North Carolina tops Virginia 28-17, moves to 3-0

College Football North Carolina tops Virginia 28-17, moves to 3-0 SHARE: By AARON BEARD, AP Sports WriterUpdated 21 minutes ago CHAPEL HILL, N.C. Bryn Renner threw two touchdown passes as well as Ryan Houston ran for two scores Saturday to help North Carolina beat Virginia 28-17.Giovani Bernard ran for 102 yards to lead a strong ground conflict for a Tar Heels (3-0, 1-0), who won their first Atlantic Coast Conference opener in 11 years. Dwight Jones as well as Jheranie Boyd each had TD catches as a UNC offense put together an efficient as well as relatively mistake-free afternoon.A week after committing five turnovers against Rutgers, a Tar Heels committed just one though that fumbled snap near a goal line early in a fourth quarter came after they led 28-10.Virginia (2-1, 0-1) moved a football, but a Cavaliers repeatedly squandered opportunities in a first half that could've made this a different game. Instead, they managed only a 41-yard touchdown catch by Max Milien in a third quarter as well as a 4-yard keeper by Michael Rocco with 5:09 left.The Cavaliers finished with 468 total yards to outgain a Tar Heels (401). They additionally ran for 170 yards against a defense that ranked third nationally by allowing 30 yards per game. But they couldn't stop Bernard who had runs of 29 as well as 40 yards in a ground conflict that finished with 222 yards on 41 carries.Bernard, a redshirt freshman who longed for last season with a knee injury, finished with his first 100-yard game on just 12 carries.North Carolina hadn't won an ACC opener since winning at Wake Forest in ! 2000, a skid that outlasted a tenures of two head coaches as well as constantly kept it fighting uphill in a league standings. But a Tar Heels are now 3-0 for a second time in three seasons while interim coach Everett Withers remains unbeaten since receiving over after a firing of Butch Davis a week before preseason camp.Houston punched in a pair of touchdowns at a goal line as well as had just 17 yards on nine carries in a role reminiscent of his past seasons as a short-yardage finisher. Renner had a perfectly thrown 18-yard touchdown to Boyd near a front left pylon for North Carolina's first score, then threw a 17-yard scoring pass to Jones who managed to get a foot down in end of a left side of a end zone to push a lead to 21-3 on a opening drive of a second half.The Tar Heels additionally forced their first three turnovers of a season. Defensive lineman Sylvester Williams recovered a fumbled snap in a first half, as well as then safety Matt Merletti intercepted two overthrown passes from Rocco in a final 3 minutes to seal it.Virginia, meanwhile, had first-half drives end with a longed for 45-yard field goal, a fourth-down stop as well as a fumbled snap.The Tar Heels played without junior cornerback as well as punt returner Todd Harrelson, who has been suspended indefinitely for violating team as well as school rules. The school said his suspension was not related to a NCAA investigation into improper benefits as well as academic misconduct.