 yards of total offense in each team’s ACC opener on Sept. 22.
• The 214 yards of total offense are the fewest UVA has allowed to an ACC opponent since allowing 199 at Pitt in 2013.

HIGHLIGHTS IN ACC WIN OVER LOUISVILLE
• UVA held Louisville without a touchdown for only the second time in Bobby Petrino’s Louisville tenure.
• The last time Louisville was held without a touchdown in the regular season was on Oct. 30, 2010 against Pitt, when both teams were still in the Big East.
• It was was the first time since 2009 that UVA held an ACC opponent without a touchdown. The last time was at Maryland when UVA won 20-9 on Oct. 17, 2009.
• It was also the second time this season that UVA held an opponent without an offensive touchdown. UVA also kept the Richmond offense out of the end zone. 
• UVA kept Louisville from scoring in the first half, marking the second time this season UVA has kept an opponent scoreless in a half. The Cavaliers did not let Indiana score in the second half.
• Hunter Pearson became the ninth true freshman to see time for UVA in 2018, coming on to connect on a 28-yard and 24-yard field goal attempts. He was a perfect 2-of-2 on field goals and 3-of-3 on PATs.

“ZZ STOP” COMES UP BIG ON GOAL-LINE STAND AGAINST CARDINALS
• ILB Zane Zandier finished with eight tackles against Louisville, tying him for the team lead with Charles Snowden.
• No tackles were bigger for Zandier then the three he made on three consecutive rushes by Louisville during UVA’s big goal-line stand in the third quarter.
• UL started the drive from the UVA three-yard line after a tipped Bryce Perkins pass by his own receiver led to a Louisville interception return to the UVA three.
• On three straight rushing plays, Zandier made two solo tackles and one assisted in forcing Louisville to attempt a 20-yard field goal for its only points of the day.