North Carolina football coach Larry Fedora said it was bound to happen, he just wasn’t sure when.
With fewer than six minutes to play in the half, freshman Ryan Switzer was back to return yet another Virginia punt, but the ball slipped through his hands, and he scrambled to pick it back up again.
Quickly, the best scenario seemed to be that the Tar Heels would keep possession, but Switzer had something else in mind.
The rookie scooped up the pigskin, cut back to avoid a tackle at his own 30-yard line and was off. Virginia’s punter was the only other Cavalier to come close to No. 3, but failed to bring him down and Switzer marched into the end zone.
In typical fashion for the freshman, however, a flag was down on the play. Yet a collective sigh of relief could be heard throughout Kenan Stadium as the referees called for sideline interference — there would be a 15-yard penalty on the kickoff, but the touchdown would stand, giving UNC a 21-0 lead.
Switzer’s return wasn’t an anomaly. The Tar Heels outpaced Virginia for the entire first half. Marquise Williams — starting and wearing No. 2 for injured quarterback Bryn Renner — threw a touchdown to Quinshad Davis to start the scoring, and caught a touchdown from Davis to end the first quarter.
Williams was 10 of 16 for 103 yards and a touchdown and was also the Tar Heels’ leading rusher in the half with nine runs for 27 yards.
While North Carolina started the game going five-for-five on third down conversions and finished the half five-for-eight, they held the Cavaliers to just four-for-10 and a failed fourth down conversion.
UNC’s defense has also shown a change of pace, only allowing one play for more than 15 yards — a 16-yard rush by Kevin Parks in the first quarter — and held the Cavaliers out of the red zone all half.
While their offense slowed down in the second quarter, the Tar Heels will receive the kickoff in the second half.
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