UNC has not won at Virginia since 1981, a span of 13 losses.
At least two — in 1996 and 2006 — were memorable. The '96 game was the infamous Chris Keldorf interception which cost Mack Brown and the Heels a spot in the Fiesta Bowl.
The 2006 game was John Bunting's last before getting fired. The Heels were completely unprepared and uninspired for a Thursday night trip to Charlottesville and the end result was a 23-0 loss and Bunting's job. He was fired before the weekend, although he coached the final five games before actually leaving.
That still has to be the strangest coaching change in college football history, although you can't argue with the results (netting Butch Davis) for the Heels.
Well you can take your streaks and stuff them in a sack, Mister, because Al Groh doesn't want any part of your shenanigans.
"The biggest thing for us is to try to win a game on Saturday," Groh said on the conference call on Tuesday. "They won't give us any credit for any of the previous 112 games."
Groh actually answered the same question twice on Tuesday, the second one was a softball thrown by me to Coach Curmudgeon:
"Do you pay any attention to [the streak]? You don't seem like a guy who would?"
Groh's answer, in classic Parcellsian form:
"None whatsoever. That's great stuff to fill columns with but it's pretty irrational for us to try to figure out how that has a bearing on how Marc Verica reads coverages or how Hakeem Nicks gets off the jam."
For the record, I also think Groh's lying through his bright pumpkin sweatshirt.
True, pumping the Cavaliers with facts and figures won't win the game but motivation is part of the game.
You can bet before Virginia's trip to Miami last season, Groh let his players know the historical significance of winning the last game in the Orange Bowl. It's not why they closed the OB with 48-0 clinic but it certainly helped.
Just as this week in practice he probably reminded his players that you don't want to be the ones responsible for ending the home-field dominance over UNC.
