No. 10 UNC football is undefeated no more. Virginia upsets Tar Heels in Chapel Hill

North Carolina is no longer undefeated, and will no longer be ranked in the top 10 in the polls.

Virginia, trailing by 10 points in the third quarter, pulled off one of the biggest shockers of the college football season, taking a 31-27 victory at Kenan Stadium.

The Cavaliers (2-5, 1-2 ACC), with an extra week to prepare, got an inspired effort from everyone. But quarterback Tony Muskett, the transfer from Monmouth, came up big for the Cavaliers and upstaged UNC’s Drake Maye by coming away with the startling win.

With a 31-27 lead in the fourth quarter, Viginia was on the brink of a back-breaking score. But running back Mike Hollins fumbled just short of the goal line, the ball skidding through the back of the end zone for a touchback.

The Tar Heels (6-1, 3-1) reached the Virginia 20, but Maye’s fourth-down pass to Tez Walker was high and incomplete with 3:12 left in the fourth quarter. UNC had one last possession, taking over with 1:12 left, but Maye’s pass was picked off by James Jackson at the Virginia 43 with 26 seconds remaining,

Maye was not at his best but passed for 347 yards and two touchdowns, completing 24 of 48 passes. Walker caught another TD pass — the wide receiver’s fourth in two games — and tight end Bryson Nesbit hauled in a 62-yard scoring throw.

UNC led 24-14 in the third quarter after Maye scored on a short option run. But the Cavaliers answered with a Hollins TD run — his third of the game – and took a 31-27 lead with 8:51 left in the third quarter on Muskett’s 14-yard scoring pass to Mailk Washington as Washington fought his way to the end zone.

Three takeaways from the game:

Upsets happens

Upsets do happen. It’s college football. The games are always unpredictable.

UNC coach Mack Brown talked early in the week about the parity in college football, of how underdogs crop up each week to scare — or beat — the biggest of favorites.

No one expected Virginia to beat North Carolina. The Heels were favored by three touchdowns.

But the Cavaliers, coming off a bye week, were well prepared. They weren’t lacking energy. Falling behind by 10 points in the third quarter appeared to only motivate the Wahoos, notg demoralize them.

Flat or not?

It would be easy to say the Cavaliers caught the Tar Heels a little – or maybe more than a little – flat after UNC’s big win last week over Miami. In truth, the Cavs were energized after their bye week and their offensive execution sharp much of the night.

UNC was penalized returning the opening kickoff, and the first half much of a slog for the Heels interrupted by some big plays provided by Drake Maye. There was the 25-yard TD throw to Tez Walker and a 62-yard scoring pass to tight end Bryson Nesbit, but Maye didn’t have his best passing touch much of the half.

Virginia took advantage of good field position twice to move to first-half touchdowns, keeping the Heels off balance defensively with motion and some timely passes by quarterback Tony Muskett, the transfer from Monmouth.

UNC appeared to be pulling away in the third quarter, taking a 24-14 lead on Maye’s short TD run. But Muskett led Virginia on a 74-yard drive to tighten things up again.

Too many passes

The Tar Heels appeared a little too pass-happy against the Cavaliers. Omarion Hampton had another 100-yard rushing but UNC relied a lot on Maye’s arm.

That’s never a bad option for UNC, but the Cavaliers challenged those Maye passes and made some good plays. Maye at other times simply missed open receivers. Then there was the last interception.

In the fourth quarter, Maye had Nate McCollum open over the middle on a third-down play but overthrew the wide receiver, causing much groaning at Kenan Stadium.

Virginia’s rush defense has been porous this season and Hampton is capable of big games, but the decision was made to ride Maye’s arm.

The following were updates live during the game:

Virginia bleeds the clock

Holding a four-point lead, the Cavaliers kept the ball on the ground and bled the clock down under 2:00 to play. On the key 3rd-and-4 that could have essentially ended the game, the UNC defense came up big, forcing the Cavs to punt. One last shot for the UNC offense with just over a minute to play, and no timeouts with which to work. It’s TD or bust for the Heels and Drake Maye, who has completed fewer than 50% of his passes, though he has 320 yards and a pair of TDs. The Heels start at their own 25.

UNC offense gambles ... and loses

After the Tar Heels drove all the way inside the Virginia 20, the Heels stalled out. Then, facing a fourth-and-12 in the red zone, they decided to go for it on a pass play from Drake Maye ... and failed miserably, turning the ball back over on downs to Virginia.

UNC defense comes up big

Mike Hollins had a rush to the UNC end zone for Virginia but coughed up the ball on a hit by Armani Chatman, which rolled out of the end zone for a touchback. The Tar Heels took over at their own 20, still trailing by 4.

Virginia puts UNC on upset alert

The Cavaliers keep getting big chinks of yards against the Heels. On the second play from scrimmage after the kickoff, Malik Washington caught a pass and scampered for 30 yards into UNC territory. Malachi Fields added 13 on the next catch-and-run on a pass from Tony Muskett.

Three rushes later, the Cavaliers were again on the Heels’ doorstep at the 14. Another play after that: Touchdown Virginia, Muskett to Washington. For the first time since the first quarter, Virginia leads. The Cavs went 73 yards on seven plays in just 3:12.

UNC takes lead on field goal

To start the fourth quarter, Drake Maye hit JJ Jones deep for a 47-yard TD, but the play was negated by a holding call. On the next play, Maye hit Bryson Nesbit for 18 yards and the Tar Heels were back in business. They went back to work on the ground, with Omarion Hampton registering a couple of good runs, including a 19-yard scamper to set the Heels up at the 10. But then the offense stalled. UNC tried a run and a pair of passes, and none connected, forcing a 27-yard field goal attempt by Noah Burnette, which was good.

Cavaliers tie it up

A 16-yard punt by UNC’s Tom Maginness resulted in the Cavs taking over at the UNC 33. Will Bettridge’s 45-yard field goal tied the score 24-24 with 32 seconds left in the third quarter

Virginia cuts into lead

Just when it appeared the Heels were opening a comfortable lead, the Hoos created more tension. Virginia went 74 yards for a touchdown, Mike Hollins banging in from the 1.

Quarterback Tony Muskett’s 20-yard run was the biggest play in the drive.

Heels with 24-14 lead

After a fourth-down stop by the defense at the UNC 40, the Heels went in 60 plays to score on their first possession of the second half for a 24-14 lead,

.Maye scored from 3 yards for his fifth rushing TD of the season and 12th of his career. Omarion Hampton started the drive with an 18-yard run and Maye later hit Bryson Nesbit for 13 yards to the UVa 3.

Maye is 13-of-27 for 194 yards rushing and Hampton has 102 yards on 16 carries.

Halftime: Heels with 17-14 lead

Noah Burnette’s 43-yard field goal to end the first half pushed the Tar Heels back in front. After a Virginia punt, the Heels took over at their 20 with 58 seconds left in the half and quickly moved down field.

Drake Maye had four completions to Tez Walker, the last for 14 yards to the UVa 26 with three seconds left in the half. Burnette then had the walkoff field goal and has made his first 10 field-goal attempts since taking over for injured Ryan Coe.

Maye was 12-of-25 passing for 181 yards and two TDs in

the half, and UNC had 272 yards in total offense. Walker had eight catches for 87 yards, grabbing a 25-yard TD throw for UNC’s first score.

Heels’ Chatman with the pick

After the Hoos stopped a fourth-down play by UNC at midfield, Virginia moved to the UNC 3 before a holding call against the Cavs.

On second and goal at the 10, UNC’s Armani Chatman outfought wide receiver Malachi Fields for the ball and an interception in the end zone with 3:10 left in the second quarter. It was Chatman’s second of the season.

Maye, Heels tie it 14-14

Drake Maye was a little off in the first quarter, making a sharp throw to Tez Walker for a score but underthrowing a few open receivers in going 5-of-13 passing. But he didn’t miss tght end Nesbit early in the second.

After a couple of runs by Omarion Hampton, Maye found the Nesbit alone down the left sideline for a 62-yard score.

Cavaliers jump back in front

Virginia, for the second time in the first quarter, used good field position to put together a scoring drive capped by a Mike Hollins TD run. After UNC’s Nate McCollum was ruled after review to have dropped a third-down pass, the Hoos took over at the UNC 46.

Again, Virginia converted a fourth-down play. Again, Tony Muskett completed a 22-yard pass to tight end Sackett Wood. Mike Hollins scored his second TD of the game on a 3-yard run.

Maye to Walker ties the score

After falling behind 7-0, the Heels found a quick answer: Drake Maye to Tez Walker. After combining for three TD passes last week against Miami, Maye and Walker hooked up on a 25-yard scoring throw with 8:36 left in the first quarter.

The Heels converted a third-down play early in the drive when Maye ran for 8 yards on third-and-3 at the UNC 32. Maye also had an 18-yard completion to JJ Jones before the TD throw to Walker, who was tightly covered by cornerback Coen King.

Virginia scores first

After holding the Heels on UNC’s first possession, Virginia took advantage of good field position to jump in front 7-0, going 51 yards in 7 plays.

Mike Hollins scored the TD on an 11-yard run after the Hoos converted a fourth-and-2 at the UNC 33 on a 22-yard pass to tight end Sackett Wood.